Solar cooker project_best_practices_manual

J e w i s h W o r l d W at c h
Solar Cooker Project
Best Practices Manual

Solar Cooker Project
Best Practices Manual
Written by
Linda Hanna and Patricia McArdle
Photos by
François Le Goarant de Tromelin
This manual was created with the input and support
of the following organizations:
Solar Cooker Project of Jewish World Watch
Tchad Solaire “Chadian Sun”
Solar Cookers International (SCI)
Christian Outreach for Relief and Development (CORD)
Special thanks to the anonymous foundation
that provided the funding for this important work.
Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Co-Founder, Jewish World Watch
Janice Kamenir-Reznik, President and Co-Founder, Jewish World Watch
Fred Kramer, Executive Director, Jewish World Watch
Rachel Andres, Director, Solar Cooker Project of Jewish World Watch
5551 Balboa Boulevard,  Encino, CA 91316 
818-501-1836
solarcookers@jewishworldwatch.org
www.solarcookerproject.org • www.jww.org

Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1
Part 1: Background................................................................................................. 2
Solar Cooker Project Goals...............................................................................................3 .
Social and Geographic Context........................................................................................4 .
Physical and Sexual Assaults on Woman and Girls.........................................................4
Building Local Awareness and Fostering Community-Based Solutions.........................5
Part 2: Solar Cooking Basics.............................................................................. 6
How Solar Cookers Work..................................................................................................6.
Types of Solar Cookers......................................................................................................6
Panel Solar Cookers...................................................................................................7
Box Solar Cookers......................................................................................................7
Parabolic Solar Cookers (curved concentrators)......................................................8
Benefits of Using Solar Cookers ......................................................................................8
Retained Heat Cookers – “Hay Baskets”.......................................................................10
Using Integrated Cooking To Reduce Fuel Consumption.............................................11
Part 3: INITIATING A Solar Cooker Project..................................................12
Key Points to Consider When Introducing a Solar Cooker............................................12
Starting a Solar Cooker Project......................................................................................14
Common Questions and Concerns About Solar Cooking.............................................17
Sustaining and Expanding a Solar Cooker Project........................................................19
About the Solar Cooker Project and Jewish World Watch...........................................................21
Appendix A Tips for Using a Solar Cooker.........................................................................................22
Appendix B Recommended Integrated Cooking Schedules..............................................................26
Appendix C Three Role Play Skits.......................................................................................................29
Appendix D Sample Daily Follow-up Sheet........................................................................................32

SOLARCOOKERPROJECTBESTPRACTICESMANUAL
1
INTRODUCTION
Information in this manual is based on the field experience of organizations and individuals supported by the
Solar Cooker Project (SCP) of Jewish World Watch (JWW) in Darfur refugee camps in Eastern Chad. The goals of this
manual are to help NGOs initiate solar cooker projects in partnership with the SCP in Chad and inspire others to
increase the use of solar cooking technology in sun-rich, fuel-starved regions around the world.
A solar cooker is a simple, zero emission device that cooks food and boils water using only the light of the sun. It
turns sunlight directly into heat for cooking unlike photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity.
Readers are invited to apply the knowledge in this manual to help stressed populations in the developing world,
especially those facing forced migration caused by human-made and natural disasters. The adoption of solar cooking
technology by thousands of Darfur refugee women in Chad—along with their use of fuel-efficient stoves and retained
heat cooking baskets— has dramatically reduced their consumption of fuel and has virtually ended the need for these
women and their daughters to travel into the desert to search for firewood.
This manual includes a companion DVD that provides a brief overview of the steps needed to implement a solar
cooker project.
A link to this DVD can be found at: www.solarcookerproject.org

2
Part 1: BACKGROUND
Since 2003, when war erupted in northern Sudan, over 285,000 Darfur refugees have fled to neighboring Chad to
escape the genocide in their country. They settled in twelve UN refugee camps along Chad’s eastern border with
Sudan. This massive influx of people has created unsustainable environmental pressures in an already arid region.
Refugee camps have now become the “largest cities” in eastern Chad, a region that has traditionally been populated
with scattered villages of only a few hundred people.
For almost a decade, humanitarian agencies have trucked firewood into these refugee camps for monthly distribution.
Although this imported wood is costing donor agencies millions of dollars per year and its collection is decimating
forests to the south, it does not provide refugee families with sufficient cooking fuel. Initially women in the camps
supplemented their monthly ration by collecting “dead wood”, but when that supply was exhausted, both refugees
and local Chadians began to chop down live trees for fuel. In their desperate search for firewood, they have destroyed
trees that took decades to grow. Additionally, women and girls who left the safety of the camp to collect firewood were
often attacked and raped. This has damaged the fragile sources of groundwater that these trees protected, and it is
rapidly turning an already arid land into a barren desert.
In early 2005, Dr. Derk Rijks of KoZon, a Dutch foundation that promotes solar cooking, heard about the massive
influx of Darfuris into eastern Chad. He recognized the need to reduce the environmental degradation caused by the
unsustainable use of wood for cooking fuel by the tens of thousands of refugees who had flooded into that sparsely
populated desert habitat. He was particularly concerned about the gender-based violence suffered by women and
girls who had to leave their refugee camps to collect firewood. In partnership with a group of Chadian citizens, Rijks
founded a local non-profit, Tchad Solaire, meaning “Chadian Sun”, and introduced the cardboard and aluminum foil

3
solar “CooKit” into the Iridimi refugee camp (population 18,859) near Chad’s
border with northern Sudan.
In May 2006, Jewish World Watch (JWW) adopted this project, named it
the “Solar Cooker Project,” and began raising funds to support its expansion.
As a result of its successful efforts in Chad and elsewhere in Africa, JWW has
become a global leader in the fight against genocide and mass atrocities,
engaging individuals and communities throughout the United States to
take action.
Following the successful introduction of solar cookers into the Iridimi camp,
Tchad Solaire brought this technology to the Touloum refugee camp (popu-
lation 24,505) in 2007 and the Oure Cassoni refugee camp (population 31,917) in 2008. Solar cooker manufacturing
workshops were built in each camp. Refugee women recruited by Tchad Solaire learned new skills and earned money
for their families by assembling solar cookers, weaving retained-heat insulation baskets, leading training sessions
and conducting follow-up visits to households throughout the camps. When fuel-efficient stoves—provided
by international donors or made by the refugees—were used in combination with solar cookers and heat retention
baskets, trips outside the camps for firewood were reduced by 86%.*
The “Solar Cooker Project” in Chad has provided a tangible way to help the tens of thousands of people from the
Darfur region of Sudan who were forced to abandon their homes and their country. In partnership with the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), KoZon, and Solar Cookers International, JWW has taken the lead
as the key funder and supporter of this project.
In early 2011, JWW expanded its partnership to include Christian Outreach for Relief and Development (CORD–a UK-
based NGO working in Chad), to launch a solar cooker project in the Farchana refugee camp (population 21,448). The
goal of JWW is to eventually establish solar cooker projects in all twelve Darfur refugee camps in Chad.
Go to www.solarcookerproject.org for more information about JWW’s Solar Cooker Project in Chad.
Solar Cooker Project Goals
The vision of the Solar Cooker Project is to create measurable impacts that reduce cooking fuel consumption in the
refugee camps and provide a safer, more secure and healthier environment for women and children. The successful
introduction of solar cooking technology into stressed communities addresses seven of the eight UN Millennium
Development Goals. It helps to eradicate poverty by reducing the time and money spent by families to obtain cooking
fuel. It frees children from the daily and dangerous task of collecting firewood so they can attend school. It empowers
women by providing them with an inexpensive, zero emission cooking technology that gives them more time to
spend caring for their families or generating income. Its use reduces childhood respiratory and gastrointestinal
diseases, as well as the injuries and deaths caused by burns from the open flames of cooking fires. The reduced exposure
of women to cooking smoke along with the dramatic reduction in the need to haul heavy loads of wood improves
maternal health. Using a solar cooker whenever the sun is shining dramatically reduces deforestation and erosion.
Finally, the introduction of solar cooking technology can be a catalyst for successful partnerships with other community
organizations.
*Solar Cooker Project Evaluation: Iridimi Refugee Camp, 2007, page 4
JWW’s “Solar Cooker Project”
in Chad has provided a
tangible way to help the tens
of thousands of people from
the Darfur region of Sudan
who were forced to abandon
their homes and their country.

