Making a solar cooker for part time or full time use is a fun, relatively easy project for a child. You can use your solar cooker at home or on a camping trip. It can save you money and reduce energy usage too!
Here are some easy instructions on how to make a solar cooker:
While all solar cookers operate on the same basic theme, cooking by concentrating the sun’s heat, there are a variety of designs. Here’s how to make a simple solar cooker using items you probably already have in your garage or basement.
Supplies you need for your solar cooker:
* A cardboard box – cube shaped is easier to work with 20” x 20” x 20” is a good measurement to work with.
* Duct Tape
* Aluminum foil
* Glue (non-toxic)
Directions:
* Make two large rectangle panels from your box – each panel consists of one square face of the box together and a flap.
* Draw fold lines on the cardboard panels, each about 15 degrees apart.
* Cut along the cut lines. (Don’t draw or cut on the square flaps. These pieces will serve as the foundation of the cooker.)
* Glue aluminum foil onto the inner side of the two large rectangular cardboard panels.
* Position flaps over one another and curve cardboard panels around forming a shape that resembles a funnel with a square center (the square center are the two overlapping flaps)
* Use tape to adhere the ends together and position towards the sun. Depending on the angle of the sun, you’ll need to adjust the cooker.
Cooking With Your Solar Cooker:
You can use either a small pot or a cooking bag to cook using your solar cooker. Keep an eye on your food because during particularly hot days at the right angle, you can quick quite quickly. If you’re cooking on a windy day, consider using a rock to help keep the solar cooker in place, be careful the rock will get hot. And if duct tape isn’t working well to keep your solar cooker, it should work just fine, consider using Velcro, that way you can easily collapse your cooker when you’re not using it.
What can you cook in a solar cooker? Just about anything.
For example, you can cook rice by combining one cup of rice, 1-teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups of water. Place ingredients in 1-quart dark pot with lid in a 250-275º solar oven for one hour or until water is absorbed. But what about pot-roast, baked beans, bread and even cheesecake? You can find a whole host of solar cooking recipes online.
Solar cookers are a great way to save energy, have a little fun cooking outside and to teach children that there’s more than one way to cook.
Happy solar cooking!
