A solar cooker is a great idea! The smile on your face when you opened the chicken, that was priceless. I'm still smiling myself now. :-) Making a cooker is on my to do list.
Thank you! Thoroughly enjoyed this. If it does that will in UK, it ought to be great in South Alabama, US. Am going to make a solar oven this week. You are inspiring.
I just made one of those and I love it. I used a big Styrofoam cooler, set in a cardboard box with reflective insulating foil in side. Temp shot up to 220 in 15 minutes. cooked well. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your solar oven. I have been playing with the design of one for my self. I will let you know when I completely build and cook something. Record it and upload.
Nice set-up! I was steadily having to do Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions LOL. I feel like if you can thoroughly cook an entire meal in 3-4 hours in the UK in a solar oven, in Louisiana, we should be able to do the same in 50-60% of that time. It's nothing for temps here to get over 100 F for 6 hours at least a day so I imagine I could really get some solar cooking done here. This video has encouraged me to go forward with building my own. Thanks so much!
thesupermom1975 Hi on a good day in London i cooked a chicken in 2h.30 mins crispy golden brown. In Louisiana you should have no problem! Go for it! I am here if you need help! :-)
great everything except one little thing. do you know how cataracts are created? Lots of light in direct rays to eyes over a period of time. when you work with solar wear good sunglasses to protect your eyes
Chris Munster use this as basic just add cardboard for insulation ( from boxes about 3 layers then cover with aleminium just make it deeper than you see in this design ! need any more help just ask p s look at the other comments! :-)
I would love some help please? I know I need something very reflective and glass as well as a box lol I am just not certain about the dimensions of these things.
That's great! yours will be the same as mine! I am in London. I will measure mine up and send you the details. Mine is made of 18mm plywood.the reflectors are mirror card from arts and crafts shops stuck to poster card with reflective tape.collect thick cardboard cut to shape to line the inside for insulation (at least 3 layers) Thick perspex for the top you can make a proper lid if you know any woodwork. if not you can try any way i can tell you how to do it! :-)
I have loved watching the way people cook this way yes I'm in the UK but it still can be done I like the idea of a greener life . understand it's not a all year round thing in the UK but we get great summers
If you want to get your oven up quick use a fresnel lens focused by hand on a crock pot or cast steel dutch oven. This will jack your temperatures hundreds in minutes! You must be very careful to keep your focal point on the thermal mass and not on your oven sides, etc. Once you have the temp up in a few moments then that temp will be easily maintained by your current set up.
Not a bad idea! But you have to find a really really old one made of wood and i only see them in antique shops now! I use reflectors because it takes a bigger slice of sun light 1 square M= 1Kw. Thanks K Price for the idea and the comment!
Hi Mark! Yes i do love it!!! I just got an old satellite dish twice the size of my old one hope to do some tests with it soon! Thanks for the comment! Have a great weekend! :-)
That's awesome! Where about are you in the UK. I recently moved here from California and am about an hour north of Manchester. I know it tends to be sunnier and warmer in the south, but not sure how well one of these would work in my area.
Love the video. Pls show me how to build the solar oven and can I use Glas in stead of Perspex? From South Africa. Just preparing for when gas runs out in coronavirus lockdown. May Yehovah Tzevahot have mercy on us all. Shabbat Shalom
Yes you can use glass but it needs to be toughened glass if you use perspex it needs to be at least 5mm. the box is 18mm plywood with cardboard insulation! Covered with aluminium foil.
Hello Chris, I built a Solar Oven based on yours. I have used it two times. I would like to ask a few questions. I have a feeling I should have bigger reflectors they are not as big as you have and I would like to ask about the Angle I should have them at? I have them around 45 degree now and have a feeling it should be 22 degree. Both times the Chicken turn out very good but took 3 hours. yesterday I took the Oven to a Birthday Party at the Beach put two Chickens in, it took a very long time before the temp started to go up (around 1 1/2 hour) with the two chickens I started them around 9:30 am and at 12 noon I took them out and put them on the grill due to a lot of clouds and people wanted to eat, keep them on the grill maybe 30 min and check the meat temp it was at 170 degree. Well thank you so much for making the Video.
