A development of pineapple leaf cooking stove

Abstract

Recently, Baan Pasang Wiwat Pineapple Leaf Community Enterprise, Nanglae Sub-district, Muang District, Chiangrai, has used a spherical cooking stove made of stainless steel to cook pineapple leaves. The cooking capacity was 40-50 kilograms each time, and the cooking time was approximately 4 hours. The fuel was wood which was used for about 50 kilograms during the whole cooking process. The researcher has thought of saving the quantity of wood burned for coking by designing a new stove which would function like a charcoal kiln. It was a closed stove which would be automatically closed when the wood changed to charcoal to prevent the oxygen from entering. Then, the fire would be put out and only the charcoal remained. The experimental result was that the minimum quantity of wood could be used to cook 10 kilograms of pineapple leaves, and the process took 3.5 hours. However, it is still difficult to find wood for use as fuel because it is rare and expensive. To solve such problem, the researcher has developed and designed a pineapple leaf cooking stove which uses rice hulls as fuel. Rice hulls are easy to find and cheap, so it is perfect for use as alternative fuel. In addition, the size of the newly developed stove fits is suitable for completely cooking pineapple leaves by using one lot of rice hulls. After boiling 50 kilograms pineapple leaves with the stove powered by rice hulls by adding an amount of 21 kilograms of rice hulls, the result was that the boiling time reduced from 4 hours to 1.5 hours. The cost of rice hulls used for each boiling was only 7.50 baht.