How to build an industrial cocina mejorada..

Much like the standard family model (HERE).  The more industrial, commercial version of the cocina mejorada requires material planning and the same special mud (HERE) for use within.  The difference is getting ahold of a nice solid metal ‘plancha’ or ‘laton’ to install on the cookspace.  Here’s photos from the cocina put together in Molinopampa’s main restaurant ‘Betto’s’.

Solid base of bricks..

Cement up the support walls, make sure the distance between the bottom of the burn area and the plancha is 18-20 cm.

Throw in the special mud on the inside, a thin layer can be used.

Install the metal plancha.

Cut the hole in the roof and feed the chimney from above as always.

Add cement and pieces of brick to the side of the plancha to leave an even flat surface.

Cocina being used shortly after. In reality the owners should wait about 8 days for the special mud to dry perfectly.

How to build our cocina mejoradas..

After spending almost 2 years building over 50 or 60 of these types of improved cookstoves, I’m not sure if I’ve even put together a guide on how to replicate this design.  In past posts you can find plenty of pictures of families happy with their cookstoves, but here’s an outline of the steps to make your very own solid cookstove catered to the requests of the residents of Molinopampa..

First, put together a batch of the Barro Especial (special mud) to be used inside of the cookstove where the fire will be burning.

Step by step mixing instructions are HERE.

As well, get together other items needed (adobes, losa, 33 bricks, 1/2 bag of cement, 1/4 and 1/2″ rebar, costal of sand, etc.) and transport them to the house or institution that you’ll be building at..

Standard Chimney is 2.4m, if your roof to floor distance is more then 3m, you’ll need the other 1.2m extension attachment.

Base of adobes is best and easiest, you’ll need about 25 to 30 of them if building from scratch, or about 10 if there is already a table/meson to build on top of.

Pour the concrete losa at least a week before doing the cocina, for 3 hole stoves typically a good size is 1.1m x 60cm x 5 or 6cm thick.

Start with construction of the base and adobes that will be holding up the cement losa/top..

Ideal base size is 1.5m long by 90cm wide, and two adobe thick. It comes to be about the height of the top of shin. Fill the inside with dirt and compact.

Put down supporting sides/walls for the losa, between the adobes place a base of bricks that will be the base of the fire area.

Coat everything with the barro especial and try to form the mud so that it’s sloping up towards the back.

Place bricks in a V shape where chimney will be installed and use a plum-bob to find the exact spot in the roof needed to cut a hole to install the chimeny..

Install chimney from roof hole and slowly set it on 6″ length segments of 1/4″ rebar that is on top of brick V at back of cocina.

On roof, mix a small amount of cement with Sika water protectant to seal around were the tube sticks out. If installed chimney in roof of tejas, make sure to not place chimney in the bottom of roof channel.

Slowly lift losa/cement top into place and finish cement work and detailing..

Install, place the losa where it needs to be and make certain it is flat with level.

Use excess bricks to build tower around where chimney comes to the area of burning wood.

Use cement to cover the base and adobes holding up the losa, clean the losa and make sure the tops fit snug.

That’s the basics, make sure to inform the family to wait at least 8 days for the barro especial to dry solid and toss water (wet) over the cemented areas the next day so that it doesn’t crack while drying.

National Government Cocina Mejoradas..

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Department of Energy and Mines through the national government came to town last month and put up over 100 cocina mejoradas in our district.  They did a version of the INKAWASI PICHQA designed by the German NGO GIZ.  Happy to see that more and more families are getting onboard with piping cook-smoke out of their kitchens and I hope this style works for our community as well.

Smaller then what we’re putting together but just as effective.

Information sheet/poster distributed to show how to use and care for the cocina.

Barro Especial..

This recipe seems to be the best we’ve found to create a layer of special mud (‘barro especial’) inside the combustion chamber of the cookstove.  It takes about 8 days to dry solid but after which the user of the cocina has a great surface to burn whatever size fire they’d like.  Lasts quite awhile as well, since using this for over a year in our area we have yet to run into problems.  Being that there’s no trade secrets here in Peru, I present to you the secret recipe.

1. 1/2 large bucket (‘Cil’ or Oil bucket, 20L) of smooth clay soil (‘Greda’).. make sure it’s smooth and kneaded and you remove by hand all rocks.

Here’s a good spot along the trail that you can find some ‘greda’ or clay.

Right where the cows have been stomping and mashing up.

You’ll find smooth, pasty like soil that’s a perfect base for the special mud.

Remove all small rocks by hand and knead until a uniform consistency.

2. 1/2 large bucket of fresh cow poop, or better yet, older cow poop that’s been humid or sitting in water for at least a couple weeks (mix into the smooth soil).

Yup, that’s the real deal. Fresh from the source and into the mix.

Mix together well by hand.

3. 1/2 large bucket of sand, make sure to sieve to remove any large chunks or rocks.

Yup, sand.

