Solar Cooking Articles and Stories

My Last Solar Cooker 
Have been using solar cookers for about fifteen years. Started with foil covered cardboard, a jar and a plastic roasting bag. Have steadily progressed …

Operator Error! 
I decided to make Bean Soup in the solar oven today. First I boiled the beans for ten minutes on the stove, and then let them sit in the hot water for …

Warming Up Pre-Cooked Meals 
This week I decided to see how the solar oven performs in 50/50 weather. We had darker, puffier clouds racing by all day so that half the time the cooker …

Solar Down Under 
April 5th 2015 " Hi all, I live in my VW Winnebago and travel Australia …

Anyone tried popcorn?! 
I was looking around on this website, but it’s not possible to do an article search. I’m looking for articles and/or information about popping popcorn …

Questions about cooking in winter 
I’ve been thinking about the frosty winter weather that has been moving across the northern U.S. Here in the St. Louis area, we’ve already had two days …

How to dry and dehydrate in a solar oven? 
Has anyone dried fruits and vegetables in their solar cooker? I bought these great veggie chips at Costco the other day. They are actually dried vegetables, …

Still Summer, but My Heart Said, "Chili!" 
Recently, someone gave me a three-year-old copy of Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve heard about this publication but never experienced it. Now, however, I can …

Beer Bread Round 2 
I tried my hand (again) at making beer bread, and this time I watched it carefully and removed it from the solar cooker after about an hour and fifteen …

Lentils in the Sun 
Wow! Today was a great day for solar cooking! Bright, hot, and sunny—not a cloud in the sky! I threw some lentils (dry and unsoaked) in a pot with some …

Of Books and Solar Cookers 
Apparently, not many people in my part of St. Louis are into solar cooking because I’m finding a real dearth of books about it in my local library! I found …

Bread in the solar oven 
Solar cooking has been going well, but I’m still struggling with cooking times. I made beer bread in the solar cooker, but I left it in too long, and it …

Good weather...FINALLY! 
I made my rubbed whole chicken again, and this time the weather was sunny the whole time. I put the chicken in the solar oven around 1 PM and removed it …

Thwarted Again 
My solar oven weather trials haven’t really improved! I tried a new rub on a whole chicken fryer, put it on a bed of carrots in my black pot, and placed …

My First Time 
One should not first cook in one's solar oven, without properly cleaning it first, I found. I prepared my Sun Oven for cooking by steaming 3 cups of straight …

My first solar cooking attemp 
For Savings i build my first solar cooker. got the plan at SCI the parvati solar cooker made of carton box with mylar matting material and glue it with …

It's here! 
My solar oven has arrived! They packed it very well in its box, and I had to have hubby help me remove it. It seems to be solidly constructed. My only …

I Have Decided! 
I finally decided on a solar cooker. As I wrote in my last post, it’s taken about a year to decide which one I wanted. I settled on the All-American Sun …

Premier of the New SolSource Parabolic in St. George, Utah 
Yesterday's SolSource Demo was fun and successful, despite the fifteen minute late arrival of the star of the show... The Premier of the SolSource Parabolic …

Solar lemon bars 
Hey guys. So when I go to the store I try to look for things that would easily be used in my sun oven. Well I happened across a sale of lemon bars, …

Solar Baked Tilapia Tacos 
The lime in the crust of this fish added the freshness in flavor that left me daydreaming of being on a beach. These tacos were quick and delicious! …

Solar ovens aren't just for cooking! 
Hey guys! So, I am big in to arts and crafts. I make polymer clay molds by cooking them in my toaster oven, so I thought to myself, 'I bet I could use …

Solar Cooking Changing the Face of Peace 
Hey Guys- I wanted to share with you a wonderful story. I work for the military in the special operations community. I spoke with some high ranking …

Homemade solar bread 
I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and make some REAL homemade bread the other day. I was a little scared as I have NEVER even made bread...just …

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First Sun Oven Experience.....Chocolate Chip Cookies 
It works!! We are new to solar cooking and our first attempt at cooking in our Sun Oven worked out really well. We started by preheating the oven …

(Solar Cooking) Baby Steps 
Hey Solar Cats! I got my GSO in the mail the other day and was very excited to get it all set up and cooking. I got it all set up and figured that I …

