Guide by CoolVeg
Clay Pot Cooler - pot in plastic dish design
Cool your food without electricity
With this clay pot cooler your fruits and vegetables will last much longer.
Clay Pot Cooler - pot in pot design
Cool your food without electricity
| Done in | 20 minutes |
|---|---|
| Skill level | easy |
With this clay pot cooler your fruits and vegetables will last much longer. Reduce food spoilage and prevent your post-harvest losses. Save time and money.
Clay pot coolers cool air through the evaporation of water. The temperature in the cooler will be at least 8°C lower than the maximum daily temperature.
Photo Credits: Melissa Mangino (drawings), Ba Germain Diarra (title), Ousmane Sanogo
⚠ The clay pot cooler works best in arid areas where it is hot and dry, for example in Algeria, Libya, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Botswana, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen.
Published under CC:BY-NC-SA by
CoolVegWhat you need
- Outer Clay Pot should have straight walls so that the inner pot can be placed inside. If you put the smaller pot into this pot, there should be a 3-5 cm gap for sand to go between the two pots. The size is up to you. The bigger the pot the more you can store.
- Inner Clay Pot can be rounded or have straight walls
- Cotton or jute sack
- Sand
- Sieve optional to remove large particles from the sand. This can also be done by hand
How you make it
Prepare the sand: remove large pieces
Remove large particles and stones so they do not take up too much space. You can do this by hand or sieve the sand through a 3-5 mm wire mesh.
Prepare the sand: remove dust
It is recommended to remove the dust from the sand. Otherwise the dust can clog the pores of the pot.
Dust can be removed by a method called winnowing.
To remove dust by winnowing, slowly pour the sand from shoulder height (you may need a stool depending on your height) onto a cloth on the ground. Any gentle breeze or air movement will blow the dust away while the sand particles fall onto the cloth below.
Put sand in the bigger clay pot
Pour sand in the bottom of the outer pot to create an even surface for the inner pot to sit. The sand can be wet or dry when adding it to the pot.
Put smaller pot into bigger clay pot. Add sand.
Center the inner pot on the layer of sand inside the outer pot and fill the space between the two pots with additional sand. Make sure the top of the inner pot is at least 2 cm higher than that of the outer pot.
Wet the sand
Add enough water to wet the sand well. It is enough when it takes a few seconds for the water to absorb from the top. It is too much water if the inner pot begins to float. Then you have to drain the water before you use the cooler.
Now your clay pot cooler is ready to use
How you use it
Fill the clay pot with food
Place the fruits and vegetables in the inner pot. DO NOT store meat, vaccines or milk in the cooler. Be sure that the items added are dry and able to be stored together.
Wet the cloth
Wet a cloth, a piece of burlap or jute sack. Squeeze out the water.
Place the cloth on the clay pot
Put the wet cloth, burlap, or jute on the clay pot. The pot has to be completely covered.
Depending on the thickness of the material it may be best to fold it several times to give enough thickness.
Store your clay pot cooler in a shady, good ventilated area
Put your cooler in a room with good air circulation or expose it to outside winds/breezes.
Put the cooler in the shade, NOT into direct sunlight.
Keep the sand and cloth wet
Keep the sand and cloth damp at all times. Typically, water should be added once a day.
It is important that the sand and cloth do not dry out. Otherwise, the contents will not remain cool.
Keep your clay pot cooler clean
Keep your cooler clean. Sponge it off regularly. Make sure that dust and dirt DO NOT accumulate.
References
This instruction was developed by MIT D-Lab in collaboration with
Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER)
Laboratoire de Technologie Alimentaire
Avenue Mohamed V, BP 258 Bamako, Mali
Tel/Fax: (+223) 20 22 26 06/ 20 22 37 75
Contact: Dr Fatimata Cisse
Tel: (+223) 76 37 57 27
diallofati@gmail.com
World Vegetable Center–West and Central Africa
Station de Recherche de Samanko, BP 320 Bamako, Mali
Tel/Fax : (+223) 20 70 92 00/ 20 22 86 83
Contact: Kukom Edoh Ognakossan
kukom.edoh@gmail.com
Download the original instruction as PDF from MIT D-Lab (also available in other languages).
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