good morning! how many of you use solar cookers? i have developed an interest in making one. i got cooking with sunshine from the library. everytime i step outside on a sunny day i think i could be making a meal in the corner of my yard.

i found some wood behind our shed that can be used for the exterior box so it lasts longer. i have plenty of cardboard for the interior box. i'm going to use an oven bag for the window because i don't have any spare glass hanging around. of course i need my dh's help. between the two of us i think we can build one.

does anyone have any tips? thanks.

I've been looking at some of the sites on the internet about solar cooking......sounds very interesting....but I haven't tried to make one yet....I hope you post how it turns out for you....they say you can even do some cooking in the winter too....

 I made one one time and wasn't happy with the results. I'll probably try again, then if it still doesn't do what I want, I'll be in the market for a ready made one. It really doesn't make sense to pay for electricity to cook, then paying for more electricity to cool down the heat created by cooking when the sun is free. 

I have been looking into those too! The ones that you can buy are incredibly expensive. I too have found some plans on the net. Here is one from Path to Freedom (I like their website, very inspirational). http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/offthegrid/solaroven.shtml

I live in Southern Louisiana and it gets so hot here during the summer. Not to mention that we live in a trailer and so cooking heats it up soooo much. So, that's why this idea sparked my interest. It would be kind of difficult for me, though, because I work out of the home (i..e. can't keep an eye on the food).

Let us know how it goes, if you try it!

God bless,

Julie

juju_mommy:

I have been looking into those too! The ones that you can buy are incredibly expensive. I too have found some plans on the net. Here is one from Path to Freedom (I like their website, very inspirational). http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/offthegrid/solaroven.shtml

I live in Southern Louisiana and it gets so hot here during the summer. Not to mention that we live in a trailer and so cooking heats it up soooo much. So, that's why this idea sparked my interest. It would be kind of difficult for me, though, because I work out of the home (i..e. can't keep an eye on the food).

Let us know how it goes, if you try it!

God bless,

Julie

julie

according to what i read you can use it like a slow cooker. the food will stay warm and not overcook although i have overcooked things in my slow cooker. just as long as it stays in the sun and doesn't get cooled off. bacteria is a concern because it will grow as soon as the food cools.

have you considered doing it on a day off?

have you considered doing it on a day off?

Yes.... But I have to build one first! Hahah. I sent an email to my girlfriend a while back and told her that we needed to impress the "men" by taking on a project like this. She was all for it! So we are going to keep our eye out for stuff around the house and in thrift stores to make one with (used baking pans, for instance).

My concern (with being away during the day at work) wasn't with it over cooking but I was thinking about all of the dogs and cats we have in the neighborhood. Hehe. But I think if we built it and put it on top of something (like a picnic table) and had it closed securly then I don't think I'd have to worry too much about anything getting to it.

juju_mommy:

have you considered doing it on a day off?

Yes.... But I have to build one first! Hahah. I sent an email to my girlfriend a while back and told her that we needed to impress the "men" by taking on a project like this. She was all for it! So we are going to keep our eye out for stuff around the house and in thrift stores to make one with (used baking pans, for instance).

My concern (with being away during the day at work) wasn't with it over cooking but I was thinking about all of the dogs and cats we have in the neighborhood. Hehe. But I think if we built it and put it on top of something (like a picnic table) and had it closed securly then I don't think I'd have to worry too much about anything getting to it.

most animals won't go around a hot surface. my dogs don't like heat and they stay away. i want to build a solar oven just because it's more sturdy than a panel cooker. and for insurance purposes i will be putting in an area that my dogs can't go.

it's probably a good idea to place it on top of something if you don't have an area to put it.

WE had a cat that jumped on top of the wood stove when it was hot. She smelled really good ....burnt cat fur. Poor baby, she was Ok but sore paws for a few days. Never jumped on it again. Babs 

Saw a show about Solar Cookers on Dish a few weeks ago and they were teaching women in Africa (I think) how to cook with them and they were just cardboard with something like aluminum foil on the inside of them and they showed them how to set them up, how to use the plastic bag around the pot to make it keep in the heat to cook the foods and they said that the food wouldn't over-cook in one. I thought it was some good info.

We like to cook outside on an open fire in the summer, have baked bread, pineapple upside down cakes, a lot of different things on the fire. Just like camping only you don't have to leave home to do it.

We used to roast chicken and hams on an open fire, turn it by hands, no electricity or battery power  for us, we liked to do it the old fashioned way, now we are getting lazy, and have a battery powered rotisserie and we have went back to the hand powered one, for we liked the way the chickens cooked better, they got done faster, as they weren't turning around so fast and the heat could get to them quicker.

If you find a site that tells you how to build one, let us all know, for I would like to have the plans to try myself this summer. I too live in a trailer, and when you cook inside, the house is so hot, the A/C runs all the time. What a waste, or electricity. either cook or cool, no happy medium.

I know in the tightwad gazatte, she has plans for a solar cooker.