[Stoves] Fwd: SNV Ghana's Improved Fish smoking Project

[acparker at xmission.com]

Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR)  
developed a highly efficient fish smoker 30 years ago.  It was not  
broadly accepted because of the cost, it being fabricated in Lagos and  
then shipped. They appear to have recently added solar power to their  
smoking kilns and are manufacturing with funding from FAO.  Good luck  
finding plans, photos or detailed descriptions.  If you do find  
something, please post it.

My local contact in Cross River State, Nigeria, was not keen on barrel  
stoves because the metal did not last long in the marine environment.

A complication in the mangrove areas is the lack of clay to build  
stoves like the Chorkor.  Also, the transient nature of the fishing  
camps discourages investment in static fish smoking facilities that  
are often vandalized in the off-season.

I had considered that an easy improvement to the Chorkor could be the  
integration of a Lion Stove core into the base.  You would need to use  
some sort of diffuser plate to distribute the heat evenly through the  
trays. The addition of a chimney cap to the tray stack would improve  
air movement and drying time.

The Winiarski wood-fired food dryer would work well, though you might  
need to modify it to allow the smoke to reach the fish.

I doubt that one stove design will fit all applications.

Also, I had considered promoting small household smoking cabinets  
(ovens) integrated into improved household stoves for preserving  
off-season catches and re-smoking stored fish.