[cantinawest]

Anyone on these forums use their solar cookers frequently, even daily?

It would be great to see postings more often of how, when, where and what you are solar cooking...

http://youtu.be/oJ1vQhc3YAs?list=UUkY-MbepjLvCemaJVXqHeKQ

 

[LindaLou]

Today was rainy but two days ago, in my Sun Oven, I cooked up pinto beans that I had soaked overnight. Right at the end I added the ingredients for Taco Soup. Yummy!

I live on the coast so we have hardly any days of perfectly clear skies. Most days, though not outright cloudy, there are lots of puffy white clouds floating between the sun and my solar cooker. Temperature in cooker rise to 325 F between clouds, then drop to 175 F when another puffy white cloud passes over. Sigh. :xeye:

I still have fun messing with my cooker. Solar cooking sure is a great way to keep the kitchen cool and reduce the utility bill! :thumb:

 

[cantinawest]

Today was rainy but two days ago, in my Sun Oven, I cooked up pinto beans that I had soaked overnight. Right at the end I added the ingredients for Taco Soup. Yummy!

I live on the coast so we have hardly any days of perfectly clear skies. Most days, though not outright cloudy, there are lots of puffy white clouds floating between the sun and my solar cooker. Temperature in cooker rise to 325 F between clouds, then drop to 175 F when another puffy white cloud passes over. Sigh. :xeye:

I still have fun messing with my cooker. Solar cooking sure is a great way to keep the kitchen cool and reduce the utility bill! :thumb:

I guess living near the coast will always be a bit more challenging when it comes to solar cooking, but I am glad to see that you persist and do use your cooker as often as you are able.
Even where I live here in the desert southwest (near Las Vegas) we have our cloudy days to contend with as well, and the summer monsoon can "cause us fits". Just two days ago we had totally cloudy skies all day and very heavy rainfall (unusual) but then the next day I was right back at it and cooking away with my solar cookers.
I solar cook every day that I have sunshine (even sporadic sunshine), so it can add up to about three hundred days a year.

 

[Wombat]

I own a solar cooker. I have it as a back up to a back up to a back up. I have a few books even the OOP one recommended here, but I just cant bring myself to spending all day babysitting a foil box. Maybe if i build one of those sun tracker jobs for it.

Thanks for the videos, they make it look more rewarding and less sleep inducing.

 

[cantinawest]

Not too time consuming

I own a solar cooker. I have it as a back up to a back up to a back up. I have a few books even the OOP one recommended here, but I just cant bring myself to spending all day babysitting a foil box. Maybe if i build one of those sun tracker jobs for it.

Thanks for the videos, they make it look more rewarding and less sleep inducing.

I wouldn't want to spend all day "babysitting" a cooker either.
Most of the time I just toss it in and go about my work.
I run two businesses and still solar cook almost every day.
Sometimes it takes less time to solar cook and other times it takes
as long as it would as cooking traditionally in the kitchen, it mainly depends on what it is that I am cooking. The time is usually more dependent on the food and the preparations.

 

[LindaLou]

I find that soup/stew recipes require less water because cooking is not at a hard boil.

Saving water: it's a good thing! :upsidedown:

 

[LindaLou]

I own a solar cooker. I have it as a back up to a back up to a back up.

Not to hijack the thread, but do most solar cooker users have it as a main method to cook post-SHTF or is it a backup?

Cantinawest and Wombat, may I ask, what is your plan for a main method for cooking post-SHTF?

Methods of cooking for an extended period of time without electricity is a weak part of my prepping. I'm interested in what others are doing.

Thanks in advance! :thumb:

 

[cantinawest]

Can a solar cooker be a principal method for cooking?

Most people, especially preppers that actually think about a secondary method for cooking if the power is out, probably have a solar cooker mostly for a backup with gas or wood as their primary means of cooking when there is no electricity.

I too stockpile wood, propane, briquettes and such for when I need to cook at night, or when the weather is not cooperative, but I much prefer to use my solar cookers so as to conserve my expendable fuels for when I really need them.

I am probably different than most people in the fact that I use my solar cookers all of the time, right now, even though I have no special reasons like "power outage" or such. I just like to use a free and sustainable resource like the sun because to me it makes sense, common sense if you will.
And, it is just as easy to use a solar cooker as it is any other cooking method, including electric. Granted, it does take a little bit more pre-thought and pre planning to put together meals so that you have them ready to toss into the solar cookers, but for most traditional "scratch" cooking the same would apply as well. Of course our "throw away" and hyper-busy modern society wants everything out of a box and microwaved, so they don't have any patience for traditional home cooking, much less solar cooking.
But, I guess when there is no power and things are not functioning as they always have, then I guess a lot of people will all of a sudden have all the time in the world and cooking (or surviving) will be their biggest priority and focus.

So, solar cookers will be my main method of cooking probably about 75% of the time, since that is close to what I do already, and the other methods will be my backup.

The attached photo shows one of my solar cookers I carry in my car with me all of the time for heating lunch every day when I am at different job sites.

 

[jdode]

I definitely want to give this a try.:thumb:

 

[cantinawest]

Missouri solar cooks

I know of quite a few solar cooks from Missouri, some of whom are avid solar cooks and use their cookers quite frequently.

In fact I just learned of a new cook that lives around the St. Louis area and she is enjoying here new oven.

