June 2009 – Kuala Lumpur #1

ER Solar Cooking project: Chicken rice

With the results of the water boil test, I felt quite positive that this would work so I waited another day where the sun was good and went ahead to try…

chicken breast marinated in soya sauce, onions, garlic, etc… & 1 cup rice

wired the solar panel to the battery terminals.

Sun-timer: I also hacked an Ikea bedside clock and a solar garden light to give a more accurate reading of “sun-hours”

basically when the sun shines a certain strength the clock starts moving. If a cloud passes over the clock pauses.

here’s the result… I felt the chicken needed a little more cooking rice was ok. Perhaps should have left out the cornstarch…

it tasted ok actually… the Ranger who was with me finished it all… lol

With this ended the series of testing. The limitations and contributing factors of this contraption are now better understood. Back to the drawing board for an improved version. Till next time…

ER Solar Cooking project: Water boil test

The aims of this test were:

to see how high water temperature would reach during the sun’s peak hours of 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.
determine factors that would affect cooking.

it actually topped 90+ but as soon as I opened the lid the temperature started to drop fast.

after about 5 minutes the temperature dropped to 77

Results:

1) The highest temperature recorded was estimated at about 94 degrees Celsius. Which would be good enough for cooking rice (for the next recipe).

2) Factors different from earlier projects that contributed to high temperature were the black pot and glass cover. After removing the glass cover at 94 degrees, the temperature dropped to 88 degrees within 1 minute and dropped further to 77 within the next 4 minutes.

Other factors to note, the sky was unclouded and it was month of June. Hot!

Camporama 2009 – “China city” perspective

By Kester Low | http://www.camporama09.com

10-13 June 2009, Benum Hill Eco-Resort, Raub, Pahang: About 70 from our Outpost (KL#1) were joined with Rangers from the Central and Southern District Outposts: some from Malacca and Negeri Sembilan – to form a contingent of 100+ strong dubbed China. Continue reading Camporama 2009 – “China city” perspective