John Rowley Hi John the trick with the reflectors is if you stand looking into the solar oven as if you was the sun! you should see most of all the black of the pot you have the food in.if you see anything else it is not hitting the right spot!grab the reflector and move them in or out till you see mostly the pot and then take note of the angle! the should optimize the performance! it should be about 2and a half hours to cook a chicken! bigger reflectors is a good idea. try that and let me know i am here if you need more help John! A point of interest. I got 190c (374f) last Saturday with a double glazed hatch!
hey a tip. get the plastic out of tge screen of a projection tv. place it over your cone thing amd i believe it would heat up fast plus way more heat. to fry with solar get large metal area and place tge plastic like a magnifying glass on one point. it will heat the hole metal.
Hi Chris I have heard this suggestion before but it will not add more heat unless it is a greater surfice area than the reflecktors! It is good for a focussed point of light in a small area which is good for an expresso coffee but does little to roast a family meal! i have a screen from the tv and i found this to be the case. Thanks chris for the suggestion have fun with the experimenting! :-)
No i just replied to what a think you ment. make a video showing your set up! i am on facebook group solar cooking UK join and contact me from there! It is not falce! we can try and prove one way or the other! :-)
Hi and Thank you LoLo Sunshine. in the video, there is a clip where I say and show the thermometer at 160c it was a cloudy day so when a cloud passed over it fell slowly to about 150c till the sun would show and the temp would return back to 160c since then' I pour out the stock after 2 hours then that allows the chicken to go golden brown! :-)
Cool, What is the maximum temperature you can reach in your solar oven? Did you insulate the walls with wool or fiber glass insulation? What is that piece you placed on the top of the glass? Is it some kind of reflector lens? Thanks!
Hi B Charron The box is plywood it is insulated with cardboard covered with aluminium foil. the top is perspexs ( plastic ) Highest tempriture i got so far was 174c / 345.2 f and that was in England London! Have Fun! B Charron
Chris Munster Thats cool! Thanks for the reply! Is there some specs or guides online on how to build one like yours? What is a per specs for example? I never heard of that. Have you ever heard of Fresnell lens? It is suppose to be very powerful lens. Thanks again!
i have no plans for the oven! The top is Plexiglass.just look at the prepotions of mine! You need enough space for the light to reflect all round the cooking pot! and take the average angle of the summer and winter sun in your part of the world!
In the title post the instructions on how to make the oven, please! I need one where i will not have to heat my house up in the spring through the fall. Thanks!
The better the insulation the more irrelevant is the temperature. With my home made solar oven i have got to 150c in February! Its more important how clear the sky is rather what the temp is! Good Luck :-)
Ooh okay, yeh i suppose wind affects a lot of how we feel the temperature to be so the cooker isn't as affected by that - will make sure to try it on a cloud-free day then! thanks :)
David Sandomirsky I got mine from an art shop it is cardboard with a mirror finish on one side.I got 4 of them and i taped it on some thicker card or banner card.look at the angle of mine in the video and copy it . The cost is around 12 us dollars
Hi Jennifer! The pot is 2 deep baking pans/trays one on top of each other.I got mine from a bricabrak shop .The box is fairly easy if you are good with your hands or know basic wood craft you need a saw a plain drill and screw driver! :-)
lol, you can try it with cardboard scissors first to get the hang of it, it will still cook very well! once you got how it works you can then worry about making it with wood! are you in the UK? you can join our facebook page Solar cooking UK lots of help there! have a lovely Sunday Jennifer! :-)
+TheTankiCOC Yas it was but now what i do is pour out the stock and make gravy or soup. put the chicken back in the soler oven and it will go brown all over.
