Been thinking about building or buying a solar oven for quite a while
I've done some reading, browsed Reddit and such, but haven't had any hands-on experience with one.
Anyone out there with knowledge/tips to share?
Any success with bread/baked goods?
Would prefer to not use the indoor oven for most of TX summer.
Apologies for hashtag assortment, trying to find my folks 🤪
#Solar #SolarOven #GreenLifeStyle #EnergyConservation #Sunshine #Texas #Homestead #OffGrid #resourceful
Today was another sunny day, perfect for #cooking in the #solarOven. I didn't do anything spectacular, just cooked rice. But it worked perfectly again, at least as well as in the rice cooker. The photos are attached.
Dear #fediverse, if you have more experience with solar oven cooking, please share more recipes with me 🙏
Today I used my solar oven(s) for the first time this year, beating my previous record by about 2 weeks! Air temp outside ranged from 25F to 42F (-3C-5C). Inside the oven the temp reached 180F (82C)
My box oven was joined by a folding panel cooker, design is called the Copenhagen Cooker, it's very effective and easy to make, but more vulnerable to wind. #Solar #SolarCooking #LowTech #SolarOven
@mike @winterknell I believe that the usual method also involves some cardboard, white glue and a transparent oven bag
If you overcook something in a #solaroven, is that a sunburn? 🤔
#cooking #homecooking
@ChrisFerguson @snarfed.org@snarfed.org
Thanks for sharing, Chris.
I've seen this blowing up in Mastodon but struggled to find a good article like this explaining the situation.
I'm still not 100% clear how this works or affects me as a user. Does it mean that a search for #solarOven will also pull results from Bluesky?
Can I, or my instance, block this bridge if we desire, like blocking threads?
Building on my last post- I've been working on getting more then just a gut feeling about how much sunlight is enough to use a solar cooker. It's sunny today, but is it enough? Need evidence.
What I've figured out, and how I figured it:
1. Last summer I solar cooked a lot. In August, I noticed that even if the sun was still shining, I had to bring in my food around 5 pm, it wouldn't get any more cooked because the sun wasn't bright enough (too low in the sky = more energy lost to the atmosphere, sunlight more diffuse when it hits the ground).
2. From checking sun angle data for my location on timeanddate.com, 5 pm in mid August is when the angle of elevation of the sun drops below 30° so that means the sun needs to be above 30° to cook.
3. Currently, the highest sun altitude angle of the day is 28°. The first day of the year where it reaches 30° is Feb 6th. The first day of the year where it reaches and stays above 30° for at least 3 hours is Feb. 17th.
This means that the first day of the year I could most likely have success cooking something in a solar oven will be February 17th (if weather permits). I've got 2 weeks to build it!
#SolarCooking #SolarOven
The sun is out, birds are chirping, frogs are croaking, flowers are blooming-it feels like winter is over already!
I have a strong inclination to build a new solar cooker. Sunven III, here I come!
Probably still too early, the sun angle is very low at this latitude, but I see that sunlight and just have to try.
Success! Other than overfilling the tray, creating more of a tight muffin TUBE, they cooked perfectly, up to the opening of the oven (which is cooler) it was a little gooey there. Done in full sunshine before noon, 30 mins in the #solaroven #cooking #offgrid
@glightly
> While these are manufactured ovens, the principle is simple enough you can make your own out of cardboard, black paint and a transparent lid
https://www.appropedia.org/Solar_cooker
https://www.appropedia.org/Sunlight_Oven
I've seen very effective solar dehydrators based on similar principles. See;
https://www.appropedia.org/Solar_dehydrator
#RenewableEnergy #PassiveSolar #SolarOven #SolarCooking #SolarDehydration
Poor Sunven II!
It was getting a bit faded and warped from sitting out in the sun and dew and being used a lot, but I forgot to bring it in before the atmospheric river started last week and it poured buckets every day for a week.
I had to dump the water out of it and the cardboard has turned to mush and will never regain its shape even if dried. The only part I'm saving for Sunven III is the clear acrylic lid.
I still have Sunven 1 at least.
#solarcooking #solaroven
While procrastinating more important tasks, I did a thing for the #SolarOven. The company I got my oven from seemed to no longer carry the little silicone trays they once sold, but I found that tiny rectangular silicone baking trays are easy to find elsewhere for pretty cheap. When they arrived in the mail, I did a test run. They fit great, but the upper corners were a bit to proud, so that when inserting the baking tray into the vacuated tube they would scrunch up a bit. The thing I did was to take a scissor to the upper edges and removed about 0.5mm. This was enough for them to fit nicely. Problem solved!
These make reheating small portions easier, and I look forward to trying to bake some brownies in them soon.
I had some fun today baking crescent rolls in the #SolarOven. We don't usually eat crescents much, but they were very tasty.
@clmorgan @ordinoides is my guru when it comes to all things #SolarOven
This week's #SolarOven project: beef bourguignon. 3.5 hours for a crock pot recipe. (Takes 5-6 hours in the crock pot.)
#SolarCooking #cooking
I made baked brussels sprouts with onion and garlic in the #SolarOven tonight. Forgot to take a picture; they came out good and tasty. I usually like my sprouts pretty well-done, but I may have overdone them this time. Still figuring out how to gauge cooking time.
Made a pretty loaf of #bread in the #SolarOven today. Cheater sourdough with poppy seed top.
"Cheater sourdough" is what I call it when I add a pinch of citric acid to my simple overnight no-knead bread. It just adds a little tang without the work of maintaining a sourdough culture. #SolarCooking
#SolarOven #bread is done. Took an hour to get to 203° internal temperature. (Faster than I expected.) Nice oven spring, but none of the familiar browning. Can't wait to taste it.
Very satisfying to do baking with no electricity or fossil fuels.