Awaiting Arrival of My Cantinawest Global Sun Oven!! 
I recently found the Cantinawest website while searching for schematics on building my own sun oven. I am a Veteran and am looking to 'go COMPLETELY green'. …

New solar cooker 
I have been making solar cookers of various kinds for a number of years now. This past winter I made the latest cooker of my arsenal to compliment our …

Sun2Cook 
This particular solar cooker design caught my eye, and I was wondering if anyone has used it. Sun2Cook The designer/inventor said that there was …

A Fresnel Lens cooker that Heats from Below 
I recently modified my Fresnel lens "grill" to heat from below. This allows more conventional cooking than the old version, and is more practical to use. …

Wheelbarrow Solar Dehydrator 
I had an expensive hardware purchase recently in the form of a new heavy duty wheelbarrow. My old Galvo gardener's quality wheelbarrow has been showing …

MIT Solar Grill 
In the August 2011 newsletter of Solar Cookers International, I was struck by a photo of an African woman cooking on a "solar grill", designed by MIT students. …

Small Window for Solar Cooking 
If you know about sun angles, you know that today is one of the shortest day-times of the year. While some prepare for the End of the World by collecting …

The Colony Follow-Up, Solar Water Pastuerization 
Last February, I helped my next door neighbor (5th grader) with a solar water pasteurization project, using less than $10 worth of materials for the …

The Colony (Discovery Channel) 
Over the past few weeks, I watched Discovery Channel's show about a post apocalyptic period, called "The Colony". You can find out more about this show …

Solar Oven Unique Application -- Schoolyard Solar Cooking 
Every year I spend an entire day out in the school yard to teach third graders about solar cooking. My inner city school's main focus is science and …

Haiti Again! Solar Cooking Success!  
This was a tremendously successful voyage to Haiti. Not only to install green energy (30 ! Thirty) solar array panels, inverters, batteries which were …

Solar Cooked Simple Rice 
I don't normally eat rice, but I do have an electric rice cooker that does cook rice, very easily. Today, I decided to take two scoops of rice, place them …

Brunswick Stew (My Version - Hot Pot Cooker) 
There is a book of recipes that features pictures of cans with plus signs and simple directions. The recipes are designed for men, and I believe the book …

Solar Brownies - Turbo Time 
I bought a box of Ghiradelli's Double Chocolate with Walnut Brownie Mix. It's 90 degrees in Vegas. I want the brownies but I sure don't want to heat up …

Power Management 
It may just be my imagination, but the majority of solar cooking enthusiasts appear to be concentrated in the Southwestern US (for we are blessed with …

Introducing Solar Cooking in Haiti for AAE 
We are a group of volunteer sailors who banded together after the January Earthquake in Haiti. Last year, several boats took several tons of supplies into …

Solar Cooking Class In Las Vegas 
There's a local non-profit that is looking for environmentally related classes and instructors. I thought about providing a class on solar cooking, and …

Solar Cooker Science Project 
I mentioned, in a previous story, that my neighbor was looking for a science project idea and knew about my solar cooker hobby. After sitting down and …

Solar Oven Science Project 
Well, its that time of year, when kids are assigned science projects at school, and if you have a neighbor that cooks with the sun, you go next door to …

Ideas are Powerful 
Click on each image The recent issue of the Solar Cooker Review is available here: http://solarcooking.org/newsletters/scrnov10.htm and …

Solar Nut roaster for home use 
I am trying to popularize my solar nut roaster made with a picture frame,cardboard box, an aluminum tray and aluminum kitchen foil.See the description …

Solar Oven Mathematics 
Jim's post about Solar Oven cooking temperatures: Solar Cooker Temperature got me thinking about the Global Sun Oven that I own, and how my reflective-insert, …

Focal Points Made Easy 
I recently posted about finding focal points, and the mathematical method seemed a bit confusing. I decided to explain it all in one simple picture, step-by-step. …

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Solar Hut 
My experiment with the parabolas continued throughout the weekend (in between football games, of course). Although I had created a set of parabolas that …

