How Solar Ovens Work

The Solar oven or solar cooker uses direct sunlight to cook food. This device does not need fuel and can be easily made. These are often used outdoors especially when there is a high risk of fire. Most of these devices were made to help in preserving forests. By using this, trees can be saved. Cooking food with sunlight and solar ovens, the latest in energy saving techniques.

Preparing food on the solar oven is much like making food on any stove. It would be a good idea to cut up the food into smaller pieces. This will make cooking easier and faster compared to cooking things whole. It would be also advisable to cook different foods in separate containers.

So How Do Solar Ovens Work?

There are many kinds of solar cookers available today. However, the principles involved in each are the same. It will need a mirror to catch the sunlight. The mirror focuses the sunlight in a small area to make cooking faster. It basically converts the sunlight into heat energy.

It would also be a good idea to place the cooker on top of wood or a sheet of plastic to prevent staining. This usually is not a problem since cooking is done outdoors. If you are unsure though, lining the area with plastic or wood will do the job.

The inside of the oven should also be coated black. This will help in keeping the heat inside the cooker. It also helps absorb the sun’s light and keeps it in. The better the surface absorbs heat, the faster the cooking.

Once the heat is inside the oven, it is important to maintain the heat and keep it inside. Using a blackened surface helps but will not be enough to keep the heat in. In most cases, a glass panel is used to keep the temperature constant. If that is not available, then plastic bags will also do the job.

When cooking, the longer to cook meals are added first. So meats and pasta are usually cooked first. Vegetables and other types of food can be added later. There is no real set time for the food to cook. One can melt butter in less than thirty minutes, cook meat in about five hours. This will also depend on the heat source, wind, temperature and location. Food cooks faster two hours before and after noon time.

Solar ovens are a huge help to people looking for other ways to prepare food. It can be made from available material and is easy to make. It can be made available to more number of people if needed. It can be used almost anywhere as long as there is sunlight. Since it has not been cooked in charcoal, the food has no smoky odor. Using this technique will eliminate gases given off when using wood. These gases are harmful to the body. So using solar ovens decreases the exposure to these gases.

However, cooking with solar ovens takes longer than usual. Food preparation usually takes a few hours longer. The absence of sunlight will also be a problem. No light means no cooking can be done. So this cannot be used in rainy and cloudy days, and definitely cannot be used at night. Even strong winds can be a factor in cooking.

Cooking large quantities of food can also be a challenge. When using solar ovens, food is usually cut into smaller pieces for ease of cooking. But what if you have a lot of food to cook? In this case, you would need more ovens or more time used in cooking. Both options are not really efficient and can be time consuming.

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