The controlled cooking test (CCT) is designed to assess the performance of the improved stove relative to the common or traditional stoves that the improved model is meant to replace. Stoves are compared as they perform a standard cooking task that is actually done by local people every day. However, the tests are designed in a way that minimizes the influence of other factors and allows for the test conditions to be reproduced.

In order to pre-screen solutions that would meet the technical specification standards, Columbia University labs tested various available cookstoves in the market to identify the top few in each category. These cookstoves were initially tested for their heat transferring abilities, general quality of manufacturing as well as for overall efficiency. In order to establish the performance of these improved stoves in the context of the Millennium Villages, the stoves also undergo Controlled Cooking Tests (CCTs) in the Millennium Village (MVs), testing the stoves for efficiency in the local context.

Click here for full MVP Household Stove Testing Protocol – Controlled Cooking Test (CCT)