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Social and Geographic Context
The sun-drenched desert environment where many refugee camps are located is ideal for the introduction of solar
cooking technology. The use of solar cookers (whenever the sun is shining) in combination with fuel-efficient stoves
(for nights and cloudy days) and retained heat cooking baskets (to keep cooked food hot) can dramatically reduce
the consumption of biomass fuel. This is true for the thousands of families living in the camps but it is also true for
neighboring villagers, who may want access to these simple renewable energy technologies once they have seen them
used in the refugee camps.
Just as many urban dwellers used to consider the microwave oven to be a strange and even dangerous device when
it was introduced forty years ago, people in traditional societies may at first be reluctant to accept solar cooking
technology. Some will view it as akin to magic or witchcraft, especially those who have always cooked over open wood
fires. Even in locations where fuel is in short supply like the desert refugee camps of Eastern Chad, outside trainers
should never assume that acceptance of this new technology will be easy, quick or permanent without a great deal of
preparation, training and follow-up.
Since energy-efficient methods of cooking are a dramatic departure from the traditional three-stone fire, it is important
that NGOs understand the climate, society and cooking habits of their partner communities. Local leaders must
be involved from the beginning in deciding which solar and other cooking devices are the most appropriate and
affordable for their community. They should also participate in the selection and testing of local foods that will be
prepared in the solar cookers.
Physical And Sexual Assaults On Women And Girls
The burden associated with the collection of firewood is borne almost exclusively by females. In many parts of the
world, women and girls must travel increasingly greater distances from their villages or refugee camps to search for
fuel. Carrying loads of wood strapped to their backs or balanced on their heads, these women and their daughters
are forced to make long and dangerous trips that sometimes last for several days. The fierce competition for scarce
resources around refugee camps has frequently erupted into violence, including sexual assault and rape, when local
villagers, whose trees are being cut down, attack female refugees searching for firewood. The regular use of solar
cookers in combination with other fuel-efficient cooking devices can dramatically reduce the exposure of this
vulnerable population to such physical and sexual assaults.

5
Building Local Awareness And Fostering Community-Based Solutions
From the beginning of a project, community leaders and early adopters must be involved in the selection and
introduction of new cooking technologies. By facilitating community discussions, trainers can help these individuals
to come to their own conclusions about local problems (disease-causing cooking smoke, the danger faced by
women and girls who gather firewood, and the environmental damage caused by deforestation). If the members of a
community and their leaders do not acknowledge that these problems exist, they will be highly resistant to outsiders
who try to impose potential solutions.
Community involvement (including men) can result in the rapid acceptance of radical new technologies like solar
cooking, as illustrated in this report from a trainer at the April 2011 Jewish World Watch funded Solar Cooker Project
training in Farchana refugee camp in Eastern Chad.
“What happened in Farchana, during the first days of training with Solar Cookers International, will remain
unforgettable for those who witnessed it. The amazing image of Sudanese men solar cooking in yellow
aprons, a sight that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago. These proud desert nomads, who
came day after day to assist in the training sessions, put their egos aside in order to learn a crucial survival
skill for themselves, their families and their communities—how to cook food and boil water with their
region’s most abundant and least expensive source of energy, the sun.”
Sharing information, fostering decision-making skills and supporting the establishment of self-managed
neighborhood teams will ensure that a community eventually takes ownership of a project and keeps it going.
Developing a high level of trust and cooperation with the local population also helps promoters avoid any “cultural
pitfalls” which can slow down or even sabotage the success of a project.

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Part 2: SOLAR COOKING BASICS
This manual will focus on the cardboard and aluminum foil panel CooKit, which is used by thousands of Sudanese families
in refugee camps in Eastern Chad. Appendix A contains detailed instructions on how to use a solar cooker. (For maximum
energy efficiency, all solar cookers should be used in combination with retained heat cookers).
How Solar Cookers Work
Cost free, zero-emission sunlight is the only fuel needed for a solar cooker. Unlike far more expensive photovoltaic
panels, solar cookers do not generate an electrical current. They instantly convert the light of the sun into solar thermal
heat for cooking. Access to direct sunlight and protection from strong winds are all that is needed for the efficient
operation of a solar cooker. Some solar cookers work even in cold weather. At night and on cloudy days, a solar cooker
must be safely stored and a fuel-efficient stove used for cooking.
Types of Solar Cookers
There are three types of solar cookers: panel, box and parabolic. They vary in size, weight, cost, durability, portability
and cooking time. Solar panel and solar box cookers use an enclosed space, a transparent cover and a black
pot to capture, absorb and concentrate infrared light and convert it slowly and evenly into heat all around the pot.
Light colored cooking pots will not work in these solar cookers because their shiny surfaces reflect rather than absorb
sunlight. Parabolic solar cookers quickly generate intense heat for frying and boiling by focusing a single beam of light
on the (black) bottom of a cooking pot.