Cocottes for Solar Cooking 
Although many solar cooking enthusiasts use dark, lightweight cookware, I recently came upon several deeply discounted, black cocottes at TJ Maxx, and …

Going Parabolic 
Over the past few years, I had been experimenting with my solar oven, and recently shared that story. After reviewing the various other products and stories …

"Far From Home" Made - Solar Cooking in Kuwait 
I am a service member deployed to a base in Kuwait. Aside from a bbq grill there are no facilities for soldiers to prepare a meal for themselves and as …

Homemade Solar Cooker/Smores 
I am an aide at a private Elementary School, Grades Pre-K through 8th Grades. The class that I assist with is Grade 4, which consists of 9 and 10 year …

A Fresnel Lens Solar Grill 
My introduction to solar cooking began about two years ago, with the goal of boiling water to make my morning coffee. I started off with a home made parabolic …

Homemade solar cooker/oven and my results 
Solar Cooking -- Catching the Spark I became interested in solar cooking - or at least the idea of solar cooking - quite a few years ago. Time passed …

Everyone loved it! Not rated yet
I had to return Cooking with Sunshine to my local library, but I recently purchased it because it had really good information regarding everything solar …

Campfire Dinners Not rated yet
I checked out Cooking with Sunshine from my local library recently, and today I decided to make “Campfire Dinners” on page 79. I prepared everything according …

Corned Beef and Cabbage Not rated yet
Corned Beef and Cabbage was the order of the day for hubby’s birthday meal recently. He loves it so much, and this year I was determined to make him proud! …

Removing garlic odors Not rated yet
When I first received my All-American Sun Oven, I followed the cleaning instructions sent by the manufacturer, and, based on many reviews I read from Sun …

Apple Crisp Not rated yet
Recently, with the 50 degree-ish weather, we thought it would be a great idea to make our family’s wonderful apple crisp and bake it in the solar oven. …

Making Eggs at 19 degrees outside Not rated yet
The sun is finally shining, but I’m still recovering from a week long flu, so my husband was instrumental in getting this off the ground! He whisked 2 …

New Year's Ruminations Not rated yet
I hope everyone had a super Christmas! Despite the fact that one third of the lights on our tree decided not to shine this season, it was still a great …

Colds and flus and ebola...oh my! Not rated yet
Well, cold and flu season is upon us, and hardly anyone I know has not been affected, my family included. What a horrible time of year to be ill! I’m hoping …

Thanksgiving Thoughts Not rated yet
I hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving. We had snow! Of course, it melted after about a day, but it still cast the landscape into a silent …

Riots and Solar Ovens Not rated yet
In the past, living in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, has been enjoyable and a great place to raise kids. We have a free zoo, science center, and art …

Eggs Deuce Not rated yet
Well, I tried another egg-cellent egg-speriment today in the Sun Oven! It didn’t go according to plan. I didn’t get the eggs in the cooker until about …

Of Books and Solar Cookers Part 2 Not rated yet
I have begun reading a teen “dystopian” novel series by Bethany Wiggins. It’s pretty good, and much cleaner than other, similar, novels for teens. The …

Super Easy Chicken Breasts (solar oven style) Not rated yet
The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, and so I’ve been dreaming up meals for the solar cooker by looking through a new slow cooker cookbook I …

Hard "Boiled" Eggs! Not rated yet
My husband had a great idea to hard “boil” some eggs in the solar cooker. I had seen before that it could be done, but I wasn’t sure about duration, whether …

Later OnThat Night... Not rated yet
...This chili recipe is a winner! Everyone loved it, and—luckily for them—we will have leftovers tomorrow night! Chili always tastes better the next day! …

Curry Not rated yet
The weather lately has been sunny and hot—quite ideal for solar cooking! I’m feeling more confident in using my solar cooker. The other day I made a coconut …

Of Friends and Solar Cookers Not rated yet
I had a conversation with a friend the other day about my solar oven. She was very curious and asked me lots of questions. I’m no expert, but I tried to …

My Solar Cooker is a Cloud Magnet! Not rated yet
My second attempt at cooking with my solar cooker went better, but it still wasn’t what I had dreamt up in my mind! But, really, what new experiences really …

