# Solar Cooker Recipes and solar cooker photos



## cantinawest

*Greetings all,

We wanted to share some more solar cooker recipes that might be of interest to some of you solar cooks and potential solar cooks.

Here is a recipe that will give good use to your upcoming pumpkin harvest or Halloween leftovers.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooked_pumpkin_pie.html*

Click here for details:


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Quinoa and bean salad (fresh tasting)*

*Here is a favorite of ours...

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooked_quinoa.html*


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Wheat Bread*


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## cantinawest

*Apple Brined Solar Cooked Chicken*

Apple Brined Solar Cooked Chicken

For me, brined meat is the best way to go...more flavor

Recipe: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_recipes_chicken.html


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## cantinawest

*Sopapilla-Chilean Style on a Solar Parabolic Cooker*

*Here is a favorite "fry bread" recipe that we like to make on our parabolic cookers.

Click Chilean Sopapilla*

*...I would like to see and hear what others might have for solar cooker recipes here on this forum if you don't mind sharing.*


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## cantinawest

*Solar Oven Sourdough Bread*

Here is a recipe from one of our customers for Sourdough Bread in a Solar Oven

Click here to read more: Solar Sourdough Bread


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## cantinawest

*Solar Baked Party Pretzels (Chex style) and Solar Cooked Pizza Dip*

Here are two great recipes for the upcoming Holidays (or anytime) that are easy to make and very tasty...

Click Here for Solar Baked Party Pretzels:http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_baked_party_pretzels.html

And

Click Here for Solar cooked Pizza Dip: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-cooked-pizza-dip.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Pizza Burger Cups*

*This recipe is from a good friend of mine, a fellow solar cook who has been cooking with a solar oven for about 12 years. She is about 70 years old and loves to solar cook almost every day.*


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Challah Bread for Rosh Hashana*

*This was contributed by a frequent visitor to our website...
http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-challah-bread-for-rosh-hashana.html
*


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## Dakine

That recipe looks really fantastic for day to day cooking, and I'll be trying that soon when i buy the oven... do you also have any videos that show recipes that are "survival" oriented in that they start with canned goods to prepare the meal? 

To me that is very relevant and I'm blessed with 300 days of sunshine per year, so not having bought this before is good money after lots of bad


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## cantinawest

We don't have any videos showing the use of dehydrated, or canned or freeze dried in solar cooking recipes, but I will be making some in the future.

In our classes we have lots of people who want solar cookers just for that specific reason and so they ask the same questions.

I can say though that a solar cooker works great for any kind of food storage, especially those that just require hot water to hydrate the food.

I use my dehydrated, freeze dried and also store bought foods such as rice-a-roni, hamburger helper, etc in my solar cookers all the time, these are very easy to do.
I also use my solar cookers to cook my dry beans, wheat (for wheat berries, chicken salad sandwich mix, wheat chili etc.) rice, oatmeal etc.
It's great to cook dry beans out in a solar cooker, because I can let it cook all day long without using any electricity, smelling up the house or heating up the house (summer).
In our free to the public classes we have cooked many food storage foods as well as military MREs (which are very easy, just place the packet in the solar oven and in a very short time it's ready).

Today we did a preparedness demo for a local municipality and we cooked up scones made from a can mix and it was quite good.
We fried about three dozen scones today on the Solar Burner Parabolic Cooker, and I somewhat burned some of them because we had the oil too hot


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## Hooch

I've cooked pork ribs all day in mine. Just added bbq sauce gooped over the ribs...the meat fell off the bone and so tender it was heavenly..

I've cooked chicken too..
slather chicken breats in mayo, dip in plain bread crumbs seasoned with fav seasoning or use taco or ranch packet mixed in with bread crumbs

cook in solar oven for a few hours or all day 

bbq chicken: 
put chicken in pans, slather with bbq sauce cook all day

artichokes : just place in pan all day n cook. some of the leaves will get kinda dehydrated but the artichoke has enough water in it to bake

corn with butter n pepper..just put in pan n cook for a few hours

cinninmon rolls and cranberry orange rolls: place in pans and cook for awhile

I love my cooker. Im not in the best location as we get lots of ocean fog and rain but during nice sunny days I use it alot

oh..pork roast: 
put garlic cloves in meat in a few places, season roast with you fav seasoning. I like terrikai, garlic, sea salt and roast it all day in oven..yum!


