Solar Oven

[mannytheseacow]

Anyone have any experience with solar ovens? I've been digging around online and from what I've seen so far a solar oven doesn't really hit any substantial temperatures. I've seen some claims for high 200*s but nothing like 500* or even 350*.

[matt walker]

I don't have any hands on experience Manny, but my understanding is that they are suitable for slow roasting and heating. I think that sub 300°F is the best they can do.

[DrewInToledo]

Hi guys. I coated a satellite dish with mylar for fun a couple years back and thought it would be nice to affix to a heliostat control of some sort to keep it focused. I thought about trying to cook with it but never did it. The focal point would probably need to be widened though.

Here's a peek at boiling some water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUSldROeNns

And, igniting a peice of mulch from the garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSrRSXg2TCU

Just please excuse my rambling in the videos.

[mannytheseacow]

Pretty awesome stuff, Drew. You must be getting some very hot temps at that focal point to initiate combustion. Any thoughts on scaling it up to bake a loaf of bread?

[DrewInToledo]

[pa_friendly_guy]

I have watched many you tube videos on solar ovens and how to make then. You can certainly get much higher temps with the curved disk pointed at a focal point than you can get from the solar box oven. The box oven has the advantage of cooking with out you being there, you have to keep refocusing the other to keep your pot in the focal point. But the higher temps maybe worth it, I have to be there with my Rocket oven as well, constantly monitoring the fire. So it may not be that much of a problem.

[mannytheseacow]

Seems like the obvious combination would be using a focal point to heat up a super insulated box. You build one first, Drew, then I can learn from your mistakes.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Here are some ideas on how to build it, so that you don't have to re-invent the wheel. Turns out that we are not the 1st people to think that using the Sun to heat things up was a good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhhXGF8hE20

This woman said that it can take about twice as long to cook something with the sun because of the lower cooking temps. I liked her design with a shelf built into the focal point for cooking.

Here is a DIY idea to help collect the suns rays and focus then on your pot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7dvd959wfg

[pa_friendly_guy]

This woman bought her parabola cooker for about $200 she said. It seems to work well. She describes it as a Death Ray. So it must get pretty hot. There is a metal grate to hold your pot, and the unit is adjustable for the direction of the sun and the time of day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUW3xL0FVA

[mannytheseacow]

These are great videos, Guy. Thanks for sharing. I think it's getting close to what I'm looking for but I'm still looking for some hotter temperatures for something I can bake or roast with. Maybe it can't be done. I'm a little leary of low temperature cooking unless there is smoke or other environment to minimize spoilage risk. The reflector method is definitely hitting some higher temps but it's focused where I need an oven or heated box.

The other factor is time. I just can't babysit a cooker all day long and make sure it sits in the sun to keep the temp up. Especially here in the Midwest where we have a lot of partly cloudy days. I realize all these technologies also come with a lifestyle change. I suppose when I win the lottery I could do make low temp cooking work!