The Story
We tested four of our "H3" HomeStove prototypes in Ghana over a one week period, in collaboration with Columbia University's preliminary research for its prenatal health initiative examining how using improved cookstoves can improve infant health [more info].
The cooking experiments mostly involved making banku, a thick porridge made from yams. The vigorous stirring requires a very stable cookstove, which the H3 prototype provided. Users preferred sitting upon a raised platform to be at the right height for stirring and viewing the porridge.
The tests showed that the H3 prototype consistently cooked banku faster than the three-stone fire, and with dramatically less smoke. Cooks were especially excited about reducing the negative impact of smoke on their eyes. The need to protect the stove from spills, common with boiling yams, was observed and factored into the ensuing design work.