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## cantinawest

Hooch said:


> I've cooked pork ribs all day in mine. Just added bbq sauce gooped over the ribs...the meat fell off the bone and so tender it was heavenly..
> 
> I've cooked chicken too..
> slather chicken breats in mayo, dip in plain bread crumbs seasoned with fav seasoning or use taco or ranch packet mixed in with bread crumbs
> 
> cook in solar oven for a few hours or all day
> 
> bbq chicken:
> put chicken in pans, slather with bbq sauce cook all day
> 
> artichokes : just place in pan all day n cook. some of the leaves will get kinda dehydrated but the artichoke has enough water in it to bake


Sounds delicious.
What kind of solar cooker do you have?

The solar ovens are great for baking and also slower, crockpot style cooking.
It's great to be able to set them out and not have to worry about them as often when cooking certain foods. But, it is also great to have the speed and power of a good parabolic cooker when one wants to scramble a dozen eggs in five minutes 

It sounds like you solar cook quite often, despite the challenges of cloudy weather at times.
Even where I live, in the dry desert southwest, we have certain times of the year that we have to contend with the monsoon clouds and rain, but I still squeeze in my solar cooking between breaks in clouds and storms.

Right now it has been perfectly sunny for the last couple of weeks and so I have cooked a lot.


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## Hooch

I believe its the sos solar sun oven...Ill have to double check that. I bought it a few years back and so im foggy on the brand. I do use it alot when the sun is out but living a block from the ocean in the pacific northwest that can be a challange...the other type of cooker I've never seen before..ill have to check that out!


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## cantinawest

If you have this cooker, then it is the SOS Sport Solar Oven...










You can see more about it here as well http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sport-solar-ovens.html

The parabolic cookers I mentioned are used more like a stove top burner as opposed to the oven style that you are accustomed to.


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## Hooch

yep ...thats it! thats my oven..I love it too. The only bummer is the reflectors. the tab dillies that hold the sections together are weak and broke. I used garbage bag ties to link them together. Im not real fond of the sectional way the reflectors are put together either but I can understand it makes for a nice fold up when not in use. Once attached to the cooker I've had the cooker out in 30 to 40 mph north winds ...but it was sunny so I gotta hit it when its sunny. even if the wind blows.


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## cantinawest

I too like my Sport Oven. I have had it for more than five years now.

Yes, the reflector panels could have been made a little bit better, but I too have been able to keep maintain them by using wire, and other means of tying them together. I hope one day, for future customers, they will improve the method of binding them.

And you are right, the Sport is one of the best solar ovens for windy conditions.
Very large and stable footprint.


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## cantinawest

*Chicken Wings Solar Cooker style*

A site visitor, from Boston, MA, submitted this recipe just the other day and so we thought we would share it here...

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/basic-solar-chicken-wings-easy.html


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## Hooch

I cooked a Pork Shoulder Roast in my oven this weekend. 

I first put some cloves of garlic shoved into the roast here and there...just whatever amout one likes..or non at all. I love garlic so I put alot of cloves in nice little slits I make. 

I then slathered the roast on all sides with chinese sweet chilie and garlic sauce, sprinkled it with a few shakes of season salt and about 1/4 cup total of soy sauce on both sides. Last I slathered it lightly with bbq sauce and let it roast in the oven all day. Once I opened it up to slather it with more bbq sauce to check on it. 

The end result was insanely good...the meat is so tender I can cut with a spoon..im not joking...I made a burritto with it and packed a spoon instead of a fork accidently but it didnt matter. 

the meat just fell apart, juicy n tender adn the seasoning was perfect...


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## cantinawest

That sounds very delicious. I'm salivating and I just ate.

Long, low and slow is the best way to do meat in a solar cooker.

Most of the time we have good results with meat in our solar cookers, but there have been several times that we have dried out the meat.

Still not sure if it was a matter of too high of a temp for the amount of time we had the meat in, or if some cuts of meat (especially beef) just have a tendency of drying out when cooked.
My meats are still to often though hit-and-miss sometimes when cooked in a solar cooker, but it is just as true over a grill, in an electric oven and on stove as well.
I guess I still need to learn the fine art of cooking meat...

But all of my other foods usually turn our great in our solar cookers.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Deep Frying Wheat Nuts (wheat berries) for seasoned, crunchy snacks*










Click here for:Some quick solar cooking tips, helps and ideas


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## Hooch

I havent had any issues with meat yet ..it always came out tender, juicy ,tasty and always done. 

