Solar ovens, the new microwave?

Redding, California is a very hot place. In the summer, temperatures reached 110 degrees (43c) fairly often, and the hottest I've experienced was 120 degrees in the shade (49c). In these kind of temperatures, I'd go to my car after work and interesting things would happen. Cigarette lighters leak all their contents. Ice left in a wax-covered drink cup would melt, then the hot water would melt the wax in the cup, leaving a greasy slick on hot liquid. I used to think, what if I put a potato in the car all day? For one thing, dinner would be ready when I got off work.

I was onto something there. A few years ago I discovered that it's possible to cook food in the sun, and the results are excellent. It's not exactly a mainstream activity... there's a microwave, bread machine, and a crock pot in every home but a solar cooker??? Even in perfect climates like Sacramento or Redding for solar cooking, hardly anyone has even heard of the concept. I couldn't wait to try it.

The oven shown is the SOS sport solar oven. It was invented by retired 3m company scientists in Minnesota. It's made from recycled plastic soda bottles and is really effective. Also every oven that you buy sends one to people in poor countries where the amount of firewood and fuel saved is phenomenal. But we shouldn't underestimate fuel savings in the rich world where it's so easy to plug something into the wall, then the plug is plugged into something else, which is plugged into something else, which is plugged into... coal-fired plants in nevada?

Supposedly you can can tomatoes and fruit in it, and I can't wait to try it and report the results. Canning indoors in boiling water makes the kitchen so hot in the summer, you almost have to do it naked, which can be fun.

The solar oven makes very tasty and easy lasagna (no boiling of noodles required), I also use it to make jamaica (hibiscus beverage) and several other things: refried beans, moong or masoor dal, sour chickpeas, brown or white rice. And there are many many more things you can do. Supposedly dead animal parts taste fabulous when cooked in the solar oven. The solar oven society raves about corn on the cob in the oven, but i tried it and was not thrilled, it tasted like you tried to cook it aboard a space station.

One of the best things about cooking in the sun is dinner is ready when you get home from work. The kitchen stays cool so you save energy twice, once by not consuming gas for cooking, twice by not taking the heat out of the house you used for cooking with your air conditioner.

It's as easy to make meals in the solar oven as it is to make things in a crock-pot or microwave. Just about everything I make in it takes 5 minutes max of food prep. The lasagna is truly amazing that way. If you're a busy single person or family who doesn't like to cook, but you like slow home-cooked meals, solar cooking may be for you. These folks seem to like it. When I build the yurt commune to escape a crumbling society, I will need several of them to create multicourse feasts. Kumbaya!