I have been wanting to try solar cooking for quite a while. This is a very quick and easy project. I got the plans from SolarCooking.org.
I still have some tweaking to do. I have to decide on the best place to locate my cooker. The back yard was a convenient place to build a solar cooker, but the high walls limit my cooking time. The roof is a better place as far as sunlight goes, but it’s out of sight. I plan to gather a small armload of old tiles and bricks to make a base that the cooker can sort of nest in. That will prevent it from tipping over or blowing away in unexpected gusts of wind.
SolarCooking.org provides links to a variety of different solar cooker plans. I chose this particular model because of its simplicity and because the materials cost almost nothing. It is cardboard, aluminum foil and glue. Many popular plans rely on plastic roasting bags to insulate a black cooking pot. I don’t like to use plastic (I have a whole blog explaining why). I plan to get a Pyrex pot that is big enough to contain a black pot. The picture shows a simple canning jar with black tape around it.
The aluminum foil that I had on hand was not as wrinkle free as it should have been for this project. I am going to make a second cooker with better foil. I got the cardboard from a fast food joint that had just received a new large appliance. I am saving the best side for my second attempt. I will wait to see if the wheat glue that I used holds up before assembling a second cooker.
The bright sun cooked rice in 3 1/2 hours.
If solar cooking proves to fit into my lifestyle, I will most likely build something more substantial. A well designed and well built insulated oven with a glass cover can cook full meals even in cold climates. Many of the plans on the internet are designed for developing countries that are near the equator. Solar cooking can provide a great deal of benefit to people who traditionally cook with wood or other materials that they spend hours a day scrounging. In addition to saving labor, solar ovens are also better for the health of these people because they don’t have to tend their food over a smoky fire. Solar ovens can also be used to sterilize drinking water.
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Congratulations on your first solar cooker!I run a blog on solar cookers and I am a big fan of these great inventions. We should all start using a solar cooker, we would save energy, save firewood and above all these, we would have a good time cooking in the garden. That adds value to your life, you know?!
I also had this idea of a large Pyrex bowl with a thin oval black cooking pot inside. No luck so far, they do not make them big enough. If you are going to cook for 4-6 people you will need something really big. If only there were custom made Pyrex bowls…
Some plans call for a plastic oven bag to trap hot air around the black cooking container. You might need to live near the equator for this to work consistently.