Artichokes on the other hand have been hard to cook. The outter leaves get hard and dry and black..like they burned. Sometimes its cooked but its a guessing game and alotta the good stuff on the other leaves are hard still and it just seems like they get tough even if I can manage to scrape the choke. owell..just have to figure it out next year...


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## cantinawest

Maybe artichokes (and some meats) would better cooked if wrapped in an oven roasting bag and tied close so as to keep all of the moisture in.
I have done that before and it seems to help in more moisture retention.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Pumpkin Muffin Recipe from a fellow Arizona Solar Cook*

This customer has a few recipes that we thought were very good.

Solar Cooker Pumpkin Muffins http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-pumpkin-muffins.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Honey Popcorn*

Just finished making this recipe today on the Solar Burner, and it was easy and very tasty.
Even the honey bees in the backyard were attracted to the smell of the cooking honey...

See recipe here http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooker_honey_popcorn.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Italian Market Bread*

Another great recipe from a Boston area solar cook and colleague of ours...

See it at: Solar Cooked Italian Market Bread


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## cantinawest

*Holiday Solar Cooked Goodies and Recipes*

We are coming into the Holiday Season and we have plans for a lot of
solar cooked goodies this year.

We have a pretty long list of things we want to make in our cookers for the upcoming holidays.
I am going to do gingerbread men, fresh pumpkin pie (Halloween pumpkins) Apple Pie, Chex party mix, Scones, homemade pretzels, honey popcorn, chocolate cheesecake and much more...

Here is a recipe we find to be very good for cooking in a solar oven...
http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_recipes_gingerbread.html

...anyone else have any good Holiday Solar Cooker recipes?


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## cantinawest

*Breakfast Sausages on a SolSource Parabolic*


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Shepards Casserole*

Here is a recipe we made yesterday (Sunday) for dinner.

Solar Cooker Shepards Casserole (more detail on the recipe page)

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooker_shepards_casserole.html


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## cantinawest

*Homemade Solar Cookers in Peru*

Here is a link to a nice story from a visitor to our site that submitted their solar cooking experience using a homemade solar cooker while in Peru.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-cooker-recipes-foods-and-the-results.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Paella from Bruce Joseph*

Here is a good recipe that is easy to make in any solar oven or panel cooker.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-cooker-paella.html


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## cantinawest

*Buttermilk Pumpkin Muffins on a parabolic cooker*

My assistant, Joyce Lee, made some really good pumpkin doughnuts for our solar cooking class this last Saturday (16 November 2013) and so I thought I would share the recipe for any who might like to try such.

Of course it can be made even without using a solar parabolic cooker 

Here is the recipe: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-parabolic-buttermilk-pumpkin-donuts.html










in the photo the doughnuts are sitting alongside an oatmeal pie she made in a Sun Oven

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-oven-old-fashioned-oatmeal-pie.html


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## cantinawest

*what to do with three inches o f snow on the ground?*

...break out the solar cookers.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Leftover Turkey Fajitas*

*Here is a really tasty recipe we cooked up with our solar cookers using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and Christmas.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solarcooker_leftover_turkey_fajitas.html*


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## cantinawest

*After many cloudy days we finally got a totally sunny day...*

Today is our first really sunny day in a while this 8th day of March, and of course out came all of the solar cookers (well, half of them) and we cooked BLUEBERRY QUICKBREAD, BACON, WHITE BREAD (six loaves) DRY BEANS AND CHILI, And I even got over to the landfill to pick up two loads of compost for the garden...
Nothing like a productive day outside and good solar cooked food to boot.
I just talked to some customers today also that are using their Sun Ovens for the first time as well as a neighbor doing the same.

There is a pent up need to do some solar cooking after all of this cloudiness
and I live in the desert southwest where it is usually sunny.


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## cantinawest

*Full Meal Solar Cooked deal at a bargain...*

Yesterday was a Sunny-full-meal-cooking-day, so with two sun ovens and a Solar Burner Parabolic cooker we were able to easily cook a chicken, potatoes and veggie dinner.

I set out the ovens to preheat at about 1:30 when I arrived home and then, having nothing in mind, I went searching for something to cook. I pulled out frozen, rock hard, chicken drumsticks and covered them with a bbq sauce and some garlic/onion seasonings and threw them into the oven. I scrubbed some potatoes and put them into the other oven and then came back into the house to work from the office for the next four hours, checking on the ovens every hour to orient them to the sun.