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Panel Solar Cookers
The panel cooker is the least expensive type of solar cooker. It is designed to reflect
sunlight over the entire surface of a lightweight cooking pot painted black on the
outside with non-toxic paint. It can reach temperatures up to 250ºF (121ºC). The inexpensive
cardboard and aluminum foil solar CooKit, which resembles an open clamshell, is the
most widely used of all panel cookers. It is the model manufactured and used by thousands
of Darfuri women in refugee camps in Eastern Chad. The CooKit is also being used in
other countries including Kenya where efforts have been initiated by Solar Cookers
International to create a self-sustaining market for this technology.
The price of a CooKit will depend upon the type of cardboard, foil and glue
used in its construction. The CooKit can be folded into a 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12
inch) square for easy transportation and storage, making it an ideal design
for stressed, mobile populations. Most CooKits currently used in Chad are
made with inexpensive cardboard, which must be protected from moisture.
More durable (and more expensive) waterproof CooKits have been produced
in other countries using Mylar-coated plastic that resists moisture and can
last for several years. Research to develop a more affordable, more durable
CooKit is ongoing.
Women can leave food to simmer for several hours in a CooKit while they sit in the shade and do other chores. Men in
some Darfur refugee camps use the CooKit for making their tea during the day. Since there is no fire danger or risk of
burning the food, small children can be left alone to tend the CooKit, which only requires a slight rotation every hour
or two to track the movement of the sun. In equatorial desert regions, rice, peas and cornmeal can be cooked (starting
at around 9 a.m.) in 60 to 90 minutes. Meat can be cooked in two to three hours, and beans in three to four hours.
When introducing this new technology, trainers must repeatedly demonstrate all of these points and provide long term
follow up to ensure that women in the community have made solar cooking a permanent part of their daily routine.
Box Solar Cookers
This type of solar cooker consists of an insulated box made of cardboard, wood, metal or plastic.
It is painted black on the inside and has a large glass or Plexiglas window on top to let in
sunlight. Just like panel cookers, box cookers can be left unattended in the sun for hours to cook
food and pasteurize water. There is no danger of burning the food. Box solar cookers only need a
slight adjustment to track the sun every few hours. They are bulkier than panel cookers, but most
can hold more than one pot, are more durable and can reach temperatures up to 350ºF (177ºC).
Some solar box cookers have aluminum reflectors on the outside to direct even more sunlight
into the box. There are hundreds of thousands of box cookers in India alone. Box cookers are
made in the United States, Spain, Germany, Bolivia, South Africa, Kenya, the Dominican Republic,
Senegal, Afghanistan and other countries. Although some box cookers are produced in factories, they are also easy
to make with local materials.
Basic construction plans for solar box cookers are available on Solar Cookers International’s website, www.solarcooking.org.
There are three types of
solar cookers: panel, box and
parabolic. They vary in size,
weight, cost, durability,
portability and cooking time.

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Parabolic Solar Cookers (Curved concentrators)
Parabolic solar cookers operate at a much higher temperature than panel and box cookers. They
focus a narrow beam of sunlight on the bottom of a cooking pot that sits on a metal stand. This
light instantly generates temperatures as high as 450º-500ºF. (232º-260º C), which is as hot as
an open fire or a gas burner. Although parabolic solar cookers require regular adjustments to
track the movement of the sun, they can be used from sunrise to sunset even in freezing
temperatures. Hundreds of thousands of families in China and India use parabolic solar cookers
for cooking food and boiling water whenever the sun is shining. Large institutional parabolic
reflectors like the Prince and the Scheffler are used for cooking in community kitchens at
schools, health centers, bakeries and orphanages.
The Benefits of Using Solar Cookers
Solar cookers can be life-saving devices for people in sunny but fuel-scarce regions. In desert settlements like the
Darfur refugee camps in Eastern Chad, where the sun shines most days of the year, the use of solar cookers, along
with fuel-efficient stoves and hay baskets (see page 10), has virtually eliminated the need for women and girls to make
long and dangerous trips away from their camps to search for firewood.
Solar cookers save money and fuel
Free sunshine is available most days of the year in countries located within thirty degrees north and south of
the equator. Solar cooking on sunny days allows families to save scarce wood, charcoal, dung or gas for use at
night and on cloudy days. Some urban residents spend 30-50% of their income to buy cooking fuel—mainly
charcoal or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG). Many impoverished governments currently use a significant
percentage of their budgets to subsidize imported LPG and kerosene. If their citizens had access to solar cooking
technology, they could dramatically reduce their consumption of wood, dung and charcoal and the need for
subsidized LPG.
Solar cookers save time
With box and panel solar cookers food can be left unattended to cook while women do other work indoors or in
the shade. Since food will not burn in box and panel solar cookers, no stirring is necessary. Pots are easy to clean
because food doesn’t stick—an important factor in regions where water is scarce. Parabolic solar cookers, which
instantly generate the intense heat of an open fire, can boil a pot of water in 15 to 20 minutes.
Solar cookers can be made from locally available and recycled materials
Solar cookers can be made using a variety of materials, including wood, glass, cardboard and sheet metal
available in local markets.
Solar cookers are safe, healthy and convenient
With solar panel and solar box cookers there is no fire hazard. Although parabolic solar cookers do generate very
high temperatures, they (like box and panel cookers) consume no fuel and they produce no smoke to irritate
the eyes, nose and throat or cause respiratory disease. Panel and box solar cookers cook food slowly at between
250º-350º F (121º-177ºC) ideal temperatures for retaining nutrients, moisture and flavor. Due to worldwide fuel
shortages, some families are being forced to reduce their consumption of nutritious beans and legumes that
require lengthy cooking and extra fuel. When women are able to solar cook on sunny days, their homes, kitchens
and courtyards remain smoke-free and they can afford to prepare healthier, slow cooked foods.

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Solar cookers can kill disease-causing organisms in water
These organisms which can cause diarrhea and which result in the deaths of tens of thousands of children every
year can be killed by heating water in a process called pasteurization. Water that has been heated to 149ºF (65ºC)
for a short period of time is pasteurized and is free from microbes including Escherichia coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia
and the Hepatitis A virus. Women who have limited access to fuel can pasteurize several liters water on a sunny
day with a solar cooker. If provided with an inexpensive, reusable Water Pasteurization Indicator (WAPI), women
can be sure that water they leave to heat unattended in a solar cooker has reached pasteurization temperature
and is safe to drink. WAPI’s contain a soy-based wax that melts at 65 degrees centigrade and drops to the bottom
of a clear, sealed plastic tube, which can be flipped over and reused for years.
Traditional foods can be prepared with solar cookers
All traditional foods can be cooked using one of the three types of solar cookers: parabolic, panel or box. Each type
of solar cooker can be constructed in different sizes with designs that can be adapted to local cooking requirements.
Solar cookers are easy to transport
The great advantage of offering the CooKit to stressed populations is that it can be folded up for easy storage and
transport. On sunny days, farmers and herders can carry a CooKit, a small pot and raw ingredients with them into
the field to cook a hot lunch without the need to build and tend a fire.
Using solar cookers preserves trees, the atmosphere and the soil
Almost three billion people still cook every day over open fires. The increased use of solar cookers will help address
several of our planet’s most pressing environmental problems — black carbon air pollution and the massive
deforestation and erosion caused by people cutting down trees to fuel their cooking fires and make charcoal.

