In high temperatures, cooked meals and fresh food such as meat, fruit or dairy products, will not stay fresh for very long. Food will quickly become unsafe to eat, often after just a few hours. Here are two simple ideas which help to keep food cool – and also covered and free from flies. They cost little to make and will keep food fresh for longer.
They work on the principle that as water evaporates or dries up in the heat, the temperature inside the container is lowered. Both methods need a continuous supply of clean water and should be kept in the shade.
The Shital Pot was developed by the Ceramic Unit, Centre of Science for Villages, Wardah, India and can easily be made by a village potter. The inner pot is glazed or waxed to make it watertight. It rests inside the rim of the outer porous pot. The heat of the day causes water to evaporate and escape through the holes below the lid of the pot as well as through the pot itself. This cools the inner storage pot and its contents.
This idea was sent in by Jimmy Richardson from Australia. It is made from a wooden or metal box with one side open (or with a hinged door). This box is covered by hessian or jute sacking. Unpick two sacks, cut to size if necessary, and sew together as shown. The box is hung up with a plastic bottle of water tied or wired to hang over the box. Wet the sacking before covering the box. Make a hole in the lid of the bottle to allow water to drip out slowly. Begin with a very small hole which you can widen if not enough water drips out to keep the sacking wet. You could cut off the base of the bottle to make it easier to refill. Hang the box near a doorway where there is a breeze.