In preparation for our solar cooker project with Foundation Hope in November, I enlisted my friend Vivian to help do some testing so I know what materials to tell Alfred to be looking for in Uganda.

First, we put together a Copenhagen Solar Cooker, which I bought pre-made online.   Luckily, Vivian is much more detail-oriented than I am.

The second cooker was cut from a template that I got from Solar Cookers International, which has done projects in Kenya (in a region with a really similar climate and culture to Northern Uganda.)

The temperature was around 80 degrees outside and sunny – a pretty good substitute for typical day in Gulu during dry season.

Here are the two pots of test grits for the two ovens.

And the two ovens in action. Ultimate excitement!

The Copenhagen didn’t do so well (it maxed out at 120 degrees) but the solar cooker that we made from cardboard and aluminum foil got to 160 degrees – enough to purify water.  Shake what your mama gave ya, cooker!

It took over an hour, but the grits were officially cooked! There’s definitely room for improvement (can we get it hot enough to boil water?) but that’s why I’ve got a month in Uganda to figure it out. Alfred says that the people in the village are excited for the project, so I’m really hoping it catches on and people start experimenting to get the cookers working at maximum capacity.