From Flu Wiki 2

Forum: Solar Oven

31 May 2006

Jefiner – at 09:40

I just got my solar oven, and this looks like a great option, living here in Phoenix (maybe not so great if you live in Seattle! ;-) We are going to try out basics today—boil water, etc., but would sincerely appreciate any thoughts from those on the wiki who have a solar oven.

---gonna be 110 here this weekend---

kc_quiet – at 10:32

Also, for those who have made their own, have you tried different designs, and what do you like or dislike about them? I intend to have one built soon and USE it because I refuse to heat up the house with the oven in the summer.

Gar – at 10:42

I have a solar oven. I’m going start cooking with it next week. Jefiner save your old metal coffee cans. They will come in handy for baking bread.

Gary Near Death Valley – at 10:54

I have both a Solar Chef solar oven and a smaller one and have been using them for 6 years. Living out near Death Valley in Nevada helps much more, than say Northwest Oregon where I lived before moving to the desert, but they would work wonderful anywhere with sun. Have cooked anything that can be cooked in conventional ovens and highly recommend them. Also I have a neighbor that made a homemade one that equally heats up as well that does very well.

SCW AZ – at 10:55

Jefiner,

What make and model??? Do you have a thermometer to track the temp inside the oven??? You may want to make a little chart to determine how long it takes to cook bake certain items. Weather here in AZ is REALLY consistant, especially in the summer, but you could learn the differences when it gets “cold”. . .I’m building a small solar water heater / boiler (I’m in the West Valley of PHX).

Gary Near Death Valley – at 11:15

One of the models I have is the “Sun Oven” and it does have a temperature gauge. Do a search for “sun oven” on the internet and you will come up with the company that makes it. Have used it for years and works great. As far as cooking it is an experiment cooking all the time, but one thing I do, is let the sun track across the face of it, then I turn it some more ahead of the track of the sun, untill what I have gets done. It does take about the same length of time to cook with a solar oven as a conventional oven, but the food is not dried out like a conventional oven. Would suggest if you use it begin cooking around 10 to 11 am, so that the sun does the majority of the cooking and the food is done by mid afternoon or sooner.

Gary Near Death Valley – at 11:17

Oh the temperature of the outside does not equate with a hotter oven much, as if it is 80 degrees or 110 degrees in the shade, inside the Solar Oven will still heat up into the 300 to 400 range. Like a closed car on a cool but sunny day, it warms up inside.

OCDintheOCat 12:27

I’m interested in getting a solar oven but how does one deal with curious/hungry birds and critters that might want to gobble up your food while it’s cooking?

Desert Penguin – at 13:57

I live in NW valley of Phx and use my solar oven almost daily. I cook most of my dinners for a family of 5 in it. It is a homemade CooKit, plans are on the internet. We love the taste of the food. Just set it out no later than 11am and dinner is ready by 4pm or whenever you get home. It is nothing fancy, just cardboard and aluminum foil. The trick is to make sure you put the roasting pan on a trivet inside the turkey bag. Total cost, $15 max. inexpensive and efficient. Tonight’s dinner is beef enchiladas.

Jefiner – at 23:59

Thanks for your responses! I have a Global Sun oven, and it does have an internal thermometer. We kept water in the thing all day and via a meat thermometer the temp of the H20 hovered right at 200 degrees. It was still waaaay hot when I got home from work at five and stuck my hand in the pot to test the temp of the water. BAD IDEA!! LOL!

Tomorrow, we try bean soup (yes, weird dish for the summer in AZ, but I want to make sure the thing works!)

Maybe we need to get an Arizona chapter of the wiki rolling?

01 June 2006

crfullmoon – at 08:40

You mean, other than the Arizona Preppers thread?

Jefiner – at 09:20

Didn’t see that, crfullmoon! thanks! ---adjusting bifocals---

nopower – at 09:57

http://solarcooking.org/

All kinds of homemade plans including Cookit.

GreenMomat 10:33

I have a question about baking in coffee cans- sometime ago-ok, this has been years, anyway, “they” were saying NOT to bake in cans because of possible lead soldering on the seams? I can’t beleive that with what we know now about lead that companies would still use it for food cans-but then I didn’t think they would use lead based paints and dyes on childrens lunchboxes either. Anybody know anything about this? Thanks

Ed – at 18:05

+1 on the Golbal Sun Oven. It works great in Georgia. Temps averaged about 240 degrees with the outside air temp of 45 in the beggining part of this year. Beans and rice worked great.

USE AN OVEN BAG!!!!!!!!!

The oven bag will keep the moisture of the food you are cooking in the pot instead of on the glass which greatly lowers the efficency of the oven.

Mari – at 18:12

The sun ovens with lots of reflectors worry me. I had to sneak up behind the little solar cooker that I made using aluminum foil to avoid getting blinded. What about a neighbor who happens to look over the fence?

Jefiner – at 22:22

We made seven bean soup in the Sun Oven. I presoaked the beans overnight, rinsed, added fresh water and a teaspoon of bacon grease (flavor, yanno!) a bay leaf, and into the oven it went. After a day in the oven while I was at work the soup came out PERFECT! Savory, steaming and the beans nice and tender, not mushy. Even my skeptical husband was mightily impressed and even now is building me a lazy susan to put the oven on to facilitate rotation.

Yeah, I know, I’m a geek, but this is pretty kool! :-D

Ange D – at 22:38

Gar – at 10:42″I have a solar oven. I’m going start cooking with it next week. Jefiner save your old metal coffee cans. They will come in handy for baking bread.”

Gar . . .how do you bake bread in a solar over using coffee cans? Any special recipes or just a regular old bread recipe? :-) I would just looooove to know.

montana99 – at 22:46

Jefiner, you r not a “geek”, and I think what u did is kool.

I hope to do the same thing soon. I will probabaly do it even if TSDHTF ever.

mosaic – at 23:01

We built our first solar oven about 5 years ago. We didnt follow any specific plans but looked at a lot of them on the internet, and took various features from here and there. Since then we have made a few, and use them sporadically. Its just too easy to turn on the over in the kitchen.

The solar oven works well but does require getting used to. It does not cook as hot as the regular oven, and keeps things more moist. We like to cook wet things (rice/beans/stews) in closed canning jars painted black except for one clear stripe down the side. If you use a canning jar, dont screw the lid tight, or puncture the lid with a nail so pressure wont build. And baked things just dont turn out the same though they taste good. Its not dry heat.

If you are thinking of using a solar oven, it would be good to get/make one now to see what it will do and not. They are not interchangable with a regular oven and do require learning certain techniques such as timing, adjusting panels, etc. And they take longer to cook than with a regular oven. Timing is also different during the shorter days in winter, and if you live further north where the angle of the sun is lower. And if its a cloudy day, you would need a back-up system if you want cooked food.

There is a lot of information ‘out there’ on solar ovens, cooking pots, cooking methods, recipes, etc.

As fuel gets more expensive, we’ll use ours more, pandemic or not. We already regularily use a haybox (well insulated box) when cooking things that require long slow cooking.

montana99 – at 23:08

thx mosaic, very useful info

06 June 2006

smitty – at 16:36

bump

07 August 2006

Closed - Bronco Bill – at 00:16

Old thread - Closed

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