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Half a day in the life of a solar cook Not rated yet
July 6th - San Diego - 8am to 9am - cooked a batch of gluten free brownies. 9:30 am - I put on a large acorn squash, then off to the hardware store. …

32nd Annual Solar Potluck - April 26, 2014  Not rated yet
Tucson Arizona's Citizens for Solar is holding its 32nd Annual Solar Potluck on April 26, 2014 at Catalina State Park. The Solar Potluck is the longest …

What my fiancée says about solar cooking  Not rated yet
I made some corn bread in my oven the other day and brought it in and set in on the stove. My fiancée walks up and cuts a piece and says to me 'I didn't …

beautiful breads!! Not rated yet
So I started this 'homesteading' thing back before the 2012 chaos with the Mayan calendar junk. My significant other decided it would be a good idea to …

Sunny days are here to stay! ? Not rated yet
The past few days have felt like spring with such nice sunshine and clear skies. I sure hope these kind of days are here to stay for the next few months! …

Solar Cooking DON'TS Not rated yet
Hey Guys! So the weather was actually nice enough to pull out my oven the other day and I was a little busy tending to other things, so I threw some …

Solar Cooked Chocolate Zucchini Bread Not rated yet
I figured if Zucchini bread is good, why not make it great by adding chocolate! Everything is better if it has a little addition of chocolate right? …

First Time Solar Frying Pastries.....Sopapillas Not rated yet
Due to some seasonal sickness and recovering from the holidays it has been a few weeks since I last shared any of my adventures in solar cooking. Thankfully, …

Solar Cooking in the SNOW!!  Not rated yet
I live in southern Utah where we do not receive snow but once every couple of years! This morning happened to be that special day when we got to wake up …

So Thankful for the Sun.... Not rated yet
I did not fully realize how much I truly love the warmth and goodness of the sun until I started solar cooking. I have become very aware of the sunshine …

Solar thanksgiving pie Not rated yet
So, I found this awesome recipe in Mother Earth News for pumpkin pie. I made the purée with the hopes to make a pie for Thanksgiving for my family. It …

Solar Roasted Peppers Appetizer Not rated yet
As you may be able to tell by the bacon wrapped around them, these peppers are not just plain boring peppers! If you look especially close you may even …

Getting Ready For Turkey Day With my GSO Not rated yet
Hey Sun Cats! I started prepping for thanksgiving over the weekend and decided to attempt cooking a pumpkin to make puree for my pie for next week. …

Oh my! Chicken Pot Pie! Not rated yet
Finally the sun is back! After several cloudy days I was happy to put my GSO out today to warm my lunch. I intended on cooking the vegetables yesterday …

Homesteading Test & New Ideas.... Not rated yet
So I got into a lifestyle called 'Homesteading'. Lately I have attempted to make items in my cooker that only require base ingredients (just add water …

Solar Cooked Pumpkin Seeds and Super Quick Granola Bars  Not rated yet
Our Sun Oven cooked us the most delicious treats today! We are lucky enough to live in a place where the climate even on Halloween provides lots of sunshine …

Brunch of Champions & One Amazing Temperature!! Not rated yet
Using our parabolic cooker we boiled water for oatmeal while using the Global Sun Oven to cook the bacon. It only took about 20 minutes start to finish …

Solar Cooked Brunch & One Hot Temperature!! Not rated yet
Brunch of champions is exactly what we had this morning....solar cooked oatmeal and bacon! We boiled water on our parabolic cooker for the oatmeal and …

Yummy Glazed Carrots Not rated yet
These were so simple and really good! We preheated our Global Sun Oven to 350 degrees, put in enough baby carrots to cover the bottom of the pan, added …

Extremely Delicious Baked Apples Not rated yet
One of the most exciting aspects to me about this time of year is the distinct flavors and smells of cinnamon & nutmeg. This is why I was delighted to …

Solar Cooked Pizza Experiment Not rated yet
Based on a post in a Yahoo solar group I'm a member of, I recently attempted to solar cook a pizza, and decided the Solar Burner parabolic cooker would …

GSO Modification Not rated yet
I read an article from another site member a while back about how to harness more heat with a GSO. I had some left over insulation from my wood burning …

