re: solar ovens (was Lebanese Lentil Stew)

[Guest guest]

Hi Tameson,

 

As you'll have seen from the picture of my oven, the bottom is curved, which

allows the oven to be tilted to the angle of the sun, so that it's more or

less perpendicular (I generally make slight adjustments every hour or so,

and have a tiny hole drilled through on of the rear reflectors in a place

such that when the sun is perpendicular the light of the sun through that

little hole is directed to one of the outside screws on the exterior of the

frame. In addition to this, because of the sun's reflection off the snow,

winter days are often brighter than many summer days, so no - " darker " is

not a problem when cooking in the winter. In terms of heat generation, the

cold certainly is a big factor, however. Although the oven is insulated

with fibreglass (directly under the recycled printer's plates used to line

the interior of the oven), very cold days translate into a lot of heat loss

from the thin tempered glass door. Nothing much can be done about that,

except to:

 

1) clip on a " booster " reflector to the top edge of existing reflectors (I

use a cheap " solar blanket " I got from " Dollarama " )

2) plan on longer cooking times, and change your recipes accordingly

(pizzas, for example, just don't turn out very good in the our months).

 

all the best,

Richard Menec, in Winnipeg

Solar oven link:

<http://booksinternationale.pbwiki.com/Solar%20Ovens:%20Cooking%20with%20the%20S\

un>

 

 

Hi Richard.

 

I've been looking at solar cookers and have wondered how well they do in the

colder/darker months. Since you are a few degrees north of me I figure a

review from you would be helpful. So what's been your experience?

 

TIA Tameson in NH