I've got solar oven that I thought about adding to my camping stuff ( http://www.solarovens.org ) and I'm wondering if anybody's got any experience with these. I've never used the thing, but I like the idea of it. I think it'd be too bulky and awkward to use on a regular basis, but if I was going to stay in one spot for a while, it might be pretty cool.

My father-in-law has one just like the one from your link and uses it with great success. He made a chicken dinner for us in Arizona. The dinner came out great!

His was given to him.

Years ago we made a very simple solar oven from web directions from cardboard and tinfoil. It is a big flat sheet that folds to form a u shape oven and stays flat again when not in use. Using a black enamel pan and the clear turkey roasting bags we often made brown rice while we were away hiking. One cup water to only one cup brown rice and the rice was done in about 1 1/2 hours, stayed warm until the evening in the oven and never burned. Inside temp got to 400 degrees! Loved the concept and hope to build a fancier one before the next big trip. Bit envious of your fancy store bought model!!!

We just built solar ovens for Girl Scouts this Fall. Fun and easy to do. I used a file storage box. Insulate it with the stiff foam (pink or blue) insulation, paint it a flat black inside and cut a window in the lid. We used plexiglass because it won't break. Glass is better. Put foods in clear mason jars with tight lids. They heat up and pressurize to speed up cooking. We also did rice, kids thought it was great. We baked potatoes, apples, squash, lots of fun.....try it!

Mine came from an African mission group raising money to bring these solar ovens to Africa. Pretty cool idea. But I'm looking forward to trying it while camping, though the one I have might be too big to justify the space. A smaller one might be better for me, since I'm a solo traveler. Do they attract bears or other animals?

After all this talk about solar ovens, and my being trapped in soon to be snow country, I started dreaming and surfing. Still with the topic, I found this link pretty interesting and something anyone could try with very little effort, (if so interested).
It is such an amazing way of cooking....hard to believe until you try it.


http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshi...de_Solar_Cooker

Donna-

The wikia site is a fantastic resource! Thanks so much for posting it I can't wait to make my own solar cooker and try it out in the desert.

We bought A solar oven this last year. I used it about three times so far. I baked a cake in the two pans. they were ok, but I had trouble getting them out of the pots. That I think is part off the learning curve. I also made stew a few times. The first times I cooked the chicken first (breast meat cut in small pieces) The second time I didn't precook the chicken. Both times it turned out ok. The oven is put away for now. I will try again in February. They say there is sun in February. I to think this kind of solar oven would be bulky to take camping. The sun doesn't always shine.