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Retained Heat Cookers – “Hay Baskets”
A “retained heat cooker” can keep a hot pot of food simmering for several
hours with no fuel. In this manual, we use the term “hay basket” to describe
a well-insulated container. Other names include: “heat retention basket,”
“fireless cooker,” “hay basket,” “hay box” or “wonder box.”
A hay basket is easy to make and use. Food can be cooked during the afternoon
in a solar cooker and kept hot for 3-4 more hours inside a well-insulated hay
basket. This combined method of cooking allows a solar cooked meal to be
served steaming hot after dark.
Hay baskets can also augment fire-based cooking by simmering fire-cooked food for several hours. After a pot of food
is boiled on an open fire for no more than thirty minutes, it can be covered with a lid and put immediately into an
insulated hay basket where it will continue to cook and will stay hot for several more hours. Food left to finish cooking
in a hay basket normally takes one to two times the normal stove-top cooking time, but with no additional fuel and no
emissions. This is an important part of a comprehensive strategy for fuel-efficient cooking.
Food can be cooked during
the afternoon in a solar cooker
and kept hot for 3-4 more
hours inside a well-insulated
hay basket.
Retained-Heat Cooking Times – Approximate
FOOD
White rice
Brown rice
Potatoes, whole white
Creamed Soups
Dried beans, etc., soaked
Meat roast
SIMMERING TIME
5 minutes
10–15 minutes
5–10 minutes
2 minutes
10–15 minutes
20–30 minutes
HAYBOX TIME
1–2 hours
2 hours
1–2 hours
1 hour
3–4 hours
3–5 hours

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Hay basket containers can be made with woven baskets, cardboard or wooden boxes, rice bags, plastic garbage bags
or even by digging a hole in the ground. Materials that can be used to provide 6 inches (15 cm) of insulation around
the cooking pot (top, sides and bottom) include: crumpled newspaper, cardboard, dried grass or leaves, discarded
aluminum foil, rice husks, feathers, straw, cotton, wool or any other non-toxic insulating material. This material
should be stuffed into a cloth bag to keep it from coming out of the container.
To protect the insulating materials from spills and humidity, the space where the hot cooking pot is placed should be
lined with heat resistant plastic or foil. Mylar, which can be salvaged from used food storage containers, juice boxes,
chip bags, balloons, or other items will provide a more durable inner layer than aluminum foil. The insulating materials
should be kept dry since they will be less efficient if they are damp or wet. The hay basket should be closed with a
cushion or insulated lid to keep heat from escaping. The lid of the cooking pot should also create a seal that does not
allow heat or moisture to escape from the hot food.
Another advantage of hay basket cooking is apparent on cloudy days when cooks need to prepare multiple items for
a meal but may have only one source of fire. For example: a woman can bring a pot of meat or beans to a boil over
a fire for 15-25 minutes and put it in a hay basket to finish cooking. Next she can bring a pot of rice to a boil for 5-10
minutes and put it in another hay basket, where it can continue to cook. Finally vegetables or sauces can be prepared
over the open fire. At the end of this process, the cook will have three uniformly hot, unburned still-moist dishes ready
to serve to her family.
Note: Meat dishes, which cannot be consumed within three hours of being cooked, should be re-boiled before serving.
Using Integrated Cooking To Reduce Fuel Consumption
In Appendix B you will find suggested cooking schedules for the integrated use of a solar cooker, a hay basket and a
fuel-efficient stove. These schedules, which assume that a family has only one CooKit, are based on guidelines
developed by KoZon in the Netherlands. They can result in a dramatic reduction in fuel consumption. For decades,
women in developed countries have utilized several cooking devices for speed and fuel economy (gas stoves, hot
plates, microwaves, toaster ovens, crock pots, coffee makers). Women in refugee camps have shown that they can do
the same with solar cookers, hay baskets and fuel-efficient stoves.
Solar Cookers International has provided the material in this manual on solar cooking technology. For additional information,
go to Solar Cookers International’s website: www.solarcooking.org for details on the different types of solar cookers, an
illustrated step-by-step “Teaching Solar Cooking” trainers’ guide for the CooKit, construction plans for different types of solar
cookers, news stories about solar cooking, recipes, videos, and country-by-country project information.

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Part 3: INITIATING A SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
Key Points To Consider When Introducing a Solar Cooker
People in traditional societies, like people everywhere, may be resistant to change. A woman’s daily cooking routine,
no matter how inefficient, is not something she will be willing to give up or modify without a good deal of persuasion.
Because women will continue to use other methods to cook their food, it is important to present solar cooking not as
a replacement for traditional cooking methods but as a complement to these methods. Over time, as village women
become engaged in the process and aware that they are using less fuel, their cooking habits will begin to change.
Although solar cookers may seem to be simple technologies that people in fuel-starved regions should want to use, it
is likely that women in traditional cultures will perceive them as strange devices that might make their lives even more
difficult. It is important to understand that women, who have always cooked over three-stone fires, may initially feel
intimidated by this technology. They may worry about whether they will be able to operate their solar cookers correctly
and they may be reluctant to express these worries in public. Facilitated, open-ended discussions will allow them to
share their concerns with trainers and their neighbors in order to come up with group solutions.
Women may have valid concerns that food will taste different when cooked over stoves that do not produce smoke.
They may also worry that their husbands and children will not like the food. Embracing this radical new technology
(despite its health, environmental and economic benefits) can be an enormous challenge for them.

13
A good example of a dish that initially raises these concerns is a maize (corn) meal dish known also as ugali, sadza or “la
boule”. Maize, a popular staple food in Africa, is eaten with a variety of sauces. The dried meal is traditionally cooked in a
boilingpotofwateroveranopenfireandstirredrapidlytokeepitfromstickingtothebottomofthepotandburning.Ithas
theconsistencyofthickmashedpotatoes.WhenmadeinaCooKit,themaizeismixedwithcoldwaterandlefttogently
simmer in the sun for 60 to 90 minutes. After cooking, the mixture resembles a smooth polenta, an unfamiliar sight to
African women. However, with a few vigorous strokes of a wooden spoon, the hot, solar cooked maize, which tastes
just like boiled maize, will have the familiar whipped texture of mashed potatoes.
School age children are among the best candidates for training and dem-
onstrating solar cooking technology since they seem open to new ideas and
they love competition. Solar cooking can be introduced as part of their science
classes in school. This is currently the case in some Darfur refugee camps in
Eastern Chad.
It is essential to allow sufficient time for cooking trial and error—initially with
small, representative groups in a new community—before proceeding with
the large-scale introduction of solar cooking technology. Motivated teams of
women should be selected for training from each sector of a village or camp. They will be the ones to carry out
follow-up training, solve problems, monitor local usage, conduct periodic demonstrations and provide repair services.
Women must see solar cookers in operation and have the opportunity to serve solar cooked food to their families
before they will be willing to adopt this new technology. Since they will not risk ruining their own food supplies, it
is essential that trainers provide ingredients and close supervision during the introductory phase. A neighborhood or
village festival where everyone can sample solar cooked food is an excellent way to introduce the concept to the whole
community and allow family members to taste the food before the mother brings a solar cooker into their home.
If the families of community leaders are observed using solar cookers, the rest of the community is far more likely to
copy this behavior.
In some locales where women and girls still gather wood, their labor is not considered to have intrinsic economic
value. Also the gradual erosion and deforestation occurring around a village may be seen as inevitable or its consequences
poorly understood by the community. It is essential to engage local male and female leaders in discussions of these
issues with the rest of the community to ensure that everyone understands the long-term implications of their current
cooking practices. If possible, regional and national leaders must also be involved in conveying this message to the
public.
A note about for-profit vs. subsidized solar cooker projects: due to the extensive initiation, training and follow-up
required to educate traditional populations to change their cooking habits, the likelihood of a totally independent,
for-profit solar cooker venture is small at this time. (The same is true for fuel-efficient stove ventures.) In the
foreseeable future, assistance with research, manufacture, distribution, advertising, micro-finance, carbon credits,
training and follow-up will have to come from outside sources. However, as biomass and fossil fuel supplies continue to
increase in price and decrease in availability, and as solar cooking technology becomes more well known around the
world, it will likely be possible to establish unsubsidized profit-making enterprises.
School age children are among
the best candidates for training
and demonstrating solar
cooking technology since
they seem open to new ideas
and they love competition.

