This post was most recently updated on June 23rd, 2019
Why the Solar Cooker is Cooking Again
Solar energy has been in the mainstream for decades. Products such as Solar heaters, panels, solar lighting, and batteries. It may surprise you that the Solar cooker have been around for decades and have even been reference over a century ago in certain writings an8d accounts.
The solar cooker is simple yet ingenious product that operates much like a conventional oven. Many of the solar cookers come in all shapes and sizes.
Popular Design/Types of Solar Cookers
Parabolic style cookers are some of the most popular type/design of a solar cooker. They work by generating heat from curved shaped reflectors.
The parabolic solar cooker captures sunlight and the radiation that emanates from the sun. Many of the larger parabolic solar cooker models
At first glance, the material used that lines the inside of the solar cookers panels will remind you of the sun shields you used to block the Sun on your car’s windshield.
Reflecting the bright sunlight these solar panel cookers also look like mirrors whereby they keep heat and get extremely hot.
Cooking temperatures can go as high as 350-400F which is the ideal cooking temperature for many delicious foods like beef and fish.
Most parabolic style solar cookers will use lightweight aluminum, where the face of the dish panel have a very reflective mylar material. The parabolic cooker is essentially a parabolic reflector of heat.
We often associate sunlight with heat, but in actuality, it’s the sun’s radiation that really gives off the heat. Electromagnetic rays emitted by the sun and its radiation is what the solar cooker is capturing to produce very intense heat used for cooking.
Solar ovens work very much like solar cookers. Cooking with solar power allows you to cook many hot foods you enjoy at home.
Solar cookers and ovens can bake bread, cook hot dogs, burgers, chicken, and potatoes. Sometimes you’ll see ovens with a plastic bag covering to help
Larger solar ovens allow you to place a cooking pot right into the square-shaped oven on top of a grill. With proper sunlight and conditions, food cooks as you would expect. The cooker is
Similarly, solar ovens work in the same way. Both solar cookers and solar ovens rarely flame
Let’s take a look at a few real-life applications of the solar cooker.
Solar Panel Cooker in the most remote areas
The most obvious people who would see the benefits of owning a solar cooker are campers. Sure it’s fun to build a campfire. You can cook your food and keep the campground warm at the same time.
For the most part, solar cookers are safe. You could turn on solar cooker early in the morning. You will
Some people camp in very remote places. I have camped in the Florida everglades. Certain areas are so remote you wouldn’t see a single person during the entire day.
You hear nightmare stories of people getting lost and having to spend the night. Being able to cook food in an emergency or post-emergency can really lift your spirits. Solar cookers shine in the most remote locations.
Preppers, Survivalists and Off-the-Grid
Solar cookers and ovens are an absolute must for the survivalist and prepper. A true survivalist can build a fire and cook using just 2 sticks or with flint.
Lets face it, with all the other things going on, having a solar cooker as part of the survival gear inventory is what you’d expect from those who are the most prepared .
Another Nifty Idea for Tailgaters
Surely you can have your charcoal grill grilling the hot dogs, hamburgers, and steaks. Even so, the solar cooker can still be part of the pre-game festivities.
Besides being clean, quiet and safe, it’s often portable. It’s not a hassle to lug around or a chore to set up. You’ll often use the solar cooker just for the convenience alone.
You can be up and cooking in a short order. Some solar cookers just unfold, and you’re ready to go. Hot dogs and hamburgers can cook on the grill. Meanwhile, the solar cooker could heat and have something cooking as well at the same time. The solar cooker could also be used as a backup if the electricity goes out or the generator fails.
Cool school project idea
Often, kids will enjoy learning in the classroom when they can see theory and science they learn about in books come to life, in both a theoretical yet practical way. Using a solar cooker or oven in the classroom is a great way to introduce kids to. solar and green energy technology.
They can learn how solar energy works, where they can apply these types of innovations in the real world, and even come up with their own engineering ideas to enhance and improve solar commercial products.
Best of all, it can teach kids in the classroom how green and renewable energy can improve life and living. Some schools involved with these types of projects will even donate their solar cookers. After their projects are complete, they donate the solar cookers
Solar Cookers as an Essential Storm Supply
Perhaps one of the most challenging moments I experienced, were the days after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Not only was a storm powerful and intense, but the aftermath also lasted for months.
We were out of electricity for 6 weeks. During that late August year, the heat was just brutal even during the evening.
We often ate cold sandwiches and lots of canned food and chips. It was difficult to even get charcoal for the charcoal grill just to make a hot meal.
A solar oven or a solar cooker coupled with a solar powered generator would have been awesome. Ok so we had to eat canned foods.
Regardless
Solar Cooker Downsides
Unlike some Solar products, solar cookers have their drawbacks and weaknesses. Places that have limited sunlight will not capture enough solar energy to make the solar cooker work efficiently. You really need a sunny day to get optimal results.
Living in Florida, we could literally use a solar cooker year round. Even in the dead of winter when it’s cold, the sun and the sun rays here are still very intense. As you would expect, solar cookers and solar ovens will not work well with limited sunlight and very cloudy days. Solar cookers will also not work during the evening.
So there will always be a need for that campfire at night. They were never meant to replace a campfire. Think of the solar cooker, as an assistant, and as a helper. It’s not meant to be the primary cooking appliance.
Monitoring, adjustments and tracking the Sun while cooking
You can’t just cook it, set it and forget it, like an oven or microwave
By having to adjust the angle of the parabolic panel, sometimes the heat of the pot or panel
Size and Portability
Some solar cookers are just too large to be portable. There’s probably no better example than the parabolic solar cooker we’ve just mentioned.
These parabolic cookers are larger than the typical satellite dish you use at home to watch TV. They’re massive even if you have a van or pickup truck. Really these types of solar cookers are better for home use, or any location where you wouldn’t expect to transport the cooker..
Affordable and Available
Some solar cooker and solar ovens have gotten very sophisticated. Some even cost more than many great toaster ovens. Yet, there are still a few decent solar cookers and solar ovens that are both affordable and practical enough to make owning one cost-effective.
With such a simple concept you would think we use solar cookers everywhere, however, it’s only been in recent years where many foundations and organizations across the globe have tried to give access to solar cookers where electricity is scarce.