Solar Oven - Opinions wanted

[KansasPaul]

I have been considering the purchase or construction of a solar oven.  I've done a little bit of research on some of the commercial ovens available for sale and it seems that a common theme is that many produce a chemical odor - the result of the materials the oven is constructed from.  I welcome any experiences and opinions regarding oven types, designs, and shortfalls.

Thanks

Paul

[Empty Quiver]

Except for the novelty, I'm not sure what the allure would be. Heck that's probably enough in and of itself I suppose. A brand new gas or electric range smells to high heaven. It probably takes a while at the lower temps to burn off all the preservative oils and such. No doubt having a pristine shiney surface would be important and tarnish from sitting in abox would be bad for business.
 
My experience comes from thirty odd years ago in Boy Scouts. It was not something we did twice.    Hot raw biscuit dough after a few hours of wishing.

[Dixie Dude]

I have been interested in this also.  I would think anything made from metal would be better than something plastic.  I have seen some made out of aluminum foil, a cast iron Dutch oven, and a cardboard box.  Worked like a crock pot.  Slow cooker.  Some of the larger metal ones claim to get up to 400 degrees.  They are kind of expensive.  However not using fuel on sunny days could save a lot of money. 

[keith44]

I am so far not impressed with solar oven designs, solar dehydrators have my interest, but the ovens are to my mind a bad plan

[bilmac]

I agree, I sure wouldn't spend much money on one, but being an unregenerate tinkerer I may study pictures of commercial ovens and make one out of tin foil some day. My expectation is that they might heat up a can of soup, but I don't think hot biscuit would be very tasty

[Victor3]

I thought this was interesting...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeSyHgO5fmQ&feature=fvwrel

[bilmac]

At my place in the country, I have been using a shower that is heated with 1/2" black plastic irrigation tubing for a couple of years now. The water gets so hot that I had to plumb in a cold water faucet to adjust the temperature.

[Dixie Dude]

From what I have seen advertised, the larger the reflectors, the hotter the pot gets.  Also, if the pot is inside a glassed in box, the heat can't escape as easily.  However, these ovens are about the size of a suitcase folded up, and are made from metal, and are almost as expensive as a gas or electric range.  Like $400-$600.  I think those will work, but why not just get a Coleman stove with a box oven and some propane bottles, unless you want this for home use or survival use if fuel cannot be had.  If you live in the plains states or desert, firewood might be a problem for you.  I think the idea is great, but only after all other survival supplies have been purchased. 

[Bugflipper]

To expand on DDs thoughts on the box. I did that and it was slow, but did work. I added a direct tv dish and it was a bit faster, but still took a long time to heat up. The box had coat hanger wire to adjust the angle. The aluminum foil was glued to both and polished. I was going to cut the arm off the dish to add that little bit of extra light. Instead I put a magnifying glass on it and got it focused to a little bright dot. That did the trick. The dutch oven would get hot enough to burn things after that.


I really don't have the patience to constantly piddle with things like that. Chasing the sun every 20 minutes or so, I have other things to do. I just set it up to catch the sun in the afternoon at the best average angle. A lot of people claim that it's like cooking with a regular oven. This isn't accurate. It's like cooking slow with a microwave oven. If you are heating up water based things all is well. If you are expecting anything crispy you will be disappointed. Breads and pies remain soggy when they are fully done. Well actually everything does. No browning on poultry. The problem is you need the trapped air to cook. But by trapping the air you also trap the water. I would recommend experimenting with homemade ones before you sink a lot of money into one. A quick search really didn't show anything new on the concept from 20 years ago. Just models that are lighter and more compact. Of coarse I didn't spend very long looking.
Good Luck


If fuel is in short supply a Dakota fire hole or rocket stove can give a lot of heat with little fuel. A thick cast iron dutch oven can hold the residual heat and cook the meal without a constant flame.

[Matt]

a Fresnel lens and a metal box is about all that is needed to make a solar oven.


Use the lens to direct the heat to the box, I have melted concrete with one of the lenses. DO NOT STICK YOUR HAND IN THE BEAM NO MATTER HOW TEMPING IT IS   


Best source for the lens are OLD BIG SCREEN TV's the older rear projection models use this lens behind the defuser in the screen.


Any TV shop should have these laying around and depending on the size you want range from $10 - $50.


These videos will give you and idea of how to set it all up.

Matt

[RemingtonMagnum]

30 Global SEED: Off Grid Living, Emergency Kitchen & Medical Autoclave, Barbara Kerr RN MSW
 
YouTube...
 
This lady has many fantastic ideas. Please watch and enjoy. She has a fantastic idea that works for Solor cooking through you solar exposed wall. For us older folks this is a great idea. Allow us to cook Solar inside our house.
 
Don Jackson Remington Magnum/Ultramag

[Bugflipper]

I finally found a big screen on the side of the road and was able to get the lens out. It works very good. I used a cast iron pan and heated it to 450. Then used the focused light to cook the top of some rabbit meat. I had to refocus because the light was burning the meat. The residual of the pan cooked the bottom. I got the top brown by moving the pieces around and flipped them over and focussed the light on the middle of the pan, just in case they weren't all the way done. Turned out great, even made some gravy to go with them.


The next time I tried some peach cobbler in a cast iron dutch oven. I heated it up to 500 then put the stuff in and focussed the light on the top. It got hot enough to make it crispy on top. Thanks for the info Matt. The next thing I want to try is angling a mirror to shoot the bottom of a farm disk. That should make a pretty good wok for fast cooking.

[Dixie Dude]

That might be a good way to heat water pipe, like galvanized so it won't melt, and pump it through a heat exchanger like an old car radiater with a blower heating air for your house.  Or a water piping system in a concrete floor to heat a home.  Solar heat and water heat, if you build it yourself does work and has a pretty good payback.  I recommend gas, either propane or natural as a backup at night and cloudy days.  Air conditioning in the south is the biggest problem.