[Stoves] Stoves Digest, Vol 27, Issue 20

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Philip

"I think the lesson is clear - if you just focus on cooking, you may be missing something. The first criterion must be to meet people's needs, and it may be much more than cooking. Some stove designs even miss the essential demand for simmering, so they fail the very first test of acceptability - you can't even use them for cooking. "

The listing of the priorities of the prospective owner is often missing from mix of information available to the stove designer. In South Africa we found the number three priority was 'pride of ownership' (marketing survey, 2004) ahead of fuel efficiency and cost. 

There is a voluntary national standard for coal stoves (SANS 1111) which has a cooking test as part of its evaluation. It involves baking a cake! The recipe is provided. It has not only to cook it is expected that a 'coal stove' means a baking stove. 

If it can't simmer, it is not considered to have met the standard. 

Regards
Crispin