14
It is important to be sensitive to the fact that the widespread use of solar cookers, hay baskets and fuel-efficient stoves
may be viewed as a threat to the livelihoods of those who harvest wood and make charcoal for sale. In some cases,
these are small family-operated enterprises. Elsewhere they are lucrative, large-scale operations that have the support
of regional and national officials. NGOs should be prepared for possible resistance from this sector and should always
frame the introduction of solar cookers and other energy saving cooking technologies as opportunities to create new
businesses, new jobs, generate income and save money.
Among humanitarian and development organizations working to promote clean cooking devices, there is still a sense
of competition as each group tries to promote their device as “the” solution to deforestation and smoky kitchens.
Since solar cooking alone cannot meet all domestic cooking requirements, it is important for solar cooker promoters
to form partnerships with fuel-efficient stove promoters and to always present solar cooking as part of an integrated
cooking system.
Starting a Solar Cooker Project
The first step when initiating a solar cooking project in a new location is to schedule meetings with small groups of
community leaders, teachers and early adopters. The most effective way to reach these individuals is by partnering with
an organization that is already established in the community. At these meetings you can begin to create “solar
cooking” awareness. Use these initial consultations to learn about traditional foods and cooking methods, local
access to cooking fuel, and health and environmental concerns. The next step is to schedule a follow-up meeting
with this group to demonstrate a variety of solar cookers using local recipes and ingredients. (Purchase the
ingredients at the local marketplace accompanied by one of the people who will attend the meeting.)
It is important to involve a small group of leaders in the initial decisions
about which type of solar cooker will work best and be most affordable. These
are the individuals who will be able to persuade the rest of the community
to adopt this cooking method. Another key to the successful introduction of
solar cooking is to present this technology as part of a trio of energy-saving
devices including fuel-efficient stoves and hay baskets. Solar cookers should
never be introduced as the sole replacement for a three-stone fire.
Note: For illustrated, step-by-step lesson plans on teaching the use of the
CooKit including: recommended materials, exercises and classroom layout, go to www.solarcookers.org and click on
‘Promoting solar cooking’.
Be prepared. If you do not have experienced solar cooking experts on the staff of your organization, you can contact
Jewish World Watch or Solar Cookers International for information on how to find expert consultants to provide
you with in-house training on solar cooking technology. It is critical that your trainers are knowledgeable and prepared
before they approach community leaders. Since your target audience may be skeptical or even suspicious at first, their
buy-in will be critical to your project’s eventual success.
Conduct a baseline study. In order to have baseline data with which to measure the long-term success of your project,
it is essential to conduct a survey of current firewood usage (and if possible of respiratory and water borne diseases)
before introducing any new cooking technologies. If the baseline and post-project assessment data are compiled and
analyzed by an objective third party source, it is more likely that international donors will accept your final results as
valid. Estimates for these surveys should be factored into your initial budget. Ensure that community leaders understand
It is important to involve a
small group of leaders in the
initial decisions about which
type of solar cooker will work
best and be most affordable.

15
why you are conducting the surveys and ask them to communicate this information to the target population (since
some people will consider questions from outsiders about their cooking habits as an intrusion).
Develop a realistic budget. When raising funds for your project you should budget for a program that can run for up
to five years. A permanent change in cooking habits will not happen overnight. It will require several years of training,
monitoring, empowering local leaders, follow up, assessments and continuous adjustments during the life of the
program.
A paid professional staff should be hired to monitor your budget, the manufacture and distribution of materials, the
training of trainers and project assessments. Budgets should include realistic projections for the cost of: purchasing,
shipping, manufacturing, storing, distributing and repairing (or replacing) solar cookers.
In some locations in Sudan, heavy-duty, waterproof (but more expensive) CooKits are shipped in fully assembled and
distributed to local families. In the refugee camps in Eastern Chad, cardboard, foil and glue are shipped to the camps
along with heat resistant plastic bags. Refugee women are hired to assemble the solar cookers, sew carrying bags and
weave and stuff hay baskets.
Some organizations may want to charge families a small fee for their solar cookers (either in cash or in labor) since
in many societies something that is free is considered to be of little value or consequence.
Show respect for local customs. Solar cookers should be presented as complementing traditional cooking practices.
Acknowledging local values, customs, and traditions will make your audience feel respected and will make them more
willing to consider accepting new ways of doing things. Since traditional three-stone fires may still be used early in
the morning, after dark, on cloudy days or on those occasions when unexpected visitors arrive, it is far more effective
to integrate the new cooking methods with existing ones. Always remember that the ultimate goal is to keep women
and girls safe at home, save fuel and reduce the smoke from cooking fires.

16
Encourage audience participation. People used to authoritarian (top-down) methods of instruction, may be initially
reluctant to participate in group activities or ask questions. If possible keep your groups no larger than fifteen people
and seat them in a circle rather than in rows like a classroom. In some cultures it will be necessary to speak to men
and women separately. One way to engage people in conversation is to start a discussion about the dangers related
to firewood collection and the cost of purchasing fuel in the market place. Ask women to talk about what they like
and dislike about cooking over an open fire. Ask them to discuss the danger for small children who can be burned by
cooking fires. Invite them to tell their own stories about these issues.
Use audio-visual materials. Have your audiovisual materials pre-tested with a local audience, organized and ready for
presentation. Be sure they are culturally appropriate for your audience. AV materials can include films, enlarged photos,
drawings, and illustrated (comic) books. Demonstrations can also be filmed (with the permission of participants) and
turned into short videos to be shown in nearby communities where it may not be feasible to send local trainers.
Recent studies have shown that such videos featuring local leaders demonstrating a new technology in the local
language and in a familiar setting can be as effective in changing behavior as live demonstrations.
Utilize local, regional, national, religious or other cultural events to promote solar cooking. Since most social occasions
involve the serving of food, these events can provide excellent opportunities to introduce solar cooking into a
community. This should always be coordinated with community leaders to ensure the foods served comply with local
cultural and religious traditions. These foods should be tested in advance with a small group before demonstrating
them at a public event. Solar cooking can also be introduced in conjunction with activities that raise awareness about
violence against women and girls, the protection of the environment, access to education and health issues.
Always present solar cooking realistically and in the context of an integrated system. Miracles should not be promised
with solar cookers. They have their limits and these should be acknowledged from the start. Solar cooking is only part
of the solution to reduce fuel consumption and smoke from cooking fires.

