Solar Cooker

The solar cooker is pretty much done! For the most part I followed the instructions on this webpage. I made a few modifications, such as using a removable glass top instead of an oven bag, and I went ahead and used black-painted metal for the drip pan. That metal can get very hot very quickly. Here's what the cooker looks like when I place it in the sun:

As of now, the raised reflective piece is merely proped against a rock. It tends to blow closed at the slightest wind, so I usually just let it fold all the way down. Should I really want to get more heat, I may try using a coat hanger wire to hold it up in place. It is used to reflect the suns rays into the box.

And without the lid and glass on: the cooker is a box in a box, both wrapped in tin foil. There is some newspaper insulation between the two boxes. The bottom is a sheet of metal painted black resting on a few pieces of cardboard.


The space is actually pretty big. I've tried using an old thermometer with it and the highest I've seen it get is 225 degrees F. I'm hoping to buy a new thermometer that might actually be accurate. That would be the first purchase for this project!

I tried bringing the cooker to practice and making brownies for the two hours that we played. As there wasn't enough time to preheat the cooker, the brownies were not finished by the end. I cooked them a little more later. It's hard to tell the affects the solar cooker had. In the end, the brownies still may not have been cooked thoroughly, but that could be due to my horrible cooking skills (Loryn can attest that I have trouble even making plain pasta) or to the way the cooker cooks. From what I've seen, it seems to be more of a mix between an oven and a crock pot, so the brownies may actually just be more moist than I've ever had. I will have to sacrifice for the good of science, and continue experimenting with the brownies.