I did not want the temp to be real high, just moderate so as to have tender chicken and potatoes.

The last hour before dinner, about 4:30 PM I cooked the creamed corn w/ seasonings and the garden fresh spinach on the parabolic cooker and by 6:00 my wife and youngest son arrived home to a set table and ready to eat meal.
They just had to sit down and eat.

I pulled out the meat and potatoes from the ovens where they had remained at a temp of 200 degrees F until served.
The potatoes (with butter and sour cream) and chicken were perfect.
Looking forward to many days of solar cooked meals ahead this year.
(4 photos)


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## LincTex

Best be wearin' some durn good sunglasses!!!! 

Actually, I think Oxy/Acet welding goggles is what is needed here



cantinawest said:


>


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## cantinawest

I guess if you have welding goggles you could use them, but sunglasses are usually sufficient.

I don't use sun glasses much at all, even when using my solar parabolic cookers, but there are times when I will if I am checking focus points and such quite often...I probably should though.


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## cantinawest

*Unique and innovative solar cooker design*

I like the way this one looks, unique engineering and design...


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## Dakine

I only made the mistake of looking at the oven while approaching it once. 

I keep my dog inside though when I'm cooking, I dont want her to put that big curious snout of hers into the collectors and get the light in her eyes. She's not a big fan of that because she wants to check it out lol


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## cantinawest

*Getting flashed by a solar cooker...*

I usually can avert my gaze quick enough before I get too much flash, but lots of people do get caught unawares the first few times.

Animals are always curious as well because of the brightness.
And, some animals are curious with the reflections in the panels.

We had some lizards and some chipmunks that liked to look at their reflections (albeit dull reflection) in the Hot Pot cooker when we used them at a previous home.

I also had a lady from Florida send us photos of a black snake that was "basking in" the reflected warmth of a homemade solar panel cooker she had made and was using in her back yard.

I'm still waiting for a small bird (meat ball size) to hover in the focal point of the parabolic cooker so I can be surprised with a quick Hors d'oeuvre.


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## cantinawest

*Sunday solar cooking*

Sunday we were able to enjoy a spiritual feast as well as a physical feast.
It was a perfectly bright and sunny day and so we had to take advantage of course.
For Breakfast it was bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and juice or milk
Bacon provided by the Solar Burner and the Solsource provided the eggs.
We then set out the Sun Ovens to cook up our big pot of potatoes, carrots, onions, celery and cream soup mix with chicken thighs. This cooked at a moderate heat 275-300 F. all day long until 6:00 PM when we sat down to eat, and the chicken was tender and the potatoes and veggies perfectly cooked.
We also cooked a Cherry Dump Cake as well for our dessert, which took only an hour and a half, after which we pulled it out to cool.
Oh, and I did my weekly, big batch of solar cooked popcorn as well&#8230;on the burn of course.
I can't do without my batch of popcorn for the week.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Baked Beans (even picky kids will eat it)*

This is one of our favorite dishes to solar cook and our kids, who did not like beans, have always eaten it...

They mostly like beans now though, now that they are older.

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solarcookingrecipes-bakedbeans.html


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## NaeKid

Checked out that recipe that was linked - looked good!

I'll probably try it in my dutch-oven :wave:


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## cantinawest

*Baked Beans*

I think it would work great in a dutch oven.
I usually don't adjust or change recipes very much for my solar cooking, so it
should work great.

...but, I will have to say there is something about "sunkissed" foods from a solar cooker that make them taste mighty good.


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## Hooch

Pumpkin ppie experiment in the solar oven today..


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## cantinawest

Hey, that's great.
We love doing pumpkin pies in our solar ovens...and, really any pie.

Most of the time we do them around the Holiday Season, especially after Halloween when I take advantage of all of the pumpkins I can get a hold of.

Now all you need is some stuffing, turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes


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## Hooch

It turned out awesome!


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## Dakine

whats with the broken egg shells in the oven??


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## Hooch

Baked eggshells then crush to feed back to my hens..they love them n it helps them make strong eggs...