17
Cook a diversity of local dishes with local ingredients and be prepared for some “flops.” Ensure that solar cooking
demonstrations always utilize local foods and ingredients. When demonstrating solar cooking, diversify the meals. If
the same foods are always cooked (tea and rice) the audience will come to believe that solar cookers can only cook
these two dishes. It is also important to use the inevitable solar cooking “flops” as occasions to learn and adjust timing
and ingredients rather than as a reason to reject the technology.
Emphasize that solar cookers require care and maintenance. The durability of a solar CooKit will depend upon keeping it
clean and safely stored when it is not being used. After each use, the CooKit should be wiped clean, dried and stored
in a sheltered, suspended location. The heat resistant plastic bags will last longer if they are turned inside out after
each use, wiped dry and safely stored away with the CooKit.
Organizeshortplaysorskits.Gettingyourparticipantsinvolvedinperforming
sketches is an enjoyable and powerful way to educate and sensitize them
about the message you are trying to convey. Skits about solar cooking can
be presented while an audience is waiting for meals to be solar cooked. In
most groups, there are always a few individuals who love to perform. Children
also love to play roles in skits, especially when they can pretend to be adults.
Local trainers can make up skits based on the issues of concern to the
target audience. Skits should be short, simple and focused on conveying a
single key message. Appendix C contains three sample skits.
Have fun! Cooking with the sun can be a cause for celebration especially when people eat their first solar cooked meal
and realize that delicious food really can be cooked with sunshine. Adults, just like children, always learn faster and
retain more information if they are enjoying themselves throughout the training process.
Common Questions and Concerns About Solar Cooking
Does it Take Longer to Cook Food with a Solar Cooker?
Cooking with solar panel and solar box cookers may seem slow when
compared to cooking over an open fire. Unlike an open fire, however,
these two types of solar cookers can be left unattended for hours
to cook beans, rice, legumes, meat, bread and other foods (without
consuming fuel, producing smoke or creating a fire hazard). It is im-
portant to acknowledge when comparing the actual cooking times of
solar vs. wood stoves that in order to cook with a wood fire a woman
must: leave her village to search for trees; chop them down; cut them
up; carry the wood home; cut it up for her fire; build and light the
fire; wait until the fire is hot enough to start cooking and then tend
the smoky fire throughout the cooking process to make sure that her
children don’t get burned or that the food doesn’t overcook. Charcoal
is faster, but it must be purchased, and somewhere someone had to
chop down and render seven to ten kilos of wood in order to produce
one kilo of charcoal.
Note: The harvesting of trees for charcoal is now the greatest cause of deforestation in Africa. The country of Haiti has lost
almost all of its trees to the charcoal industry.
In order to cook with a wood fire a
woman must:
• Leave her village to search for trees
• Chop them down and cut them up
• Carry the wood home
• Cut it up for her fire
• Build and light the fire
• Wait until the fire is hot enough
to start cooking and then tend the
smoky fire throughout the cooking
process to make sure that her
children don’t get burned or that the
food doesn’t overcook.
Cooking with the sun can be a
cause for celebration especially
when people eat their first
solar cooked meal and realize
that delicious food really can
be cooked with sunshine.

18
When these points are discussed with your target audience, their perceptions about how long it takes to solar cook
will begin to change. It is also important to point out that from sunup to sundown on a clear day, a parabolic solar
cooker can instantly generate the intense heat of a fire under a cooking pot even in sub-zero weather, with no smoke
and using no fuel! Finally it is essential to show women how they can shift certain pots from a solar cooker to a
fuel-efficient stove to a hay basket depending upon the weather and the type of food they are cooking. (Appendix C
contains recommended integrated cooking schedules.)
Do I need to add water to foods that will be solar cooked?
The solar panel CooKit and the solar box cooker can simmer vegetables, fruits, fish and meats without water, since these
foods will cook slowly in their own juices. Water, which tends to reduce nutrients, should not be added to these foods
when using panel or box solar cookers. When cooking rice, dried grains, legumes and beans, add just enough water to
cover the beans or grains. If soaking dried beans overnight, use water for cooking. Eggs can be hard cooked without
water by placing them on the lid of the black cooking pot inside the plastic bag. If solar cooked beans or grains come
out underdone, too moist or too dry the first time, you can adjust the amount of water or the cooking time.
Experimentation and adaptation in the preparation of local dishes is essential. For this reason, women will need a lot
of support and guidance during the early phases of your project. Solar cooking is a radical technology leap for women
accustomed to cooking over a three-stone fire. It will require patience and practice until they are comfortable with
their new method of cooking. Be sure to provide extra food and build in enough time for trial and error during your
training program.
Note: If using a parabolic solar cooker you will need to add the same amount of water you would add when cooking over an
open fire.

19
Can the solar cooker be used as an economic development project?
Yes. Solar panel CooKits can be manufactured locally, with minimal training, for sale in local markets. CooKits can also
be used to make sweet cakes (a luxury food in many parts of the world), which cannot be baked in a pot over an open
fire. These cakes can be sold to neighbors or in local markets. Both of these activities can be used to generate income
during the day when women and girls would normally be tending their cooking fires or traveling great distances away
from home to gather wood. Another income generating activity is weaving and stuffing hay baskets for sale. Women
in Darfur refugee camps have used the free time they have while their food is cooking in the sun to earn extra money
by tending their gardens, braiding hair, making clay pots or weaving baskets.
How can I use my solar cooker when there is no sun?
You cannot solar cook when there is no sun. Solar cookers can cook food and boil water only on clear sunny days. In
a desert region that will be more than 300 days per year. At night and on cloudy days, a fuel-efficient stove should be
used for cooking and heating water.
Solar cooking is too radical a technology for traditional people.
In 2005, when Dr. Derk Rijks introduced solar cooking into the Iridimi Darfur refugee camp in Eastern Chad, several
representatives of major humanitarian organizations were certain that it would not be accepted. They argued that it
was important to respect and preserve the traditional, fire-based cooking habits of the Sudanese refugees.
Despite these objections, Rijks and his Tchad Solaire team launched a solar cooking pilot-project in Iridimi refugee
camp. Through trial and error, they developed a successful partnership with refugee women and the leaders of the
refugee community. The expanding use of solar cookers, heat retention baskets and fuel-efficient stoves in Darfur
refugee camps has demonstrated that Sudanese women are ready, willing and able to change their cooking habits
and adopt these new technologies.
Sustaining and Expanding a Solar Cooker Project
Empower local teams to continue the spread of solar cooking. Local women should be trained and compensated
to conduct neighborhood demonstrations and long-term follow-up. These neighborhood teams should have the
resources to repair or replace worn solar cookers. Women will quickly revert to their three-stone fires if their solar
cookers become damaged and they have no way to fix them. In traditional societies where hierarchy is paramount, it
is also essential to foster the open exchange of information between your local management staff and neighborhood
outreach workers (who may otherwise be reluctant to report problems they are observing in their assigned sectors).
There should be regularly scheduled follow-up sessions for the women on these teams. During these sessions they
can turn in their survey sheets, share any problems they have encountered and pick up supplies.
Maintainasystemofinternalmonitoringandconsistentrecordkeeping.Neighborhoodteamsshouldroutinelymonitor
and keep written records on the use of solar cookers in households in their designated sectors. These records should
be monitored and analyzed by staff on a continuous basis. Maintaining concise records will be important for future
fundraising efforts and it will provide critical data for independent evaluators hired to assess the effectiveness of your
solar cooker project. Appendix D contains a sample daily Follow-up Sheet.

