Eco-Cooker: Use Cooking Water and Fuel Two-Fold

Jun 10, 2008 By Doug

22 Comments

As an avid camper/hiker it is immediately evident how much fuel it takes to boil even a small amount of water. In that same vein you become very aware of the water and energy it takes to clean your cookware when done (by hand in the nearest river as opposed to mindlessly throwing it in the dishwasher!). The Eco-Cook design by Kechenyi Camille, which earned honorable mention at the international design competition â€œDining in 2015,â€ addresses both energy and water use while cooking. With a simple water permeable barrier the cook can separately prepare two boiled courses using the same water, the same pot, and the same fuel for heating the water. Although I am sure there is some flavor carry over (I know there is when I boil hotdogs with cornâ€¦yummm) the benefits are worth the sacrifice.

Category: Concept+Design

22 Comments, Comment or Ping

Matt

Wow, I want one!

When are they going to be produced?

Jun 11th, 2008
Ben

You don’t really need a special device (like above) to do this. Steamers have been around for years and you can pick an eco-friendly bamboo one up for a couple of Â£.

Jun 11th, 2008
Matt (Admin)

This is a good idea. Some people have brought up a good point that this may take more energy to produce that it would actually save. Looking at it I can see how it could be used as a strainer too. I’d like to see a little redesign that makes it an effective replacement for the common kitchen strainer furthering the concepts convention of reduction and consolidation. That would make the argument about the production energy cost moot.

Jun 11th, 2008
K

We’ve been using these for decades in the restaurant business…

Jun 11th, 2008
Adam

If it has been used for decades in the restaurant business it is time to introduce it for private houses.

Jun 11th, 2008
Vera Franco

The thing is, water boils faster when the lid is on the pot, because it increases the pressure inside the pot, and lowering the water boiling point. With this device, it seems like the lid would not be able to fit the pot, thus escaping water vapor and wasting more fuel.

I usually use a vapor device that fits my pot and allows me to put the lid on as well.

Cheers!

Jun 11th, 2008
me

I hate these stupid worthless articles that tell you about something you want but NEVER where to get it or how much. Whats the freakin purpose? There is none… so stop posting this crap unless its for sale…

Jun 11th, 2008
nikki

It seems almost more wasteful… that you have to use that much water to bring the water level up in order to cover the veggies inside of the cooker thing… I never fill my pots up that high when I boil pasta so I’d have to use double the water when I could’ve cooked those beans in a small small pot with much less water

Jun 11th, 2008
Shane

@ NIKKI

You don’t need to add more water, it’s called steaming your vegtables. If you are using more than a couple ounces of water to cook your vegetables then youre cooking all the nutrients right out.

Jun 11th, 2008
nikki

Well that’s not exactly how it’s shown in the photos now is it???

Jun 11th, 2008
moi

this is useless. people use your brain before you fall for this crap

Jun 12th, 2008
DocChuck

P.T. Barnum would LOVE this gadget (you know, “there’s a sucker born every minute”).

An earlier commenter mentioned the bamboo steamer. I have been using one of them for over 25 years. The bamboo steamer is economical, energy efficient, environmentally friendly (in its components), and just makes sense.

It sounds to me that the promoter of the “Eco-Cooker” is a charlatan capitalizing on the “green” movement. Unfortunately, people like this will probably come crawling out of the woodwork attempting to sell uselss, over-priced, unnecessary junk.

Jun 12th, 2008
Sam

Wow.

Do you really think this means a damn?

Think about the petroleum necessary to create that brilliant plastic product.

Then think about the truck that drives it to you.

Then think about the packaging it comes with.

Then think about the self righteousness it allows you to have.

Then think about the absurdity of buying disposable consumer culture crap that plays to your ego about being environmentally aware.

Then go cry.

Jun 13th, 2008
Shane

@Nikki - True, you have a point

Jun 13th, 2008
Shane

@ Sam

Yes, this CONCEPT is more productive than your complaining. I doubt anyone will get nearly the sense of self righteousness from this as you get from espousing your negative ASSUMPTIONS…

What packaging? What petroleum? It’s a concept genius… meaning it’s still on the drawing board and it is not locked into those silly assumptions you are making assigning to it so you can pad your wanna be enviro watchdog ego.

Jun 13th, 2008
DocChuck

As a retired â€œeducatorâ€ who enjoys traveling and eating (as my more than ample girth attests to), I used to be an avid reader of many food (and travel) â€œblogs,â€ so-called.

However, it didnâ€™t take long to figure out what their (the blog operators) game was about. And when I informed some of the shillers of my opinion, I was promptly â€œkicked offâ€ the website. I have been â€œkicked offâ€ RoadFood.com for questioning the â€œmoderatorsâ€ motives (including the Sternâ€™s fortune-telling operation).

I have also been excommunicated from â€œSerious Eatsâ€ and the â€œAmateur Gourmetâ€ for criticizing obviously biased and inaccurate posts (not to mention how I raised their hackles when I warned about food imports from CHINAâ€” BEFORE such warnings became fashionable in the mainstream media.

Although I have over thirty â€œreviewsâ€ on TripAdvisor, I was banned after criticizing the Applebees chain . No matter that I am a â€œPremiereâ€ member of the Applebeeâ€™s Frequent Guest Club, who has spent thousands of dollars in their restaurants.

Short story, long â€¦ I was deeply humiliated by an incident at the Applebees in Columbia, MD (a dreary community but the price was right). My wife (much younger than me, if that excites you) performs a Bea Arthur impersonation at many fine supper clubs in our little part of the world. Since I can AFFORD it, I often pamper myself with fine wines and cognacs as I enjoy her show. As usual, I was delighted by my wifeâ€™s show, but I was told that I became a bit overenthusiastic in calling for her encore.

I, of course, pointed out to the Applebeesâ€™ manager how unbelievably boorish it was to admonish me after I had just spent over $14 in his â€œrestaurantâ€ on wine alone. Along with the spinach dip and quesadillas it was close to $22.

As a paying customer of substantial refinement, I expect â€” no, I DEMAND â€” to be treated with RESPECT and VENERATION by ALL members of a restaurantâ€™s staff. This is â€œespeciallyâ€ true when I have willingly paid their rapacious markup on fine wine.

I very promptly reported this intolerable treatment on TripAdvisor . . . yet, the TripAdvisor â€œmoderatorsâ€™â€, response was to kick me off the website!

Sadly, there are few websites that allow me to post anymore, save for the few (like this one) that have no moderation.

Jun 16th, 2008
Matt (Admin)

Evening DOCCHUCK,

We do moderate our comments and as a highly respected reader you’re welcome to post anytime. We prefer it to be relevant to the topic at hand, but hey, you needed a place to vent and I’m glad we could accommodate. The only thing’s that don’t fly in our comments are profanity and SPAM. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, but we do our best.

Thanks, Matt

Jun 16th, 2008
Surprised

I’m a little shocked by the negative reactions to this product. It’s just a pot for Pete’s sake, and it seems to be a good one at that.

But then again I’m always shocked by people who are needlessly rude and self-righteous. I guess blogs give angry people a place to be nasty without too many consequences. I’m sure (at least I hope) the people who made the over-the-top comments above wouldn’t be as rude if they had to make their assertions face-to-face.

OK, go ahead. Let me have it.

Jun 19th, 2008