What Is A Solar Oven?

I saw my first solar oven a year ago. My first reaction was amazement and general disbelief that a box with attached shiny reflectors could capture enough sunshine to develop a cooking temperature of 350 degrees inside the 19 inch square box and maintain it all day long by simply shifting its position to the sun every hour or so. The person demonstrating the cooking power of the sun actually cooked a five pound chicken with potatoes, onions and carrots in just one and a half hours.

Not only was it the tastiest chicken ever, it was incredibly juicy and succulent! The sun oven captures the short waves of the sun and turns them into heat energy inside the oven. The rays of the sun do not dry out the food; in addition, the carbohydrates in the food are caramelized, creating a unique taste unlike any other method of cooking. The sun oven is air tight so the moisture cannot escape allowing the food to become dry.

The second food I tasted from the solar oven was fresh baked bread. It was fantastically moist and sweet from the caramelization effects and literally melted in my mouth, along with the soft creamery butter. If I tried to describe the chocolate chip cookies, you would no doubt believe I was exaggerating their rapturous texture and sinful flavor! See I told you!

You guessed it: my wife and I bought one for our motor home, or rather two of them. On Christmas Eve we cooked a six-pound chicken with carrots and onions, and in the other oven a pot of rice and corn muffins. Yes, we are hooked. At first I decided that the solar sun ovens were a practical thing to have, not only to save energy, but we would not have to run the noisy, stinky diesel generator to operate the electric oven on board the motor home. However, it wasn’t long before I realized how fantastic food tastes from the sun oven compared to a convection oven. It didn’t take me long before I was cooking every meal except for the midnight snacks or meals on cloudy days.

I soon discovered that the majority of sun ovens are actually used by home owners to save on energy bills. In addition, their popularity is due to convenience and because the food tastes better. Food will never burn scorch or over cook in a solar sun oven. In the summer people heat up their houses when they cook and bake in their conventional gas or electric ovens. Then they expend additional energy to cool the house back down with air conditioning. With the sun oven you simply place it on a patio table, pop in the food in, adjust its position with the sun once or twice, and like magic, it’s meal time.

Prices of solar ovens range from $250 to $400 with the average sun oven paying for itself through energy savings before the warranty expires. Beside the obvious benefits of sun oven cooking, there is another side benefit: the oven is a basic stand-by survival appliance in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. You will be prepared with an alte
ative, energy-free means of cooking your daily meals without the need of charcoal, kerosene or propane, all of which can become scarce in a disaster.

Give a solar oven a try; you will undoubtedly be glad you did.