We made a fridge this week! We had to make something that we could mature our cheese in - a place that is cool and slightly damp. So we made a clay cooler and here is how we did it!
First we collected buckets of sand.
.jpg)
And had some fun in the sand too!
.jpg)
.jpg)
We scrubbed out clay pots.
.jpg)
We put sand in the bottom of the big clay pot.
.jpg)
We put a small clay pot inside the big clay pot and put lots of sand in between.
.jpg)
We made the sand wet with water.
.jpg)
.jpg)
We tested the temperature and the humidity inside. For maturing cheese, we needed a temperature of abut 12C and 70% humidity. It wasn't quite right so we had to get a smaller pot so we could have more wet sand. Then we put a wet towel on the top.
.jpg)
It was still a bit too warm, so we cheated!! We added some ice to cool it down! But it is working well now and keeps nice and cool. Here is a picture of the cheese in the clay cooler.
.jpg)
It was fun science. It works because the water evaporates and pulls the heat out of the smaller pot which makes it cooler.
Did you know:
The Romans used something like this! But guess what! A guy called Mohammed Bah Abba in Nigeria won thousands of dollars and an award for this invention! I wish I'd thought of doing that. But he says that now in Nigeria, eggplants last 27 days instead of 3 and spinach can be kept for 12 days instead of going bad after a day. Food is safer and people stay healthier. I think it will be a good thing to use in Kimande (our village), where they don't have electricity and it is very hot.
.jpg) |
| Kettle and Wotsit enjoying the whey from the mozzarella we made on Friday. |
\
