Eastbourne beach hosted a steamy affair on Monday July 23, as the University of Brighton Culinary Arts Studio showcased their latest venture by cooking sausages on a solar-powered cooker.
The solar-powered system, funded by the Springboard Grants Programme, replicates the design of a satellite dish and is equipped with reflective panels that use the energy of the sun to create the heat required to cook.
Dr Ioannis S. Pantelidis, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, and his team cooked sausages using two different methods; the solar-powered cooker and a grill, in hope that the taste between the sausages could not be distinguished.
The sausages took approximately 30 minutes to cook on the solar-powered system, but that didn’t deter the eager locals.
A hot summer’s day saw hundreds of enthusiastic beachgoers invited to sample the sausages, unaware of which method had been used to cook them, before giving feedback on what they believed was the tastiest sausage.
Pantelidis admitted:”We weren’t expecting so many people to show up but the buzz has been fantastic. It has been a great day and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I have.
“The message is that if you like the taste of the solar-powered sausages equally, why pay for a barbeque when you can do it yourself for free?!”
The spectacle was covered by BBC South Today, with Pantelidis making a live appearance on the lunchtime news in addition to featuring in a report for the evening news.
Eastbourne Borough Council was a proud supporter of the solar-powered event and Councillor Gill Mattock, Deputy Leader of the Council said:
“Eastbourne beach is a wonderful place to spend the day and, although it’s been fun, there is a serious message to learn about the benefits of solar power. Using less fuel makes sense both environmentally and economically.”