solar oven-update: solar cooking

[BillChin]

Does anyone have any experience making and/or using a solar oven?

I found plans for one that looks easy, low cost and portable, but figured I'd ask for real world experiences.
http://solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm

I figure it would be a good thing to have for emergency backup in case of extended power failure. It would be best to find the parts and try it out, before I need to use it.

A whole bunch of different ones at:
http://solarcooking.org/plans/default.htm

[fearfaoin]

I've done it as a science experiment in school and at Scout camp,
but never as something I'd actually use to cook much.

[Doug_Tipple]

When I lived in southern Arizona, I used to attend the annual solar oven cook out at the local state park. People brought all kinds of solar cooking devices and set them up in the morning. In the afternoon the general public could mill around, look at the different designs, and taste the food, which by that time was getting ready to eat. They also had kegs of beer under the ramada, so I don't remember too much about the evening festivities.

My conclusion is that cooking with solar power would be very easy in a place like southern Arizona. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to do where I am living now in Indiana, where the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground is less.

[djm]

I'm afraid I never got over the Easy-Bake oven ......

djm

[emmline]

I'm afraid I never got over the Easy-Bake oven ......

djm

I had one. I cooked the yucky cake mix packs once or twice, then resorted to creative recipe ideas, such as roasted green army man. Henceforth, that little grenadier was known as "Blobby Bobby."

[Lambchop]

Oh, not a problem. Just move to Florida, park your car in the sun and forget the chicken in the trunk. If you want it basted nice, forget the can of coke right next to it.

[Charlene]

If you can find some old issues of the magazine Mother Earth News I think they had some solar oven plans. Seems to me I had to find one for my blind friend back in 1999 when he was sure Y2K was going to bring civilization to a screetching halt. I don't know how he thought he was going to use it alone, but he wanted the plans.

You could just buy a camp stove and keep some propane handy - we use ours when we go camping, but we could cook on it at home if we had to. Or buy a small barbeque and keep some charcoal around (use it outside only of course).

Or install a wood stove if your city allows it and use it for heat and cooking.

[I.D.10-t]

If you can find some old issues of the magazine Mother Earth News ...

Many of their articles are on line now. I use to like the magazine, but after a while it seemed to have more articles designed to sell books than giving you enough information themselves to complete a project.

On the one hand solar ovens seem of limited use to me only usable in hot summer days and only close to noon. On the other hand, who wants a hot oven in the house in the middle of summer?

[BillChin]

Cars do make excellent solar ovens.

For actually baking, there aren't that many designs or times of the year when that can occur. However, for food that only needs some warming up or such I can see it working much of the year.

In sunny California, cars with rolled up windows get hot enough much of the year to warm food, so something optimized to do so hopefully will be better at it.

Looks like no one uses a solar cooking device on a regular basis, so that is disappointing. Someone who has a good one would definitely use it, no? I see high end ones being sold on Ebay for over $200. Those must be more than curios, otherwise there would be terrible feedback and no repeat business.

I'll see if I can find the materials needed for the one I posted in my original post. If I shop carefully and look for used materials, it looks like $3 to $10 worth of stuff and less than 15 minutes to put it together.



The person who submitted the design lives in sunny Mexico and reports it gets as hot as 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here is a photo of one of the $200 ovens, the basic design elements look very similar.

[Doug_Tipple]

Cars do make excellent solar ovens.

In sunny California, cars with rolled up windows get hot enough much of the year to warm food, so something optimized to do so hopefully will be better at it.

When I lived in Tucson, getting back into the car after a day at work was not a pleasant thing. First, you had to be careful that you didn't burn yourself on the metal door handle. If it was 100 degress outside, you could expect that it would be 40 degress hotter inside the car. If you wanted to bake a potato for dinner, all that you needed to do was to place it on the dashboard of your car, and it would be done by the end of the day. Also, you needed to keep the dashboard covered during the day if you didn't want it to crack and deform. An older car in the desert southwest will usually not have a bit of rust on the body of the car, however, the paint will be faded and the rubber gaskets and vinyl surfaces will be cracked and brittle. I don't know which is worst: a midwestern car with a rusted body from all the salt on the winter roads or a southwestern car that has slowly disintegrated from the sun.

With regard to cooking by naturally occuring sources of heat, several times I camped at an area with hot springs. We used to cook our millet grain in jars in the hot spring streams.

[DCrom]

Cars do make excellent solar ovens.

For actually baking, there aren't that many designs or times of the year when that can occur. However, for food that only needs some warming up or such I can see it working much of the year.

In sunny California, cars with rolled up windows get hot enough much of the year to warm food, so something optimized to do so hopefully will be better at it.

Back in his bachelor days, a friend & former co-worker of mine regularly took advantage of that. He ate a lot of canned food (corned beef hash, canned pork & beans . . . ) not a healthy diet, but a cheap and easy one. So at work, he'd park his car on the south side of the building with a can on the dashboard. Worked like a charm.

Of course, he was *very* appreciative of dinner invitations. And his wife does *not* let him eat that way any more.

[I.D.10-t]

Solar powered Car-B-Que?

[djm]

If meat cooked over a fire is called "smoked" is meat cooked over a car engine manifold called "exhausted"?

djm

[Charlene]

Speaking of cooking using a car: http://www.amazon.com/Manifold-Destiny- ... 0375751408



Ok, I see somebody beat me to this on the "Red Green" thread.

[BillChin]

Update: These long summer days are good for solar cooking. The past few days, I've been trying out my new solar cooker.

It is similar to this car sun screen design
http://solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm

I found the sunshade and a small metal pot with a glass lid for a good price. The pot would work a lot better if it was cast iron or a darker color, however, it was what I could find at what I was willing to pay. I have a covered courtyard area that gets decent sunlight in front of my door from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. this time of year.

So far I've made some oatmeal, some noodles, and heated up some hot dogs. In my location, the sun is not all that strong and the temperature is not that hot, so the solar cooker doesn't work as well as it does in Mexico (the link). I tried taking it with me one time, but what I currently have isn't stable in wind (need the stick).

It is kind of fun to play with. It takes a long time to heat stuff up, like 30 minutes, and my best cooking time is limited to a few hours unless I want to take it somewhere. I figure I save about a penny's worth of electricity per use.

If someone has kids and an area with decent sunlight it can be a fun summer project, or science fair type of deal. It isn't all that practical for cooking. I'll probably keep using it from time to time.

/edit: I just noticed that I don't have a plastic cooking bag to keep the heat in. Maybe that one missing piece will make it a lot more efficient.