2003-11-17 - 9:07 a.m.
Every now and then I run across a product I am truly impressed with. The "Global Sun Oven" we purchased recently is one such item. I've always been fascinated by the idea of using the free energy from the sun in new ways. I ran across the idea of a solar oven when I saw plans for building them while surfing the web. The plans I saw were ingenius but I was still skeptical and was looking for something more durable and portable than the homemade plans called for. I also doubted my ability to make one that could reach the temperatures needed to safely cook food, so I broke down and bought a "Global Sun Oven".
Basically it is an insulated box with a glass door on the front. Reflectors focus sunlight into the box through the glass and the temperatures that can be reached are amazing. While preheating the oven empty it has reached 400* measured by the oven thermometer inside it. I was a skeptic but now I'm a believer. On sunny days we almost always have something cooking in it. It is so convienient. Sue can put in something to cook after lunch and by supper it is done and still hot to eat. All the watching you have to do consists of occasionally turning the oven about once an hour to face the sun as it moves. It's almost impossible to burn something in a solar oven so Sue can pretty much just forget about it as she goes about her work. When it's done cooking she just turns it a little out of direct focus with the sun and the food stays hot but stops cooking and will be ready to eat when we come in for supper.
It will be a real blessing in the summer. We don't have air conditioning and lots of time in the summer Sue dosen't like to turn on the oven or cook on the stove because it gets so hot in the kitchen. Now we will be able to have a good cooked meal and not have the extra heat inside.
It's cloudy today but the next sunny day I plan to cook some more brownies in it. In a normal oven the brownies cook with a hard crust around the edge. We all endure the edge brownies to reach the coveted center brownies that are totally soft and fudgy with no hard edge. In a sun oven the brownies cook to perfection with absolutely no hard edge. The whole pan is like eating center cut brownies and gone is the fighting over who ate the center. It's a really neat product.