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Form partnerships with field organizations. Cultivate new partnerships and cooperative programs with organizations
in your region that already have local networks, staffs, offices, storage space, vehicles and programs. Because solar
cooking addresses so many community needs, these could include governmental and non-profit organizations that
support educational, environmental, reforestation, wildlife conservation, health, women’s empowerment and many
other causes.
From your base in refugee camps, reach out to the local communities in the area. If financial resources permit, you
can increase local good will by having refugee women, who are trained in solar and retained heat cooking, introduce
these techniques to women in surrounding villages. People in small, traditional settlements near refugee camps
sometimes feel overwhelmed and resentful of the tens of thousands of refugees who have crowded into camps near
their villages. Outreach of this type can reduce resentment, build good will and improve the lives of local women.
Every solar cooked meal will help to make the world a better place!

21
ABOUT THE SOLAR COOKER PROJECT
AND JEWISH WORLD WATCH
The SOLAR COOKER PROJECT of Jewish World Watch is committed to protecting refugee women and girls from rape
and other forms of violence. Women and girls who have fled the genocide in Darfur, Sudan are particularly vulnerable
while performing the critical task of collecting firewood to cook their meals. Our primary mission is to reduce the
frequency of these heinous crimes by providing women in the refugee camps with a powerful alternative cooking
option—the solar cooker.
www.solarcookerproject.org
JEWISH WORLD WATCH is a leader in the fight against genocide and mass atrocities, engaging individuals and
communities to take local actions that produce powerful global results. Founded in 2004 by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
and Janice Kamenir-Reznik as the Jewish response to the genocide in Darfur, it has grown from a collection of Southern
California synagogues into a global coalition that includes schools, churches, individuals, communities and partner
organizations that share a vision of a world without genocide. JWW bears witness to first-hand accounts in
conflict regions, partners with on-the-ground organizations to develop high-impact projects that improve the lives of
survivors, help build the foundation for a safer world, and inspire our communities to support tangible projects and
advocate for political change.
www.jww.org

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APPENDIX A: Tips for using A solar cooker
• Cut food into small pieces.
• Vegetables, meat, fish and fruits can be cooked without using any water.
• Soak beans overnight and just barely cover them with water when cooking. (Pinto beans, lentils and split peas do
not need to pre-soak).
• Too much water slows the cooking process.
• Rice and lentils should be cooked with water just covering the food.
• Use a lightweight metal pot with a lid. It should be blackened on the outside with non-toxic paint. A wide, shallow,
cooking pot will heat food faster than a tall, heavy pot.
• Fill the cooking pot up to 2/3 with raw ingredients (beans, peas, rice, meat, sauce), replace the lid and put the pot
inside a transparent, heat-resistant plastic bag.
• Place a metal pot stand, three small sticks or three small rocks inside the bag, under the pot to raise it up a few
centimeters and allow hot air to circulate under it during cooking. Seal the bag tightly with a string. Place the bag
and pot in the center of the CooKit. Don’t allow too much air space between the pot and the plastic bag.
• One plastic bag can be used 15-20 times to insulate a cooking pot before it develops tears or holes. After each use,
the plastic bag should be turned inside out, wiped clean, dried and stored in a safe place with the CooKit.
• Place rocks on the side flaps of the CooKit to keep it from shifting in the wind. If the CooKit has grommets in the
front and back flaps, tie strings through the grommets and attach them to large rocks for even more stability.

23
• On sunny days in a desert region like Eastern Chad, cooking can begin after 9 o’clock in the morning and can
continue until around 16:00 hours. This allows a cook to prepare two hot meals per day using only the light of the sun.
• The angle of the sun can be checked using your shadow or the shadow of a stick. If your shadow is taller than you
are (or if the stick’s shadow is longer than the stick) then the sun is too low in the sky for efficient solar cooking.
• Choose a convenient sunny cooking location that is sheltered from the wind. Set the CooKit on a dry, level surface in
direct sunshine away from potential shadows. The CooKit can be left on the ground, on the roof or on a table—since
the reflectors do not get hot and there is no fire danger.
• Stand behind the CooKit and point the reflective side toward the sun. Lower or raise the flap in front to minimize the
shadow on the pot. The flap should be lower when the sun is low in the sky and higher at midday to ensure that the
maximum amount of sunlight is hitting the pot.
• Do not look at the sun to aim your CooKit. While you are standing behind the CooKit, look at its shadow make sure
it is even on both sides. For maximum cooking efficiency, adjust the CooKit every hour to keep it pointed directly at
the sun.
• Many factors affect the speed at which food cooks in a CooKit. These include the cleanliness of the reflector and the
plastic bag; the time of year; the time of day; the angle and intensity of the sun; the wind; your latitude; the type of
pot being used; and the amount and size of the pieces of food being cooked.
The KoZon Foundation created these illustrations. They provide rough guides for cooking times, sun angles and food quantities
when using the CooKit.
OK NOT OK
The sun high in the sky The sun low in the sky
No clouds Partly cloudy
No wind Much wind
Black pots with lid White or shiny—no lid
Max 5 liter, light weight pot Large, heavy pot
Small quantity—
small pieces of food
Large quantity—
big pieces of food
Little or no water added Too much water
Cooking Efficiency

24

25
Cooking Times
Do not open pot and stir food while it is cooking. Start early to allow time for cooking
Approximate cooking times for 4 pounds (2 kilos) of food on a sunny day:
1–2 hours 3–4 hours 5–8 hours
Eggs Potatoes Large roasts
Rice Vegetables (roots) Soup and stew
Fruit Some beans, lentils Most dried beans
Vegetables (above ground) Most meat
Fish Bread
Chicken

26
APPENDIX B: Recommended integrated
cooking schedules
This list is based on guidelines developed by KoZon in the Netherlands.
Bright cloudless sky all day
Breakfast—In the morning, eat unheated solar cooked food (but not meat) from the day before. Heat water for tea
over a fire (if the sun has not risen) and put the fire out after the water is hot. When the cooking fire is extinguished,
keep the pot of hot water in a hay basket to use for tea later in the morning. If you use a three-stone fire to heat your
water, put one or more of the hot stones inside the hay basket with your teapot to retain even more heat. If you have
a parabolic solar cooker and the sun is up, use that device to heat your water.
Lunch—By 8:30 in the morning the first pot of food (such as slow cooking beans) should be in the CooKit and placed
in a spot where the sun will shine all morning. The CooKit should be shielded from the wind or anchored to the
ground with rocks and string. It should be rotated every one to two hours to maximize direct exposure to the sun.
Young children can be left to watch the CooKit since the reflector does not get hot and since it presents no fire danger.
It can also be placed on a table or even tied onto a low, flat roof to keep animals away. After 1½-2 hours of cooking,
the first pot can be placed in a hay basket to continue cooking, while a second pot (of sauce, rice or water for tea) is
started in the CooKit. Everything should be ready—and hot—for the lunch meal.
Note: On sunny days in equatorial regions, very slow cooking foods like dried beans can be put in a solar CooKit in the morning
(in a place that is safe from animals and wind), aimed to face that part of the sky where the sun will be at noon, and left
alone all day. Food will be cooked and still warm at the end of the day. For food safety reasons, meat should not be left to
cook all day without turning the CooKit several times to maintain maximum solar exposure and maximum heat.