Bacon, Chicken Nuggets or Corn? Not rated yet
Yes! A few nights ago we had a variety of foods for dinner ALL of which were cooked using only solar power! It was kid's choice night at our house and …

Canning with my GSO Not rated yet
Who says that you can't can goods with a solar oven? I was a but skeptical too, so I figured I would give it a go and see what is going on. I made some …

Defeating the Manufactured Smell of the Global Sun Oven Not rated yet
We are pleased to report we have finally defeated the stubborn manufactured smell that our new Sun Oven had. After boiling pots of cleaners and onion soups …

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Cookies in my solar oven!! Not rated yet
Hey Solar Cats! I finally got a good day of bright shiny sun! I took the opportunity to set up the oven in my driveway. 15 minutes later it was hot …

Solar Cooking presentation in the "Variety Weather Belt" :) Not rated yet
This past Wednesday I presented the basics of solar cooking to a group in north Minneapolis. Fittingly, it was a baker's dozen--13 folks including us presenters. …

Solar Cooking attempt #1 Not rated yet
Hey there solar cats! I finally got my solar cooker in the mail and was very excited to get it started up. I decided to start small and get it warm …

Take Me out to the Sunny Ball game to Solar cook Dinner!  Not rated yet
I love to share how easy and fun and free solar cooking is with everyone so I carry my cookers with me in the back of my little Ford Ranger truck wherever …

GSO Insert Modification Not rated yet
I've been using a home-made reflective insert with my GSO for over a year, and it has helped guarantee that my oven's my cooking temperatures will be sufficient …

Solar Penne Pasta Not rated yet
In the past, I have made baked ziti in my Global Sun Oven by simply covering pasta with a 50/50 mixture of water/canned tomato sauce, to a level just …

Solar Panel Cooker Construction 2 of 2 Not rated yet
Steps 5 and 6 of my construction method.

Solar Panel Cooker Construction 1 of 2 Not rated yet
This is my method of constructing solar panel cookers around my pot. Building the ASSC taught me a great deal. My method allows for using any pot size, …

Indoor Cooking with the GSO Not rated yet
I've always wondered about whether it was possible to cook with a GSO inside the house. Solar Cooking indoors Someone already did! _____________________________ …

Hot Pot Cooker With Cobalt Colored Dish Not rated yet
I think there are a lot of people who wonder if they can use alternative setups with their Hot Pot Cooker reflector panel, and I am one of them. Today's …

My Panel Cooker vs. Hotpot Cooker Not rated yet
First, let me start off by saying that I really like the Hotpot Solar Cooker. If you've ever read reviews on this product on other sites, please do: …

Solar Oven Worth Revisiting Not rated yet
There's a web page that I read now and then, which chronicles the building of a sun oven. The writer, and web page owner, did a great job walking the casual …

Prototypes Not rated yet
As you can see from the first photo, the ability to create a prototype of a solar panel cooker, is as easy as saving this photo, and printing it to a …

Endless Tinkering (with solar cookers) Not rated yet
I have a cocotte that is 8 1/2" wide (see picture), and I really like its size. When I'm solar cooking a single meal, it's perfect. Last year, when I first …

Thanksgiving (solar cooked day after) Not rated yet
This story was one that I had previously shared with the inventor of the ASSC, Jim LaJoie. We were having our family Thanksgiving celebration at my …

Perfecting the $5 Parabola (Part 2 of 2) Not rated yet
Now we're at the point where I tested the focal point, in the dark, with the Sun being simulated by a high powered flashlight. The first picture shows …

Perfecting the $5 Parabola (Part 1 of 2) Not rated yet
Last week, I took the two parabolas that I had built, and detailed in a previous submission to this site https://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-parabolictr …

My Husbands Homemade Solar Oven Not rated yet
Last summer my husband decided to try making a solar oven for me, this because he felt like they were too expensive to purchase. He built it using a wooden …

My Solar Cooking Journey To Date Not rated yet
When I was in ninth grade I tried to make the Parabolic cooker. I used the plans in the book “Solar Science Projects" (formerly "Fun with the Sun") …

“It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement." Not rated yet
“It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the pavement!”, someone had said to me in the passing trivialities on a very hot day. That little statement buzzed …