Saturday was perfect! Lots of sunshine…temps in the 70s….a kitchen that was torn apart because of painting….and a roast that begged to be eaten. In between paint strokes, DH brought the solar cooker up from the basement and cleaned it up a bit so I could cook. He was very helpful, but I suspect he not only found this an easy diversion from his difficult task, but HE suspected that it might be the only way he would get fed on Saturday.

Some of you may remember that I purchased this solar cooker about this time last year, but it did not arrive until well into the heat of summer. Unfortunately, it has yet to pay for itself in energy savings…but in entertainment dollars it has its own account built. Since it was so beautiful outside, I decided that there was no better time than the present to get back in the groove of cooking outside.

At approximately 10:45 A.M., I had my pan full of FROZEN roast, cut up potatoes and carrots, and a bit of onion to add some interest, all ready to place in the cooker. DH had the cooker set on the saw table out in the side yard. As I placed the pot into the cooker, I quickly became disappointed. I had chosen the wrong pot…it was too big for the cooker. It was then that I remembered this from last year. Back to the kitchen I went to find a smaller roaster. After searching and searching for the lid to the smaller pot, it was Hais who found it in the first place she looked.

Back to the cooker I went. We set it all up…latched the cover, connected the reflectors, turned it toward the sun…and I stood there thinking..somethings not right. Geeez! The sun is still a bit low in the sky! I needed to turn the cooker on the other side! DH was becoming increasingly concerned about where my mind had gone, but we finally got it all turned around and on its way to cooking by 11:15 A.M.

The beginning temps were 150° , but soon reached 170° by 11:24 and by 12:15 P.M. it was on its way to some real cookin’ at 225°. Around that time, I added another pot with frozen black-eyed peas to the simple solar cooker and placed it on the ground. Every hour or so, one of us would go outside to check the temperature and the track the sun, making any adjustments that were needed. Around 2:50, the temps were hovering around 250° and remained there until the sun began its western descent. When I brought the roast in, there was a shadow falling partially on the cooker and yet the temp was still around 225°. Since I had not opened the pot once to check on the roast during this time, I was not certain what to expect. I figured that if it was not finished cooking, I could move the cooker further out away from the house to continue cooking..or I could nuke it or pan fry it as a worst case scenario.

We were pleasantly surprised with the outcome, so much so that we finished off the entire meal in no time flat. Guess all of that painting built up a huge appetite.

I enjoyed this solar cooking experience so much that I decided to become a Global Sun Oven Dealer. More about that sooooon!

♥

As they finally promised, my cooker arrived on August 1st….4 days shy of two entire months from when I purchased it.

Just thought I would share a couple of photos of our first attempts.

Okay, I call uncle, time-out, I give…..

Do you ever feel that way? Today I am there…I QUIT!

I have yet another failed attempt at solar cooking. The beans were hard! I guess, unless it is just to heat up something that is already cooked, I am not going to waste another bit of food. DH has a problem with food cooked at low temps and it just goes to waste.

On top of it all, I just received notice that my solar cooker from Path to Freedom is on back-order. Well, actually I knew that part already , but NOT UNTIL MID JULY!  The air conditioners are going in tonight. I have puttered around with NOT cooking inside the house for long enough. Peanut butter sandwiches are getting extremely old, as are salads.

So please excuse me while I have a temper tantrum sitting here melting away in the heat.  I think I will go take a nap!

Is it called an attempt if you don’t know the outcome yet? This morning at 10:40 I placed a pot of pinto beans out in my home-designed solar cooker. In only 20 minutes, the temperature on top of the pan was 240 degrees, with the ambient temp being only in the 80s.

I soaked the pinto beans in a bit of water on the kitchen counter all night last night. This morning I rinsed them before placing them in my oval roaster. With fresh water, I added salt, chili powder and 1/2 of a japaleno. After placing the lid on, I slid the roaster inside the oven turkey bag (which was used the last time I solar cooked) and promptly took it outside…well after I took some photos anyhow.

So as we are waiting to see the end product, here are a few photos to ponder….. oh and by the way…it is okay to chuckle at my contraptions…

My first attempt at solar cooking was not a total success, but subsequent efforts totally bombed. We constructed our makeshift solar cooker out of a cardboard box, weed barrier (which I would not recommend), glass from a screen door and a thermometer. At one point, I had the inside temperature up to 170 degrees, but when I had to reposition the items inside, I must have rearranged it enough that it did not seal as well. We had preheated the oven to around 120 degrees. After a couple of hours, I used a potholder to remove the items…a jar with broccoli and a pan of rice.

The rice and broccoli were not as done as I would have liked it, but it was all still edible.

The next day I was going to try some lentils and rice, but the wind knocked over my window and it shattered. I had seen a video about cooking in black jars using aluminum pans, but I just could not get the temperature up high enough. Luckily, DH is in favor of solar cooking, so I was able to order the Sport Solar Oven from the Peddler’s Wagon. I am so excited because the solar oven kit comes with two black cooking pots,  a solar reflector, oven thermometer, water pasteurization indicator and recipe book, which I am certain will come in handy.  I had looked at the other solar oven they offered, but was happy to see that the pans were included with this particular solar oven.