Year Round Solar Cooking

by Joyce Lee
(Ut)

I belong to the yahoo Solar Cooking online group and was recently very dismayed that some of whom I thought were Veteran Solar Cooks, were discussing how to put away and preserve their Solar Cookers for the winter until "solar cooking season" arrived again.
This kind of thinking is really limiting for those just learning the art and in my opinion could cause people to be discouraged from Solar Cooking in Winter months.
I realize that a lot of places can be more "wintry" more often than my southwest corner of Utah, but I have seen pictures and videos on you tube of people solar cooking in the snow. And a lady in Az constructed a windscreen from 2 clear sliding glass doors so she could cook on her parabolic even on windy days.
It seems to me that the key to year round solar cooking is to be prepared with your cookers and your food in whatever circumstances you might find yourself so that if you get an hour or 2 or even less time cooking on the parabolic, you can still contribute to your nutritional needs using the powerful and free power of the sun.
People using reflector panel cookers will find themselves a little more limited around the very peak of winter for a few weeks. But opportunity is there for anyone serious enough to know your solar cooker and your local weather well.
Here's hoping more and more people this year will discover Solar Cooking and realize the benefits and ease of making this important skill a way of life and not just a quirky hobby!


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Yes, winter is a great time to be solar cooking...there may not be as many sunny days, but there are plenty of days when one can get bright, uninhibited sunshine to easily be able to solar cook.
I agree with you on this.

Nathan
Admin.