 

[cantinawest]

Link to Solar Cook in Missouri

Here is one of the contributions from the gal in Missouri who is just learning to solar cook...
http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/beer-bread-round-2.html

 

[jdode]

I have a black, kettle type bbq grill. I think I should try to make a solar cooker/oven with it. My back does not like a lot of bending over.

 

[cantinawest]

Homemade solar cookers

There are many people who have made their own solar cookers with much success and who have improved upon some of them to the point that they rival the manufactured cookers in quality and effectiveness.
Of course that takes more time, money and work, but you can come up with some good effective solar cookers if you are willing to go to those lengths.

If you don't mind all the links you can check on some of them to see what other people have shared with us by way of DIY solar cookers.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/homemade-parabolic-solar-cooker-made-of-printing-plates.html

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/fresnel-lens-solar-grill.html

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/subwoofer-solar-oven.html

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/double-jar-solar-cooker.html

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/daves-permanent-solar-box-oven.html

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/old-satellite-dish-and-solar-panel-cookers.html

 

[Wombat]

Not to jack a thread about solar cooking, but a solar cooker can be reversed to make ice.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7801095_diy-solar-icemaker.html

 

[LindaLou]

Does this really work?

Intriguing but kinda hard to believe. Super cool (pun) if it actually works.

 

[cantinawest]

Solar Funnel cooler

That's a great use for some solar cookers.
I was aware of this use, even though I have never tried it myself.
But I had read years ago a report from Dr. Steven Jones a Professor at BYU who had used his own funnel cooker to achieve refrigeration levels at night ...
Here is some of his article:

How to Use the Solar Funnel as a Refrigerator/Cooler

A university student (Jamie Winterton) and I were the first to demonstrate that the BYU Solar Funnel Cooker can be used - at night - as a refrigerator. Here is how this is done.

The Solar Funnel Cooker is set-up just as you would during sun-light hours, with two exceptions:

1. The funnel is directed at the dark night sky. It should not "see" any buildings or even trees. (The thermal radiation from walls, trees, or even clouds will diminish the cooling effect.).

2. It helps to place 2 (two) bags around the jar instead of just one, with air spaces between the bags and between the inner bag and the jar. HDPE and ordinary polyethylene bags work well, since polyethylene is nearly transparent to infrared radiation, allowing it to escape into the "heat sink" of the dark sky.

During the day, the sun's rays are reflected onto the cooking vessel which becomes hot quickly. At night, heat from the vessel is radiated outward, towards empty space, which is very cold indeed (a "heat sink").

As a result, the cooking vessel now becomes a small refrigerator. We routinely achieve cooling of about 20º F (10º C) below ambient air temperature using this remarkably simple scheme.

In September 1999, we placed two funnels out in the evening, with double-bagged jars inside. One jar was on a block of wood and the other was suspended in the funnel using fishing line. The temperature that evening (in Provo, Utah) was 78º F. Using a Radio Shack indoor/outdoor thermometer, a BYU student (Colter Paulson) measured the temperature inside the funnel and outside in the open air. He found that the temperature of the air inside the funnel dropped quickly by about 15 degrees, as its heat was radiated upwards in the clear sky. That night, the minimum outdoor air temperature measured was 47.5 degrees - but the water in both jars had ICE. I invite others to try this, and please let me know if you get ice at 55 or even 60 degrees outside air temperature (minimum at night). A black PVC container may work even better than a black-painted jar, since PVC is a good infrared radiator - these matters are still being studied.

I would like to see the "Funnel Refrigerator" tried in desert climates, especially where freezing temperatures are rarely reached. It should be possible in this way to cheaply make ice for Hutus in Rwanda and for aborigines in Australia, without using any electricity or other modern "tricks." We are in effect bringing some of the cold of space to a little corner on earth. Please let me know how this works for you.

Conclusion: Why We Need Solar Cookers

The BYU Funnel Cooker/Cooler can:

Cook food without the need for electricity or wood or petroleum or other fuels.
Pasteurize water for safe drinking, preventing many diseases.
Save trees and other resources.
Avoid air pollution and breathing smoke while cooking.
Use the sun's free energy. A renewable energy source.
Cook food with little or no stirring, without burning.
Kill insects in grains.
Dehydrate fruits, etc.
Serve as a refrigerator at night, to cool even freeze water.

 

[jdode]

Looks like cantinawest has a good article for us

 

[Wombat]

Looks like cantinawest has a good article for us

Did ya even click in the DIY link?

 

[jdode]

Yes, I did click the DIY link. Unfortunately, printed instructions w/o pics ends up being gobbledy-**** to me. I am glad that you posted it; it may be of help to others.

I did enjoy the cantinawest article, because it explained how the solar icemaker works. Which is important, because I don't want to build something if I don't understand how it works. The one pic that they posted gave me an idea of what it's supposed to look like. Also, they listed the situations in which it wouldn't work very well. Everything has drawbacks.

 

[LindaLou]

Caramelized onions w/ savory soy beans

This is my first try at this recipe but it worked out very well. I especially liked the process of browning the onions in the solar cooker. It was slow and easy with perfect results. This was so much easier than doing it on the stove top where the chance of burning the onions is excellent. :xeye:

Please click on image to enlarge.

Contents: dried soybeans, bacon, onions, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic.