The joys of cooking with the sun

By Molly Brown, Community Sustainability column
Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008

One of the joys that spring has brought: I can cook with my solar oven on any sunny day. During December and January, I couldn't use it at all, so I am making up for lost time now. Yesterday I cooked a pot of beans; the day before a chicken. I've also made soup and granola, and baked potatoes. All without using electricity, gas or even wood - only the free non-polluting energy of the sun!

Everything tastes better when cooked this way; I guess it's because the cooking is slow and even. No bottom burning from the stovetop. Yet things still get nice and browned in the black enamel covered pot I use for most things I cook. The only thing I over-cooked was the granola. Now I know to check it more often and watch the time more carefully.

So how does a solar oven work? It is essentially a box with a glass lid, surrounded on all four sides with shiny panels that reflect the heat of the sun into the box. The box is painted black inside to absorb the heat; it's best to use a black pot inside for the same reason. The box has a retractable leg or legs in back so that you can tip it to the sun's angle. The shelf inside swings on pivots, so that it stays level no matter what the angle of the box.

Mine is a commercially made Sun Oven, which I purchased after several years of not getting around to making my own. It was well worth the $250. I don't know how long it will take to repay that in saved electricity, but I believe I have already gotten my money's worth in the sheer pleasure of using it, and the good tasting food that has resulted.

I understand that you can make your own from cardboard and aluminum foil, but I believe a commercially-made one will hold up a lot longer and probably more efficiently, too.

My friend Jill Gardner has owned and used the same model for 15 years. What's more, for every oven purchased in the USA, Sun Ovens supplies another to someone in a Third World country.

As the sun gets higher in the sky, I find my own works well even on slightly cloudy days.

I look forward to using my solar oven on hot summer days, to avoid heading up my kitchen. I will probably find I can cook two or three different dishes throughout the day, if I plan ahead. I may try my hand at baking bread or a cake or muffins, which I haven't yet attempted.

Jill says a solar oven is great for camping trips; she took hers to Burning Man this year, where it was a big hit.

Real Goods offers two different sizes of solar ovens. I recommend the lager one, because I have heard the smaller, less expensive one doesn't hold much at all. You can also order the Sun Oven on-line at http://sunoven.com/usa.asp. (Avoid the so-called hybrids, which combine solar energy with electricity - defeating the purpose, to my way of thinking.)

Happy free cooking with the sun!