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## cantinawest

*Brazilian Manufactured Solar Oven*

I like this design.
It looks to be a very practical, functional and even a nice looking solar cooker design...Made and used in Brazil.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker array in Boston, Mass.*

Our colleague and fellow solar cook, Karen H, Lives in *Boston *and cooks quite often with her many solar cookers.

I think she has six or seven cookers, but here are three of them she was using on Easter Sunday to cook her family's meal.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Quiche from South Dakota...cooked in a Hot Pot*

This was shared with us by a fellow solar cook from South Dakota...

See her story at: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sunkissed-quiche-crustless.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Kiosk for Street Vendors*

We found this solar kiosk being used in Argentina and Uruguay.

Why not feed the "starving masses" (barter, sell, trade) while you are out "surviving" a disaster?


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## cantinawest

*SolSource parabolic cooker does great Seafood Paella*


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## Dakine

the dish doing frying has been haunting me for ages, I just hit the buy now button 

Cant wait to try this!


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## cantinawest

*And I am eating the popcorn...*

And, I am eating the popcorn (even as I write) that I popped earlier on my Solar Burner Parabolic cooker


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## crabapple

My DW is telling about this new thing a friend found call a Solar cooker.
I tell her this has been around like forever & you can make one fairly cheap.
Then I gave her this link.
I use a dutch oven, when not using the grill, fire pit or house stove.


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## Dakine

crabapple said:


> My DW is telling about this new thing a friend found call a Solar cooker.
> I tell her this has been around like forever & you can make one fairly cheap.
> Then I gave her this link.
> I use a dutch oven, when not using the grill, fire pit or house stove.


I agree with that, and I've even read that during the great depression people were using very primitive forms of solar cookers! Nothing has changed in those almost 100 years... nothing. it's still sunlight focused into heat, without using fuel. Granted our technology is better than theirs was, but that just makes our better, and theirs worked, so whats the problem right?

There are many things that make the AA sun over "better" than one I would build, and even now, having one that I could copy, meh... I think I'd rather buy another (and I truly do plan to have a minimum of 2) i can get all McGuyver and build one on the fly... sure! why not? but this is hassle free, it works... AWESOME!!!!! and it's got every feature I need.

buy a sun oven, and USE it!!! I <3 mine, and I'm always looking for sunny days when I'm working from home, or the weekends so I can bake with it.

-Dakine I'm not a brand advocate but a theory advocate, and I strongly recommend this brand because I've had results that exceed my expectations!


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## cantinawest

*Using solar for cooking*



> There are many things that make the AA sun over "better" than one I would build, and even now, having one that I could copy, meh... I think I'd rather buy another (and I truly do plan to have a minimum of 2) i can get all McGuyver and build one on the fly... sure! why not? but this is hassle free, it works... AWESOME!!!!! and it's got every feature I need.
> 
> buy a sun oven, and USE it!!! I <3 mine, and I'm always looking for sunny days when I'm working from home, or the weekends so I can bake with it.
> 
> -Dakine I'm not a brand advocate but a theory advocate, and I strongly recommend this brand because I've had results that exceed my expectations!


I have a few colleagues and acquaintances who are now going on their 20th, 28th and 30th years of using their same Global Sun Ovens, and they use them quite frequently.

If you take care of a Sun Oven it should give you a lifetime of productive use.

--I now own about 16 solar cookers and that is because I use them a lot, almost ever day to cook with, but it is mostly because I do a lot of demonstrations and I cook for a lot of people at one time so I do need the large capacity.
Nevertheless, I have saved enough over the years to recoup a large amount of that initial cost of the cookers just from the savings realized by not turning on the electric stove with its attendant energy expenditure, and then you add to that the savings of a less aggressive, minimized use air conditioning unit in the summer time which is always trying to keep the added heat out of the kitchen when turning on the electric and gas stove.


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## cantinawest

*Memorial Day Weekend Solar French Frying*

Sunday for a late lunch we decided to get out the parabolics and do *french fries,* and then my wife decided to do oatmeal raisin and *chocolate chip cookies *for the Sun Ovens.

My Daughter helped with the frying...a little bit. ( I did the majority)


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## cantinawest

*I made a mess of the last cookies*

I was putting the last rack of cookies into the Sun Oven and burnt myself and with the quick reaction I spilled the cookies which were on parchment paper, which being very slick, slid right off into the oven with the dough.

I rescued the dough, which mostly was stuck to the parchment paper, but some of it stuck to the inside of the oven and on my oven hot pad.

What a mess.

