Solar cooking vs. crockpot cooking

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy and Wendy,

 

I joined this group because I am a new vegan and

needed crockpot recipes. Crockpot recipes can be

used in solar cooker without having to make

recipe adjustments.

 

I learned about solar ovens at the National

Rainbow Gathering [modern hippies]. Their site

is www.welcomehome.org. It was quite an

experience cooking in the middle of woods with a

cardboard box.

 

The inventor of the SunStar solar oven [Joseph

Raddabough] taught me how to build one at the

Rainbow Gathering. He told me about Solar Cooker

International in Sacramento, CA. They have free

instructions on how to build several different

kinds of solar cookers. www.solarcooking.org

 

They also list books available. Joseph gave me a

copy of his book, " Heaven's Flame " . Soon after I

went hunting for more books on solar cooking, as

this was pre-internet, and found none. I ended

up calling Virginia Heather Gurley author of

Solar Cooking Naturally and bought the book from

her personally when I was visiting Sedona, AZ.

 

Later still at a nature walk, a friend introduced

me to Ellie Norton, sister of Eleanor author of

Eleanor's Solar Cookbook. Small world!

 

I started doing solar oven building workshops

with 9-10 year olds at summer camp a couple years

ago. The kids enjoyed watching the stunned look

on their parent's faces. I taught them and left

them in charge of explaining how you can bake

brownies or chili in a cardboard box!

 

Here's the basics. A box cooker type solar oven

gets to about 250-300 degrees F. Water boils at

212 F. Cardboard burns at 451 degrees F. The

average temp for crockpot is 200 F on low and 300

F on high setting.

 

A SunStar type solar oven reaches 450 degrees in

about 20 minutes when empty, but cools to 350-375

degrees F with food in it. So it's not much

different using your regular oven, except this is

a enclosed space and so it's a moist heat. The

lid can be lifted a little to let moisture

escape, but it doesn't crisp foods like the dry

heat of a regular oven.

 

Breads a need to be cooked during the best

daylight 11:00 am to 1 or 2pm. Everything else

is not so picky.

 

So from a crockpot cooker's point of view. Load

up your dark colored, covered soup pot and put in

solar oven anytime in the morning and aim the

cooker toward the southern sky in a place where

no shade will be cast on it. Take food out that

evening. It won't burn or overcook, since the

sun won't be high enough in the sky to keep the

oven cooking past 6p in the summer and about 3 or

4p in the winter. The food won't spoil since the

box is insulated to retain heat, so it's still at

a safe 140 degree heat up to a couple hours after

sun down. Which is a food-service safety

standard. 140 degrees is too hot for most

bacteria, but not hot enough to continuing the

cooking.

 

I've cooked brownies, cookies, soups, stews,

beans, grains, vegies, vegan cheese lasagne so

far.

 

You can cook in the winter if your dish can cook

on low for 4 hours. This is more because of the

angle of the sun than outside temp.

 

Lastly, I hope you read little about Solar

Cookers International. They are saving lives and

the environment by teaching people how to solar

cook. I am very impressed with them.

 

Amirah

Hemet, CA

SAHM to 21 month old Will Ocean

 

 

 

--- ww <wwhite wrote:

> Where did you learn to make a solar oven? I

> have tried to find

> books on that subject at the library, and I

> know they have tried

> to order some, but most that we know about are

> out of print. I

> would appreciate any info.

>

> Thanks.

> Wendy

>

>

 

 

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