4. 1/3 large bucket of ash, from their regular stove; this you also want to sieve because they’re often be nails from the wood or large chunks of ‘carbon’ or charcoal chunks.

Pure ash is hard to come by, ditch the carbon chunks and metal pieces.

5. 4 tops of chancaca , make sure to melt this ahead of time with 1L of water to have a ‘miel’ or honey or liquid to pour into the mix hot (keep mixing by hand to have a smooth uniform paste).

In the pot, ready to cook with water.

Melted until all chucks are melted.

Pour it in hot.

Mix it in, will warm things up and produce a sweet aroma.

6. 1kg (or 1L, or 1/4 of a small bucket) of wood glue, you can often find this ‘cola’ for about 20 soles a bucket and this little amount is enough for one cocina.

Dump in just a bit, 1/4 of small pale is all you need.

7. 1/3 large bucket of clippings or sawdust from a chainsaw, this is important that it’s the thick cuttings and NOT sawdust.  These clippings are to substitute for the hay or ‘paja’ and will spread out in the mix easier then anything else.

Clippings from a chainsaw. Nice and thick.

Several handfuls should do it. Enough to see the clippings in the mix.

Once all prepped, toss this on the inside of the cocina anywhere heat will be exposed and save a bit of the excess to give to the family.

Make a smooth, thick layer over the bricks on the base, and along the inside walls.

Wet, but will dry within the week and family will be cooking in no time.

While drying the inside of the cocina will start to split a little bit and the family can use the excess to patch or smooth out the small cracks.  As mentioned, in 8 days it should be dry and solid enough to fire up and start enjoying the cocina mejorada.

July Cocinas, and the ball keeps rolling..

As expected, as families start enjoying their cookstoves, more families now what one in their own kitchens.  Only problem is time and funding are limiting factors and we’ll do what we can to build in the kitchens something that they will use and enjoy.  Fortunately, Cocinas Peru; a program from the national government has swept into town and thrown together quite a number of smaller Inkawasi / Inkahuasi type models for random families (but done nicely in mostly brick).

Asunta Rojas Lopez, w Rocio and Flor

For Catholic Church, with reduction rings and mesh guard over hot tube.

Maria Itala Ceidan Naida, rather her son Michael and husband Humberto mixing mud to seat adobes.

Ludi Encina Vin with Husband Fortunado

Andrea Pilco Zejada, mama de Onesimo

Benigna Ruiz Rimachi, Aunt of Pablito

Olinda Rimachi Servan, Mama de Pablito

Isabel, wife of Osies Olivares Atalya

New Peace Corps Group Coming Soon..

Thus, I was asked and happily put together a set of welcome videos..  Fortunately had the chance to shave and shower since quickly filming these..

2 Days, 9 Stoves Done in Casmal..

With the hard work and dedication of a couple local masons, we were able to come into the tiny annex of Casmal and carefully put together cookstoves for just about all the families.  Had to work like man-men to finish all in time and take advantage of daylight hours but the new owners of the stoves are very happy.

Primary School

Luz Marleny Servan Labajos

Mirlan Vilca Mendoza

Rita Pilco Salazar

Elsa Magallan Mas

Elena Pinedo Pilco

Navtividad Magallan Guayamis

Aguida Pinedo Huacaubo

Silvia Consuelo Inga (BEFORE PICTURE).. Still need to take picture

Whole Lot of Cocinas Going On..

The last month or so we’ve been making some real progress on the improved cookstove project, really getting in to the swing of things building wise; the families appear to enjoy the new additions to their kitchens as well..

Primary school updates.

Putting together the insides.

Making Losas (or the tops of the cocinas) in the local market, how many can you see here?

 

February was Cocina Mejorada Month..

Or improved cookstove, and finally all the materials and families and masons and transport is coming together to get these built in the houses.  As mentioned prior, the point of the improved cookstoves is to give an alternative to cooking directly off the ground with log after log of wood.  It helps the family in the kitchen by containing the fire and burning about 1/2 the wood of open flames, and by piping most fumes out of the kitchen through a chimney cut into the roof.  A little slow starting due to logistical hang-ups but generally the additions to kitchens around here are a hit.

Laying bricks with special mud mix holding it all together. Cement doesn’t work well because there’ll be direct heat on this surface: rather we use a mix of mud, straw, cow poop, melted sugarcane sugar, ash, sand, and a little bit of wood glue.

Poured the losa, or cement slab a few days before installing in the houses. Turns out pretty nice with a topper of ocre. The holes will be where the pots will go, and they are supported by rebar underneath.

When finished it looks a bit nicer when topped with a layer of cement. We throw in a bit of a shelf at the front to make it easier to put wood in the burn-hole.

Installing the chimney tube takes patience to make sure it goes in straight. That and a special cement mix with a waterproof additive to put on the roof and make sure rainwater doesn’t drip inside the kitchen.

Oh look, it’s me from the side putting some final touches on the stove. Here you can see tops or plugs that we created so that families can cook with only one or two of the burners if needed.

Jarey is happy with her family’s new stove.