/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>47573
...cont

>would two layers of cheap dollar store picture frame glass work?

Yes, depending on the heat.

>as in a space of air between the glass to act as an insulator?

Yes, this is what you need to do.

>would the somewhat reflective nature of twice the glass prove somewhat counter-productive?

Yes, additional pieces of glass does reduce the amount of light going into the cooker. This is why no more than 2 glazings is recommended. 1 pane of glass will reflect light off both the front surface and the inside surface; not just the front surface as most people think. With one glazing you may notice a lot of steam condensing on the glass; which also reflect more light. With two this is less common. The insulating air space is what really makes up for the reflectiveness of the glass.

>does just regular tinfoil work? is that what this is?

I use aluminum foil. In shiny metal vs a mirror the light passes through the glass on the mirror 2 times, twice reducing the light and with shiny metal it does not reduce nearly as much. Also, shiny metal helps defuse the light which offers better heat coverage over a mirror or chromed metal.

>jar, paint, foil, cardboard

Instead of tape, use a mixture of half water and half Elmer's/wood glue. Apply the glue to the cardboard then apply the foil shiny side up. Some people don't know that foil has a dull side and a shiny side, so make sure the shiny side is reflecting the sun.

>>47573
The clear stuff for solar cookers is referred to as "glazing". you can use plastic or glass depending on how hot your cooker will get inside. A lot temp cooker that focuses light directly to a pot like the CooKit can use plastic sincethe plastic will not be getting hot. You can use plastic oven bags used to roast turkey. You can use a simple grocery store LDPE plastic bag, like used for my funnel cooker here >>47097 which has a cage of coat hangers to keep it from touching the cooking container (which is very hot.)

For the medium range temperature cookers you can use regular plate glass like that in picture frames or windows. Make sure they are slightly loose fitting in their frame. Thermal expansion can crack them when they otherwise would not crack; give them room to expand and contract.

For the hotter solar cookers, around 250Fand higher, I recommend using an inner glazing made of tempered glass. You need to either tailor your cooker to the size of tempered glass or order a special size for your needs. Don't try cutting tempered glass yourself or you'll end up with a pile of little squares of glass at worst.

In this image, you can see the inner plate glass of my large cooker has cracked around the 250F mark. I was actually pretty happy when that happened because the temps were getting higher than all the tutorials I'd been reading.

cont...

>>47338
Using crumpled paper with the box in a box method does work. I used it in this one >>47084

Using a box in a box method is the easiest way to make a solar box cooker. My largest here >>47077 uses that method, but the insulation is layers of corrugated box cardboard, scrap building blackboard, with a shell of used blue foam building insulation. The foam had to be on the very outside of the insulation otherwise it would melt. When using cardboard pieces to pack as insulation you'll need to repack it after a few uses because the heat will shrink it.

In this photo, you can see the 3 type of insulation I used. If you are going to use crumpled paper or cardboard you'll need to have a large insulating area. Make sure the inner box has something solid for it to rest on the bottom so it won't sink down with crumpled paper. Insulating with cardboard can make a cooker that weighs a lot more than the crumpled paper kind.

Well, I'm off to bed.

This solar panel cooker is a "CooKit" design,

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/CooKit

These are very simple to make. The above link has plans on how to make them.

Here is a few different type of panel cookers. These types normally use two containers. A clear outer container and a black inner container. This help collect the light and insulate the thermal energy from getting out.

Here someone has made a parabolic solar cooker using an old umbrella and foil.

Here is someone's winter solar box oxen.

Here is a commercial solar cooker for hiking. I think it would take too long to cook for me, but it should work.

This is where I got my large solar cooker design from; the Heaven's Flame solar box cooker.

Here's a solar cooker located at a pizza restaurant in Cuba.

>>47247
>weight and space are of concern.

Which is why I recommend using dual-purpose materials.

>>47240
The sun isn't the problem unless its cloudy. The only problem is insulation and the size of your reflectors. Plant your cooker in a blanket and use large light weight reflectors and you can literally cook food in 12F weather. I know, I've baked bread in that weather with 2 feet of snow on the ground.

