On June 6, Malayinkeezhu Lower Primary School for Boys in Thiruvananthapuram replaced the traditional wood-burning stove and gas burners in their kitchen with steam boiler cooking vessels. According to the principal of the school, this 'steam kitchen' was introduced to make the process of cooking and serving meals to students easier and more efficient.
The local panchayats were entrusted with the responsibility of providing newer facilities at the government schools under it. Accordingly, last year, the local panchayat, under which the Malayinkeezhu Lower Primary School falls, announced that they will build a dining hall for the students, which will also have a steam kitchen, in addition to a smart classroom in a separate building. While the smart classroom was set up last year, the work for the dining hall and steam kitchen was completed recently.
According to Rameela R, the principal of the school, the dining hall along with the steam kitchen was built at a cost of around Rs 18 lakh.
While the school served freshly cooked midday meals to the students, breakfast was sourced from another facility.
“With the steam boiler, which is currently operational, we can simultaneously cook over 100 idlis, and hence prepare both breakfast and lunch in our kitchen,” says Rameela.
“The benefit of having a steam kitchen is the incredible pace at which cooking can be done. This also ensures hygiene while the food is being prepared for the 180 students of the school,” she added.
She explained that the steam kitchen makes the process of cooking in huge batches fuel-efficient and less laborious. “The steam boiler uses LPG cylinders for fuel and heats up water to produce steam. The steam is used to cook the food, which is loaded into the cooking chambers. Since steam is used instead of an open flame to cook, it is smoke-free and so the working conditions of the staff preparing the food, too, have improved,” Rameela told TNM.
Sarojini Amma, who has been cooking meals for these students for the last 26 years, says that the steamer has cut down the time of cooking by half. “Earlier, it took us at least one hour to cook meals in large quantities. Now, it has been cut down to a maximum of 30 minutes. Besides, we had to carry the huge utensils of cooked food to the area where the students were seated and this was taxing. Since the steam kitchen is in the dining area and the system has tiltable vessels, serving food has become more convenient and time-saving,” says Sarojini Amma.
In 2012, Government Lower Primary School at Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram, too, had introduced a steam kitchen. Instead of LPG, the boiler uses coconut shells, which students bring from their houses, as the fuel.