It ended up being a mass of dough that turned out some not-so-nice-looking "monster cookies" after it cooked for a little longer than the standard 12-15 minutes in the Sun Oven

Blonde looking oatmeal raisin cookies (fully cooked and still blonde) 










And my chocolate chip "monster cookies"










Baking and Frying...


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cook from South Dakota*

Our friend and fellow solar cook has been sharing a lot of great recipes and insight into her solar cooking endeavors from her home in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
She is new to solar cooking, but she has been able to do quite well despite some weather challenges that have come up from time to time (with solar cooking we all face weather challenges no matter where we live)

We thought some here on the forums might find here narratives and stories of interest and so we would like to give the link to where here postings might be found.
She does a great job with her cooking and her writing...I think many might find her insights helpful.

*You can follow some of her postings here: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_in_South_Dakota.html*


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## cantinawest

*Solar Hot Pot Salsa Sun Chicken*

Our friend in South Dakota is quite excited with her Hot Pot and has really been cooking a lot lately. 
She has shared a great recipe for Salsa Sun Chicken.

I'll have to admit, she writes a very good narrative. 

*The details are on her posting: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/salsa-sun-chicken.html*


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## Davarm

cantinawest said:


> Here is a link to a nice story from a visitor to our site that submitted their solar cooking experience using a homemade solar cooker while in Peru.
> 
> http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-cooker-recipes-foods-and-the-results.html


I made a cooker like the one on top of the picture out of a cardboard box, spray adhesive and aluminum foil and it worked great. The one I made had more reflector space than his but the rest of it was pretty much spot on.

I used it for a while and kept it on the front porch until I forgot and left it out one night when it rained.......... the nice thing about it was that it was cheap and easy to make! lol


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## cantinawest

*Good cooker*



Davarm said:


> I made a cooker like the one on top of the picture out of a cardboard box, spray adhesive and aluminum foil and it worked great. The one I made had more reflector space than his but the rest of it was pretty much spot on.
> 
> I used it for a while and kept it on the front porch until I forgot and left it out one night when it rained.......... the nice thing about it was that it was cheap and easy to make! lol


That is a good cooker, it is known as the Halacy Cooker, or "Heavens Flame".
Lots of people have made this cooker.

But yes, that is the problem with homemade solar cookers made of those kinds of materials, they usually have to be "re-made" after a while and with much use.


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## Hooch

*baked pork chops expeirment...*

So Its been nice n sunny here so I did a bit of cooking with the sun oven.

I took a box of stove top stuffing and spread it on the bottom of the pot, added a cup n half of water, half a stick of cubed butter and placed 3 pork chops on top of stuffing.

then...I opened a can of cream of mushroom soup and slathered it over the chops and baked them in the sun oven for 5 hours.

It turned out really good..I did bake it to long tho but I wasnt sure how long to do it so better safe than sorry. Next time I will only add 1/4 stick of butte instead of half a stick and less soup on top and not cook it so long..maybe 4 or 3.5 hours...

Had I not put the soup on top I would have ended up with jerky..lol..the chops are alittle dry but still tasty so its not a loss.

It tastes pretty good..I tried posting pics yesterday of it and other stuff but Im now having issues posting pictures..not sure why..if I figure it out Ill post pics..


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## cantinawest

*over solar cooked meat*

So much for the idea that many people have that a solar cooker can't really cook meat 

We too had pork chops last week that were a bit over cooked as well, tasty as well, but a bit dry.

Meat is actually one of the easier things to solar cook and can be overdone if you don't keep an eye on it.
Nevertheless one can also under cook things as well (just the same as traditional cooking methods) if one is not vigilant and does not allow for the proper amount of cook time.

...as for posting pictures, I believe the method of posting pics here in the forums is a little different. It does not seem to allow for a direct upload of a photo from ones own computer. I can never post pictures directly from my computer. It always asks for an image url, or rather a location where the image resides, and unless you have the image already posted elsewhere on a site or facebook, or some other photo storage location you would not be able to input the image url location into the prompt box here on the forums.

I don't know how to obtain, or make a url for my photos that reside in my computer that may be your problem as well when trying to post pictures, maybe?


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## cantinawest

*Even the sisters are getting in on the act*

Learning how to use the power of the SUN.


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## cantinawest

*Deep fried batter dipped mushrooms*

These turned our really great on our Solar Burner...










