Cooking with EcoZoom Zoom Versa Stove [Review]

Are you looking for an eco-friendly cooking method, a way to cook food in an emergency, or when the power is out? I discovered the EcoZoom company when looking for all three. Actually, I was actually looking for another method to can produce (post to come later), but I am always on the search for eco-friendly cooking options and methods that can be used when the power is out or if there was an emergency/disaster. When I read that EcoZoom stoves take wood, dried biomass, or charcoal, I knew I had found what I was looking for. EcoZoom stoves are fuel-efficient and clean burning, allowing you to cook a complete meal using only a few sticks or charcoal briquettes.

EcoZoom Zoom Versa Lite Stove            $124.00

Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Eco-friendly packaging	Takes a few tries to get the fire going
Fuel-efficient
Easy to use by anyone

I will let you read about the product on the EcoZoom website. My post will be focused on my experience cooking with the EcoZoom Zoom Versa Lite stove.

Let’s start off with the packaging. Why is packaging important? With the increased amount of items I order online, the recycle bin and the trash fill up quickly. I am disappointed when I receive a package from a "green" company and it is filled with styrofoam peanuts. Eco-friendly, recyclable, and even reusable packaging is very important to me. I was pleasantly surprised about the minimal use of packaging by EcoZoom and that I could recycle 99% of it. The only plastic was the tape on the outside box and plastic strips around the EcoZoom Stove box itself.

The stove weighs 18 pounds, but I had no trouble getting it out of the packaging and carrying it outside. I set the stove in the middle of the driveway. After doing research online, I figured out the steps to get a fire going. I knew that the EcoZoom stove would be perfect for our house because we have a lot of mature trees, which equates to lots of sticks of various sizes. I walked around the yard and picked up sticks for kindling and for keeping the fire going.

Here are the steps we took to get our fire started:

Open up both compartments (damper and main compartment).  Gather your cooking fuel (wood, dried biomass, or charcoal) and keep close. (I would also recommend a good sized box of matches)

Build kindling from dryer lint or newspaper and about 3-4 thin wooden sticks (about the thickness of a pencil). We started off with dryer lint, which burned out quickly. I then added the newspaper on the bottom and in the middle of the sticks. Newspaper worked like a charm.

Use a match, lighter, or flint to light the kindling, specifically focusing on lighting the dryer lint or newspaper. Of course, lighting 10 matches and putting them inside also helps with kindling and getting the fire started. LOL

      

Once the wood catches fire and sustains, you can begin cooking.

Dish 1: Fire Roasted Garlic. I bought this awesome little contraption made from cast iron to roast garlic heads. The garlic roaster fit perfectly on top of the 6-pronged cast iron stovetop. I cooked the garlic for about 60 minutes, recommended time.  I did keep the fire going pretty strong (flames touching the bottom of the garlic roaster). Doesn't the roasted garlic look delicious?!

Dish 2: Halibut with peppers and onions in a cast iron pan. About two tablespoons of coconut oil were added and once melted, the fish was put on top. The fire was pretty strong and the fish sizzled. The Halibut got a nice crust on it. Toward the end of the cooking time, I stopped adding more sticks to the fire.

   

Once you are done cooking, put out the fire by closing the damper and the main compartment.

Lessons learned and takeaways:

• Don’t add too much kindling.
• Keep an eye on the fire, move sticks inside and continue to add thicker sticks to sustain the fire.
• If you need more fire, add more sticks (these are probably the fundamentals of cooking over a fire, but this was my first time doing so).
• Yes, you can burn dried dung. Thank you neighborhood deer!
• It will take some time and more cooking endeavors to figure out the right size of the fire for the right temperature of the dish. 
• The cast iron cookware will get sooty, but it washes off with some soap. 
• You might be sooty and smoky smelling; take a shower!  :)

I must admit that I really enjoyed cooking with the EcoZoom Zoom Versa Lite stove. I wanted to keep cooking all night long. I look forward to the next time I cook with the Zoom Versa Lite stove.

Sitting in the driveway, watching the fire going, and periodically feeding sticks into the fire was very relaxing. The stove is efficient, eco-friendly, and compact. I would highly recommend this stove to anyone, even if you have never cooked over a fire before. It might take some trial and error to get the fire going, but it was easy to sustain the fire and cook a complete meal on the stove.

Disclosure: I received the sample from the company in order to facilitate my review. No other compensation was received. I am under no pressure to return the product to the company or to write this review. This product review is based on my personal experiences. This review is objective and completely honest.