27
Evening meal—Start cooking food for the evening meal in the CooKit as soon as the family has eaten lunch. After
two hours, the first pot of food can be moved to a hay basket to continue cooking. Another pot of food can be solar
cooked from 1400 until 1600 and kept hot in a second hay basket. Both pots of hot, solar cooked food can be served
to the family in the evening.
Partly sunny days
Breakfast—Eat cooked food from the day before and heat water for tea using a fuel-efficient stove. Keep the remaining
hot water in a hay basket for use later in the morning.
Lunch—Start cooking food with a CooKit if there is sun. If it gets cloudy, finish cooking the pot of food on a fuel-
efficient stove, and then transfer it to a hay basket. Repeat this process if more than one pot of food is being cooked
for lunch.
Evening meal—Start cooking food in a CooKit right after lunch if the sun is shining. If there is no sun, boil food for
thirty minutes over a fire and put it into a hay basket to simmer during the afternoon. Move each pot of cooked food
into a hay basket to complete the cooking process and then serve the pots of hot food to your family in the evening.

solarcooKerProJectBeSTPrACTICeSMAnuAL
28
rainy/cloudy days
Breakfast—eat cooked food from the day before and heat water for tea using a fuel-efficient stove. Keep remaining
hot water in a hay basket for use later in the morning.
Lunch—start cooking the lunch dish in the morning using a fuel-efficient stove. reduce the amount of fuel used by
placing the partially cooked food into a hay basket to finish cooking and keep it hot for lunch. repeat this process if
more than one pot of food will be served at lunch.
evening meal—Prepare food in the afternoon with a fuel-efficient stove and reduce the use of fuel by placing partially
cooked food in a hay basket to finish the cooking process and keep food hot for the evening meal. repeat this process
if more than one pot of food will be served.
Orienting the solar cooker for the evening mealOrienting the solar cooker for the morning meal
All-day cooking

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APPENDIX C: THREE Role-Play Skits
on the Importance of Solar Cooking
Skit #1
A woman sits in the shade weaving a basket. Her friend arrives. After offering the traditional greeting her visitor looks
puzzled and says: “Why aren’t you cooking lunch for your family? Your husband will come home soon and he will be
angry.”
The woman smiles and replies: “I’m cooking peas and sauce for our lunch. I’m also earning some extra money by
weaving baskets while my food cooks. Would you like some tea?”
Her visitor stares at the cold three stone fire pit with its unburned wood and shakes her head. “How can you be cooking
lunch? There is no fire. I do not smell smoke. And it will take too long for you to make us hot water for tea! I have to
go home and start the fire for my family’s lunch.”
The woman points at two CooKits (with black pots in plastic bags) and a big woven hay basket and says, “My peas
are cooking in here (she points at the hay basket), my sauce is cooking in there (she points at one of the CooKits) and
our hot water is here (she points at the other CooKit).”
Her visitor, looking amazed and suspicious, says, “What crazy story are you telling me?”
The woman smiles and says, “It’s true. I have been cooking food all morning—with the sun. And that big basket is
keeping my cooked peas hot until I serve them at lunch.”
Her visitor throws up her hands and asks, “Is this some kind of magic?”

30
The woman laughs and points at the sky, “No, it’s not magic, it’s just the sun. Do you see our big pile of wood in the
corner?”
Her visitor nods and says, “Yes, I notice that you have much more wood than the rest of us.”
The woman says, “I have more wood than you do, because I don’t need to use it for cooking when the sun is shining,
which in this desert is almost every day. With a solar cooker I can have solar heated water for my tea or for my
husband’s tea all day without making a fire.”
The woman gets up, walks over to one of the CooKits, wraps a rag around her fingers, opens the plastic bag and
removes a steaming pot of water.
Her puzzled visitor reaches out to touch the pot and burns her hand. “Ouch! That’s hot!” she shouts, shaking her
fingers.
“It’s boiling,” says the woman. “Would you like some tea?”
Her visitor nods. The woman pours them both a cup of tea. They sit down in the shade to drink their tea and the visitor
says, “Now tell me how this sun cooking works and tell me where I can get a few of those shiny cookers and a hay
basket for my family.”
Skit #2
A little girl walks with her schoolbooks down the road and passes another little girl carrying a pile of wood on her
head. There is a CooKit with a pot on the roof of the house where the girl with the books lives.
Girl #1: “I wish I could go to school and learn to read like you.”
Girl #2: “You should tell your mother and father to let you attend school. I am learning so many wonderful things
from our teacher. Someday I want to be a teacher.”
Girl #1: “I can’t go to school because I have to go out of camp to find wood for my mother’s cooking fire. Why don’t
you have to do that?”
Girl #2: “My mother cooks all of our food during the day with a solar cooker, so we don’t need so much wood any
more. My mother and father have decided to let me go to school instead of searching for wood.”
Girl #1: “What is a solar cooker?”
Girl #2: Points to the CooKit on the roof of her house and says, “There it is. It’s made of cardboard and shiny paper
and it can cook ugali or peas with the light of the sun. Our other solar cooker is heating water so my father
and his friends can have tea.”
Girl #1: “If I can get those for my family, maybe I can go to school too.”
Girl #2: “I’ll have my mother tell your mother where she can get her own solar cooker or maybe we can make one
together.”
Girl #1: That would be wonderful. I can give it to my mother as a gift and maybe she will let me go to school with you.”

31
Skit #3
Two women are standing next to a CooKit and a hay basket and talking. A pot of water is steaming in the CooKit.
Woman #1: “My baby is sick again. I think it is coming from the bad water in the river.”
Woman #2: “Why don’t you boil the water like I do before I give it to my baby?”
Woman #1: “I don’t have enough extra wood to boil water for my baby. I need all of that wood to cook the beans and
ugali for my family. Also my husband wants hot water for his tea.”
Woman #2: “Why don’t you get a solar cooker to boil water for your baby? I boil two liters of water for my baby to
drink every day. He never gets sick from my water. When the sun is shining, which is most days in this
desert, I don’t need to use any wood to boil the water.”
Woman #1: “Why don’t you need to use wood?”
Woman #2: “Because my solar cooker gets hot from the light of the sun. It’s wonderful. I can leave it alone to heat
the water because there is no smoke and no fire danger.”
Woman #1: “Where can I get one of these solar cookers to boil water for my baby?”
Woman #2: “I will take you to the factory (center) where you can get one. You should get extra ones for cooking ugali
and beans any time the sun is shining. I will also show you how to make a hay basket.”
Woman #1: “What is a hay basket?”
Woman #2: “It’s the same kind of basket we use to store our blankets in during the day, but I can show you how to
keep a pot of food or water hot in this basket for many hours.”
Woman #1: “Can you take me to the factory (center) now? I really want to get some solar cookers and I want you to
show me how to make a hay basket.”

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APPENDIX D: Sample Daily Follow-up Sheet

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Co-Founder, Jewish World Watch
Janice Kamenir-Reznik, President and Co-Founder, Jewish World Watch
Fred Kramer, Executive Director, Jewish World Watch
Rachel Andres, Director, Solar Cooker Project of Jewish World Watch
5551 Balboa Boulevard,  Encino, CA 91316 
818-501-1836
solarcookers@jewishworldwatch.org
www.solarcookerproject.org • www.jww.org

Solar cooker project_best_practices_manual

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