The oil got so hot I had to put the pan on the brick and let it cook while cooling it down.


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## JayJay

My Sun Oven is still in the attic in its box.
Our wattage use rates went to 12¢ so I WILL be using it now. I believe that usage is reflected in the summer and in the winters, it is .11¢.
The thing here is our days are filled with clouds.
I have trouble using the solar battery charger here--chemtrails; and the ba***rds are here quite often.
I watched my solar battery charger one day and the clouds made it read 40 when to charge efficiently, it should be reading at 120!!!

So, how can I cook with no sun---and I'm in Kentucky. 
Heck-our gardens are just not getting what they need either.


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## cantinawest

*Where you can use your solar cookers*

...Latitudes, locations and luck (resourcefulness)

Yes, location definitely can affect the results of your solar cooking.

Although this is not the biggest factor, it does determine how often and when one can solar cook, to a fair degree.

Of course the further north you go in the northern hemisphere the greater the "angle" of the suns rays towards the earth; meaning less intensity, and the same applies in the reverse in the southern hemisphere.

In other words, the more direct the sun's rays are; the better the cooking result, which becomes an even greater factor in the wintertime.The following map indicates where the suns rays are more direct, more often throughout the year, making these locations "ideal" for frequent solar cooking.










Darker color indicates higher solar insolation value, or greater UV concentration. Map courtesy of home.altenergystore.com

The angle of the sun's rays at a given time of year or day is one reason why many solar cookers will adjust or compensate for varying sun angles, and especially so in the wintertime. This is accomplished by tilting or inclining their solar cookers on an angle that will allow for the suns rays to strike the ovens and its reflectors in a more direct or straight line.

Some cookers are designed with this compensation factor in mind while others are not, but often all that is needed to achieve this effect is to incline or tilt the box or panel/funnel cooker in a way to receive more direct rays from the sun.

This can be a little tricky though with some styles of cookers, because you are then tilting or inclining the cook pot along with the food inside, which can result in spills.

Many panel/funnel cookers are not near as effective in the wintertime due to the fact that they do not allow for increased compensating angles, because of possibilities of tipping or dumping the food onto the ground by using too much of an incline.

There are a number of box cookers that are specifically designed for the need of compensated inclines, both commercially built and homemade designs.
Two such examples from the commercial market would be the popular Global Sun Oven and the SOS Sport oven.

* Parabolic solar cookers usually will not have the same problems of obtaining the proper and ideal cooking angles, as do box and panel cookers, since most are designed to be continually adjusted for maximum cooking potential.

Due to the designs and the science involved in the making of these particular cookers; Parabolas must be adjusted more frequently though, no matter what time of the year or the geographical location.

Some people will build or buy a variety of solar cookers in order to compensate for the different factors that can affect solar cooking throughout the year in their particular area.They will use panel/funnel cookers, along with their box cookers more often in the summer time, and then switch almost primarily to box or parabolic cookers in the winter.

Many solar cooks will have or own a variety of cookers simply for the added ability to cook larger quantities and varieties of food than could be accomplished with just one cooker.

To compare solar ovens and to find out which would best suit your needs you can visit our very useful comparison page at solar oven comparisons

Some people still wonder if it is possible to cook outside when there is snow on the ground and when the temperatures are very low.

In some of the northern latitudes of the world, wintertime cooking will be curtailed or eliminated all together due mostly to the weather.But if there is sunshine, it is possible to still cook even if the ambient temperature is quite low. Cooking times and durations are usually quite short though.

The ambient, or outside temperature can affect cooking times and results somewhat, but if you have a well built solar cooker or oven you can generally offset this condition.The tighter and better insulated your solar oven is the more easily it will overcome ambient conditions.

With parabolic cookers though, the key is in the constant attention to and adjustment of the parabola, this being more true in the winter and at more northern geographical latitudes, say for example; in Canada.

In general, Latitude is a more significant factor than ambient temperature in regards to overall frequency and practical ability to solar cook.

This is evident in the example of solar cooker users in the countries of Nepal and Tibet.

At first glance one would not consider these two countries to be ideal solar cooking locations, especially with such high, cold, and at times; stormy elevations being so predominant throughout the geographical features of the two countries.









But when you understand that both countries lie at about the 30th geographical parallel or lower (which is lower than most of the USA) you can understand how they enjoy relatively longer periods of direct rays from the sun than do many other areas of this planet.And the higher elevations allow them a greater abundance of unfiltered, or rather less filtered, rays from the sun, giving greater energy intensity to the UV rays.