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Take the Crock Pot Outside

Have you ever thought twice about cooking in a crock pot during the summer because you did not want to make your hot house even hotter? I have! During the hot days of summer, I try to limit my use of the oven and the crock pot, and sometimes even the stove. Obviously, cooking with the oven, crock pot, and stove will increase the temperature in your kitchen. I read a little tip on a eco-friendly forum about keeping your crock pot in the breezeway/mud room or even outside on the patio table. Basically, keeping the crock pot out of the house. Since we have a perfectly good (and hot) breezeway, I thought this would be the perfect location to leave the crock pot cooking all day long. The breezeway is right outside of the kitchen, so I could keep an eye on the crock pot, but not worry about making it hotter in the kitchen or smelling up the house. Additionally, I am sure that the hot temperature of the breezeway helped the crock pot stay at the right temperature. If you have electrical outlets outside your house, such a breezeway, deck, patio, or even garage, take the crock pot outside to keep the heat out of the kitchen. If you are worried about flies or bugs, place an old kitchen towel over the top surface area.

>> What are you tips for keeping heat out of the kitchen in the summer?
 

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Eco-Friendly Workout or Not?

I have not been to the gym in months because I have been running outside in the mornings. However, running as my sole form of working out gets boring after a while. Since it was hot outside, I thought that going to the gym (a cool and controlled environment) would be the perfect way to motivate me to work out. As I walk in to the gym, I realize that it is very hot inside. I walk around the corner to the elliptical machines and sneak a peak at the thermostat - 87 degrees! Eek! I assume the air conditioning was out. Either way, I was at the gym and I was determined to work out!

As I am working out in 87 degree weather (no fans, no breeze, no water with me), I start to think about the convenience, but also the environmental impact, of air conditioning. Yes, I love being able to go into a cool gym to work out. The air conditioning gives just a little motivation to work out. Would you want to work out if it was 87 degrees? I think not! However, cooling a huge facility also has tremendous impact on the environment.

As I finished powering through the 30 minute workout, I was a little bit glad that the air conditioning was out. I was not using any electricity to power air conditioning. Despite the feeling that I was going to pass out, I was glad to had this small win for the environment.

Disclaimer: I am not promoting working out inside a gym that it is 87 degrees. If you find yourself in a similar situation and you decide to continue with your workout, please drink lots and lots of water.

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What If?

As I am sitting in spinning class, a small room with 24 spinning bikes, and I think to myself...what if all of us were powering the electricity used to keep the fans that cool us?  Or powering the lights used to illuminate the gym? What if every person on the treadmill or the elliptical machine was helping to power this whole building.

An eco-friendly girl can dream...

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Speed Bumps and Solutions to Green Living [#CTWW]

This week's challenge comes from Reduced Footprints.

This week, please share road blocks to green living. If you're not struggling with any road blocks at this time, then please share ones which you've heard from others. For example, one of the most common reasons is that it's too expensive.

Then ...Take a look at the road blocks shared and offer solutions. The idea of this challenge is to help us all find solutions and "bust" all excuses for not living green.

Today, I am sharing some of the road blocks I have experienced on my path to more eco-friendly and green living. I am going to take after Jen and Joey and call them "speed bumps." I have learned to pick my battles because they are slightly bigger eco-friendly fish to fry (no, not frankenfish).

Speed Bump:  Paper
The amount of paper products used in our house is unimaginable. Sometimes, I feel like little evil elves come out at night to steal our toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels. There is nothing better than throwing away a used tissue and not having to worry about washing a handkerchief, but the guilt reminds me that paper used one time is very wasteful!

Solutions:
1. Purchase and use cloth napkins and rags (we already reuse old socks and washcloths for cleaning rags)
2. Offer, do not force, for others to use them

Speed Bump:  Heat

My husband hates to be cold (and I do also). If he could move to Florida or Mexico, he would in a heartbeat. The man walks around in short sleeves and shorts while I am sporting 2 wool sweaters over a long sleeve shirt. When we are at home, we keep the house at 67 degrees (68 degrees recently because it has been very cold). During the night, I bump it down to 64 degrees. One degree can make a big difference, but a husband complaining every 5 minutes might not be worth it.

Solutions:

1. Drink more hot tea
2. Put more blankets on the couch and the bed
3. Snuggle up to stay warm

4. Add eco-friendly insulation (long term solution)

Speed Bump:  Water

My husband's solution to the above speed bump (when I do not allow the temperature to be set above 68 degrees), is to take a hot bath. Oh, the amount of water that baths use is unbelievable! In addition to letting water run in the bathroom and in the kitchen when not actively using it also increases water usage.

Solutions:
1. Turn water off when I walk by (not recommended)

2. Offer to wash the dishes (use cold water, turn off when soaping up)

Final Note: I do not mean to call my husband out so much here because I am wasteful myself. My husband has come a long way in supporting me and being more eco-friendly. I am grateful for his support! I hope that we can continue to remove waste from our lives.

>> What road blocks or speed bumps have you experienced?  How have you dealt with them or going to deal with them?
 

