Ethiopian Woks

["Crispin" <crispin@newdawn.sz>]

Dear Stovers, especially those with experience in Ethiopia

Robert van der Plas is here in Swaziland and we managed to get together at
least for one evening, at which we discussed a little about the BTG project
he has going in Addis Ababa.  He got to the workshop today with tired kids
in town having looked at animals all day (and it was pretty hot) so we
didn't light anything.

It is clear that people there are not using pots as much, or I could say, as
universally as they do here.  They are using something that is about like a
650mm diameter shallow clay wok.  This is put on three supports.  I would
like to take a stove up with me next week to Addis to see if the clay
tray/wok can be effectively heated by the Shisa Stove, and what local fuels
it burns well.

I will try to meet with his man-on-the-ground who arrives today and we will
make an attempt to do one or two cooking tests during the following week.

What would be useful to know is people's estimate of how the wok can be
supported on the stove.  As it is not going to fit inside the 285mm diameter
top of the can, it is going to have to sit on top of a special support.
Pots normally sit inside the heat shield.  I safely presume the cooking
surface is not pushed around much in the way that a three-legged pot is when
something is being stirred.

Are these clay woks fragile?  Can they sit on three relatively sharp points,
like the ends of three pieces of 12mm round bar?  I could make a triangle
with three legs which sit on the 'top deck' of the stove (which is 150mm
below the top lip) and protrude just above the lip.  The wok would then be
held up about 20mm above the lip of the 25 litre can.  This would allow the
gases to leave the stove at the lip and travel out to the edge of the wok
heating the undersurface.

If the wok is not strong enough to be used when sitting on three points, I
could make a ring about 275mm in diameter and put that onto 3 legs with the
same approximate result in gas flow.

I have, through my wife Margaret who is there already, located a potential
manufacturer of small stoves so I will either leave it with him or else with
the BTG project for them to test in the field.  Apparently about 90% of the
population uses wood for fuel.  Biomass is used in the form of leaves, wood,
charcoal and dung, all of which can be burned reasonably in a Shisa Stove.

It seems there would be an advantage to using leaves in this stove compared
with using an open fire because it has some measurable air control.  The
morning meal is cooked over a low heat and top lighting a pack of leaves
that burn primarily as a gas might prove to be just the ticket.

Suggestions anyone?

Regards
Crispin


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