Background of the Study

Cooking is the act of preparing food through which it uses different processes or
techniques. According to the dictionary, cooking is the practice or skill of preparing food
by combining, mixing, and heating ingredients. It is also defined as the transfer of
energy from a heat source to your food. Through years, cooking has evolved giving
people the benefits they need in terms of food production and processing. When fire
was discovered by early people, they have learned to cook their meals instead of eating
it raw.

Several methods of cooking are used to cook food in different ways. Broiling,
baking, frying, roasting, and grilling are some methods that uses different medium in
order to cook food at a desired result. People continuously develop different cooking
methods and they have discovered the use of different fuels in cooking.

There are several types of fuels that are used in cooking. It is believed that early
people, Homo erectus, used to start up fire by rubbing combustible stones and used it to
light up dry leaves and branches. Through evolution of man, they have learned to use
different biomass as fuels in cooking. Biomass fuels are energy produced by burning
woods or other organic matter such as straws, husks, leaves etc. This type of fuel
produces biofuel gases mainly methane and ethanol. Rice husks are biomass fuels that
are abundant in the country. According to Jeriel G. Militar, 1 ton of rice generates
200kg of rice husks by approximation of 20% of production by weight in Panay region.
Rice straws are another type of biomass fuels where every 1 ton of rice generates 290
kg of straw generated.

Coal is a mineral that is a result of the formation of burning organic matter.

Charcoal are one example of a by – product of burning wood, rice husks etc. that is
either black or brown in color. Nowadays, charcoal briquetting machines are used to
improve the quality of coal used in cooking. Coal is ideal for an open fire type of cooking
mostly used in grilling, baking, and roasting of food.

The most popular type of fuel used in cooking until now is Liquefied Petroleum
Gas (LPG). For over 150 years ago, the discovery of gas range made a huge impact on
the development of cooking methods. Dr. Walter Snelling is the person behind the
discovery of LPG through experimentation. LPG is composed commonly of propane,
butane and other hydrocarbons. It is ideal to have a blue – flame when cooking for it is
the result of a good burning of fuels. LPG produces an orange to a blue type of flame
both which are used in cooking.

Modern technology arises and the use of electricity in cooking become in

demand due to the ease of use and convenience. Most appliances are electricity
operated and are well designed. Electricity, same as fire, can produce certain heat
through which is used to cook meals. The difference is that cooking with electricity does
not use direct fire to cook meals. The disadvantage of electricity as a fuel is the high
consumption of energy and money due to high demand of household usage.

The use of different cooking devices is very popular as it helps to fasten and
improve cooking of meals. LPG stove as the name implies, uses LPG as a fuel to cook
food. Electric stoves and other electric cooking devices are used extensively due to
portability but uses a great amount of electricity and can add up to monthly bills. Ovens
are types of cooking devices that uses either LPG, coal, or electricity making it versatile.
Gasifiers are cooking devices that uses mostly biomass fuels in order to cook food. This
is making a big name in the industry at present due to the cost of production and the
availability of the fuel needed to operate the device is cheaper and organic.

Biomass gasifiers uses biomass fuels (straws, husks) to produce fire for cooking
application. Biofuels are extracted from plant husks/straws that produce gas as a
product when it undergoes pyrolysis.

The oldest and simplest type of gasifier is the Updraught or Counter gasifier. This
has a high charcoal burn out and internal heat exchange which leads to a low gas
output temperature and high efficiency. It can be used by feeding many kind of
feedstock such as cereal hulls, sawdust etc. Downdraught or co – current gasifier
produces a tar – free gas which can be used for engine application. It has less
environmental objections than updraught gasifier. The third type is the Cross – draught
gasifier which uses charcoal instead of biomass. Fluidized bed gasifier is a type of
gasifier in which temperature can be controlled easily and the feedstock is flexible other
than the previous types of gasifier.

Gasifiers use the process of gasification. The organic or fossil – fuel based
carbonaceous materials are converted into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon
dioxide that is under a high temperature (>700 °C) with a controlled amount of oxygen.