Now the solar oven is definitely worth having. It baked the cake perfectly!
I could have gotten a picture before a big chunk was consumed by my dear husband. A good blogger would never post a picture of a cake with a chunk missing, would she? Vince bought a patio table to put the oven on so I wasn’t having to do everything on the ground but it’s a bit too tall and it’s hard for me to reach over the solar reflector panels to get the food down into the oven. Vince is going to cut down the legs on the table to make it a little shorter. But, I had a hard time getting the cake in oven and getting the oven adjusted because my arms were just too short and it spilled a little bit on one side. That was my fault and not the oven’s fault though.
So far, I can’t tell you how happy I am with this little oven.
The cake was baked for our dessert for lunch yesterday. When I took it out of the oven, I said to Vince . . I guess I can leave it set up since I’m fixing dinner in there too. I almost felt like I was wasting electricity or propane by leaving the oven on all day . . when nothing was in it but I kept telling myself . . you’re not using any electricity or propane. It feels so good to be cooking by simply harnessing the sun’s rays. I so wish solar panels for home energy use worked a little better.
I’m getting a lot better, after just three days, of knowing which way to turn the oven and the height adjustments to keep the temperature constant. The only thing I can’t control are the clouds.
Now that I’ve used the solar oven for a few days, and I’m certainly no expert, but here are some tips for anyone considering it.
- It’s quite portable. I’m pretty weak and I have no trouble carrying it back and forth from the porch to the front yard. I think when I go to Louisiana, I’ll stuck it in the car and take it with me so mom and dad can play with it . . if they haven’t bought one by then.
- It cools down very quickly so if you’re wanting to take it somewhere . . it’s not like a BBQ pit. As soon as I’m done cooking with it, I wouldn’t hesitate to close it up and stick it in the back seat of the car.
- Nothing on the outside gets hot, other than a few metal pieces that are hot from the sun. The cooking area is like a rubber tub so it’s very easy to wipe down and clean.
- The instructions say that if you can’t be there to “babysit” it (not exactly their words!), turn it where it gets the most sun between 10 and 2 and leave it. Otherwise, turn it every 30 minutes (I’m doing good to remember to turn it every hour) to maximize the sun’s rays hitting the reflectors.
- If you live where there’s not a lot of sun, it’s not going to work so well. The one day I had a few passing clouds interfered with the cooking.
- If you get it, be sure you have some very good sunglasses. I ordered some welding goggles because the light coming off those reflectors is terribly bright. You can’t avoid that light hitting your eyes when you’re adding or removing food or checking on the temp.
I never dreamed I would love using this little oven so much.
Vivian says
Mmmmm! That cake looks YUMMY! How about a recipe for those of us who like to cook? (and bake!!) Thanks!!
Jojo says
After reading your post I got online to read up more about your solar oven. Some of the “comments” (taken with a grain of salt) say that there is a metallic odor that comes off of the oven and permeates the food. Obviously you have not experienced this – thank goodness! I’m in lower AL and worried about how in and out our sun is or I would have one in a minute!
JudyL says
In and out isn’t bad unless it stays hidden or in for too long. If lower AL is anything like lower LA, you shouldn’t have any issues at all.
I read those comments too and yes, I take all the Amazon comments with a grain of salt and I read on a few blogs that I trust about how much they love theirs. They tell you how to clean it before using it and frankly, I cannot figure out how they’re getting a metallic taste because there’s mostly rubber type material and very little metal that could result in a metallic flavor.
We haven’t experienced it at all. When I opened it for the first time, there was more of a plastic odor but after cleaning it thoroughly as recommended, I’ve experienced no order or foreign taste at all.
Barbara says
I recently became interested in purchasing a solar oven. Read the reviews on Amazon and some of them scared me.
I was so sure that you had addressed that issue on your blog that I went back through all your solar oven posts and read the blog post and the comment sections.
And…here is it.
Thank you!!
Laceflower says
How do you keep critters from running away with your cooking?
JudyL says
They would have to open the latches, which are metal and get real hot. I have to use a towel to open them but when the lid is latched, they can’t get to the food. A bear could probably do it but the rabbits and deer around here . . they’re more likely to end up inside my pot inside the oven than trying to get my food out! 🙂
Linda Steller says
That looks like such a wonderful thing, Judy. It’s great that you can make good use of that near-constant sunshine and the heat of Texas. I think a solar oven would be very sad in Oregon. Even on some of the sunniest days, we spend most of the morning under the cloud cover that rises off the rivers. In a disaster, I’m afraid we’d have to resort to fossil fuels here.
Tricia says
I wanted to cook a roast last night but it was sooooo hot…I thought of you and your solar oven!
You and the sun are cooking up some great stuff!
Tricia
Rebecca says
It’s great reading about how well this is working for you. I would think that living in sunny southern California, a solar oven would work for me, but the back yard is quite shady (for which I’m thankful) and the front yard is on a very busy street. There are some recipes I do not make in the summer just because the oven heat comes right into my kitchen!
Jody says
A piece missing shows how good it must have smelt and tasted. I like to see a piece missing it means someone enjoyed it and the cake is not all show.A perfect picture in my books.
nancy b. in wy. says
I’ve been using my roaster out in the garage as an oven so as to not heat up the kitchen, but this is tempting, Judy! The roaster has done a great job on yeast bread, biscuits, cake and potato fans, but a solar oven…nothing plugged in! I’ve looked at plans to build one, but would rather spend any spare time quilting! thanks for reviewing this for us in sunny areas to consider.