>>47234
Carry items that are dual use. Look at your needs and materials and go from there. For instance this cooker, >>47095 is just a ziplock bag and a box with something wrapped around it to help insulate it.

You can use an emergency blanket, with a box you keep items in, some plastic wrap you've been using, and an old shirt to make a solar cooker like that. The point is that the materials to make it can be stuff you are already using and carrying.

>>47223
Not true. The only difference is the number of hours in the day there is sunlight and the angle the sun is to the cooker. That is why this one here >>47084 has such a high back. You only need to increase the reflector size for days that are partially cloudy.

>>47219
Solar cookers are ridiculously easy and inexpensive to make. You can literally make a functional one for $0 in trash.

>>47229
Also, keep the cooker aligned with the sun by realigning it once an hour at least. You can go 2 hours between realignments, but that's stretching it. Keeping it aligned mean the food will cook faster. Making a very hot cooker is best since cooking times can be shortened to that of conventional ovens.

Tips for making a solar cooker,

Black absorbs sunlight and turns it into thermal energy. Place your food inside black painted containers or on black painted trays.

The more square area you have to reflect the sun the hotter your cooker will be.

The more air tight and insulated the cooker the hotter it will be.

2 pieces of glass, with a small space between them, will prevent wind from fluctuating the internal temperatures a great deal.

To cook, your solar cooker only need to reach 180F. Though the hotter it can get the faster the cooking times. You can cook in the dead of winter if the sun is out.

You can make cheap as hell solar cookers or very high tech expensive ones. Here's a googled pic of one made from plastic wrap, silver duct tape, and juice cartons.

For solar box ovens, the ambient air temp is of little concern. It's the food temp that really matters. Use a black container for get the food hot. Use reflective interior of the oven to reflect the light to the container. I personally prefer hot ambient air in the oven, so I paint everything inside black; this ensures me hardly any light will be reflected.

Light color foods tend to cook much slower than dark color foods, if the foods are not inside a closed black container.

The thing about solar cookers is that most people have the ability to make a solar cooker as easily as parking their car to face the sun; as you can see in this googled pic. You can buy one of those aluminum reflectors that you normally place in the windshield to keep your car cool when it is parked. You can place it behind the dashboard so the food on the dashboard will cook faster. This can be done in some vehicles' back glass too, but not all.

I've only baked cookies once this way. It was godly. My old car smelled of fresh baked cookies for about 3 days after that.

The best help to me with using solar cookers is to keep cooking costs and cooling costs. In the summer, I do not need to use an air conditioner if I don't use the stove. Since I bake all the time, I need a way to bake outside the house. The large solar cooker here, >>47120 fits this purpose very well.

>>47188
The pic in >>47187 is not mine. That cooker is the cooker for a village in Africa. They use cookers like that because searching for wood can lead to death, kidnapping, and rape for the women. I'm dead serious too.

The thing with a solar cooker like the one here, >>47138 is that you can set it up in about 3 minutes and forget about it and go do other things. It's a way to easily bake and cook pretty much anything.

I have several hobo stoves and soda can alcohol stoves I've made too.

>>47180
Most solar cookers can't start fires. They do not get hot enough. The only kind that you really need to be careful with are parabolic dish cookers. They focus light to a very small spot and act like a magnifying glass. They can light things on fire.

What causes accidents is when people put their cooker away in the shade and later in the day the sun comes out on that side and it catches something on it on fire or whatever. Keeping it covered prevents that.

This is a parabolic dish solar cooker.

>>47174
He is right though, Jiffy corn bread is pretty bad when compared to homemade cornbread made in an iron skillet.

The best cornbread is made with nixtamalized corn. Which reminds me I have a bunch of this year's dried Indian corn I need to turn into nixtamal.

Here's another loaf of bread.

>>47163
I made them. I've not taken photos of them in a long time. All of these photos have been posted a time or two on /ck/ already. The only cooker I'm using now is the large one, but he aluminum foil is starting to lose its shine and I need to apply new foil. I'm not sure how to do that. I either need to take the old off and glue new on, which is very hard to remove, or find a way for glue to dry between two layers of foil.

A chocolate cake baked in the large cooker.

Here was the first thing I ever cooked in my first solar cooker; a burrito.