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Challenge Check In: Reducing My Electricity Usage [#CTWW]

Just a little reminder about the multi-month challenge from Mrs. Green. 

My challenge is to reduce the usage by 10% each week. My plan was to track the electric and gas usage by taking a reading every Monday morning at 7am.

How did I do?

My spreadsheet is below. The numbers in green are positives because I am reducing usage.  The reds are negatives because I am using more than the previous week.

Electricity: Used to power lights, appliances, A/C, etc.
Results: I did pretty good for the first two weeks, but the last week had an increase. The only change I would think of is that we hosted Bible Study and my husband worked on the computer some nights instead of going to bed, so that bumped up the electricity usage.

Gas: Used for heating and hot water.
Results: I am surprised by the huge variations and jumps. I have been lowering one more degree when we are at work during the day. My husband took a few baths because of the colder weather and we bumped up the temperature during Bible Study.

I will continue to track weekly usage and take more detailed notes so that I can pinpoint what we are doing or not doing.  Here is my strategy for the coming weeks:

1. Turn 2 TV sets with cable boxes when at work during the day.
2. Turn down one more degree (in addition to the one above) when at work during the day.
3. Follow my husband around the house and turn off lights behind him. :)
4. What advice can you offer?

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Green Motivation Monday - Take the Stairs

This post is part of the Green Motivation Monday series.  The purpose of these weekly posts is to offer motivation to take a small baby step in the green and eco-friendly direction.  Of course, I will be taking the step right along with you.  I will let you know how I did and I hope you let me know what you were able to accomplish.

Motivation: Take the stairs to burn a few calories and reduce electricity usage if you need to go up or down less than 5 floors.

I work on the 26th floor and I have taken the stairs both up and down several times (not in one day, lol).  Yes, it's difficult.  Yes, I feel like I'm going to die halfway up.  However, it takes only 7 minutes to do so and I burn around 40-50 calories doing so.  Either way, taking the stairs helps me to break up the monotony of sitting behind a computer all day long.

Taking the stairs when you have to go up or down only a few floors is reasonable for most people.  Next time you have the option, seek out the stairs instead of pushing the elevator button.

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Winterize Your Home - Heating [#CTWW]

This week's challenge comes from Jen.

This week, prepare your home for winter. Do at least one thing which will ensure that your winter is Eco-friendly. Need some ideas? Click HERE. If you are moving into spring/summer, prepare your home for the warm months ... you'll find some ideas HERE.

Or ...

If you've already prepared your home for the cold (or warm) months ahead, we'd like to know what you've done. Please include tips, ideas and any do-it-yourself advice.

I plan on doing several posts about our "winterizing process." Today, I will cover Heating. We have been living in our house for 2 years now and we have been slowing making improvement to keep the cold out. Our house is 63 years old, so you can expect some drafts.  My husband and I swear that there is no insulation in the outside walls, especially in our bedroom. During the cold months, our bedroom pretty much becomes a "meat locker" because it is so cold in there.

Heating Improvements:

1. Thermal curtains in 3 rooms.  When we're home, we open them in the morning and close in the evening.  
2. Blinds and thermal curtains in the bedroom.
3. DIY tufted headboard (this REALLY helped to protect the cold from the outside wall).
4. Additional weather stripping on the front door and the walk-out basement door. [just added]
5. Extra blankets in the living room and bedroom. Temperature kept at 67 during the day when we are home and 64 at night or when we are away from home.
6. Caulking around the windows and the front door.

>>  How are your preparing to keep your house warm during the cold weather months?
 

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Reducing Your Electricity Usage [#CTWW]

This month's challenge comes from Mrs. Green. A whole month!

This month make note of the electricity (Kilowatts) used in your home (find this number on your electric bill, by reading the meter, by using a home electricity monitor, etc.). Then, spend one month reducing that number by 10%. In December we'll come back and report on our success including the actions we've taken to reduce our usage.

For this month's challenge, my goal is to track the amount of electricity and gas that we use each week.  I start each Monday by taking a reading from both meters and continue taking readings each Monday after that. I am using a spreadsheet to track the day, time, readings, and any notes. I will analyze the results and see what type of progress we are making each week.  My challenge is to reduce the usage by 10% each week (the Change the World Wednesday Challenge is to track for November and reduce in December).

A few items that will affect the usage: 

• I work from home sometimes
• We travel on the weekends to visit family
• We will be traveling out of town for Thanksgiving and Christmas

The following items are opportunities for reduce electricity use:

1. Leaving lights on when no one is in the room
2. Leaving the TV on when not in use
3. Length of showers
4. Leaving small appliances and electronics plugged in when not in use
5. Lower the thermostat by 1 degree (we already have it fairly low, 67 during day, 64 at night)

In the next few weeks, I will post my table of readings to share my improvements!

>> Will you join me in this challenge?
 

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