/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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.