The use of solar cookers in both of the above mentioned countries has continued to spread since its introduction a few years back, allowing the poor a means to cook without the need to rely on extremely scarce bio fuel resources.

Of course, Sunny days make for better solar cooking conditions, and many places throughout the world and throughout our own USA do receive a sufficient amount of sunny days to allow for quite a few ideal solar cooking opportunities.

I have friends, colleagues and acquaintences that solar cook in such diverse places as New Hampshire and Connecticut, Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon, Great Britain and much of Europe. And of course, I understand that they may not have as many opportunities to solar cook as some of us who live in the sunnier desert places, but every chance they get they do take the opportunity to use their solar cookers.

My associates in some coastal areas of California, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and other areas back east have issues with muggy and cloudy weather during some parts of the summer, but that is not the case all summer long and at other times of the year they will have great solar cooking conditions when the heat has subsided a bit. Every where has the means and conditions to allow for solar cooking to some degree or another. We just need to take advantage of those opportunities.

Overall, using solar energy to cook has proven to be quiet feasible in the greater majority of the world's populated areas; whether it be in emerging economies and societies, which stand to benefit most from solar cooking, or whether it be in those already emerged societies such as Europe and the US.

Solar Cooker in Norway in winter:









Info. Taken from our webpage: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_where.html


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## cantinawest

*Father's Day Angel Food Cake*

I couldn't let Father's Day go by without using the Sun to cook my favorite cake...Angel Food Cake with strawberries and whipped cream on top.

It was quite windy on Sunday afternoon, but we got the two cakes cooked in two of the Sun Ovens with some bricks to brace the ovens against "tip-overs" and spilling.


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## cantinawest

*22 year old Global Sun Oven...*

This 22 year old, American Made, Global Sun Oven is still going strong, and with a little help from some touch up paint the owners are ready for a summer solar cooking extravaganza. (it looks a little patriotic)

They painted it so that the old faded look of the exterior box would not be such an eyesore.


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## cantinawest

*Sunny Side Up Eggs in a Solar Hot Pot*

Recipe 15 in the Solar Hot Pot

These are "Sunny" Sunny Side Up Eggs.  I thought this would be fun to see how it worked! We got home in time for a late lunch, so the times are weird, but obviously, this is a very easy recipe.

12:40 pm-scant 1 T butter: put in Hot Pot. Cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 20 minutes. (I might do 30 min. next time to give a hotter start to the eggs.)

1:00 pm-3 eggs: crack into butter. Cover, and watch.

With our partly-cloudy day, these three eggs took about 40 minutes. Look for the whites turning white, but you can also jiggle the Pot a little to check for doneness. If the white part still "jiggles like Jello," it's not done yet.

It was so cool to see the egg whites turning creamy, then white, as they cooked! I'm already looking forward to cooking more eggs this way. Amazing-I loved cooking before, but with the Solar Hot Pot, it's even more fun! It's watching solar science in action!

After we cooked the eggs, more clouds started coming in. But later on if the clouds clear, we're going to put leftover fried chicken in to heat for supper.

A couple days ago, we did candied cereal again, followed by refried bean dip again for a picnic with friends. Our friends thought the Hot Pot was neat!

Christa Upton
South Dakota


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Empanadas de Queso (Chilean style cheese fritters)*

We definitely had great results with our *deep fried Empanadas de Queso* on our solar burner, but I wasn't sure it would turn out well because of the time of day...More details: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solarcooking-archive2.html


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## cantinawest

*Sunny Solar Cooked Chili*

This is a very hearty main dish that can be successfully done in fewer hours than a stew. There are no hard veggies that have to be cooked through, and the idea is to get the meat fully cooked early and then not have to be concerned about how the meat gets done with a lot of other ingredients in there (which slows cooking time, especially wet ingredients).

Even though our rice took longer than I thought, I don't think we will have any trouble getting this chili done. Just in case, I'm going to drain the tomatoes (and maybe add juice in at serving time) to let the Hot Pot get up to temperature quicker.










AND we got another Solar Hot Pot yesterday-we are so excited!!!! It's all washed and ready to go now, and we are going to do enough chili for leftovers-yay!!! Actually, for "planned-overs" as Mom calls them, which is, of course, exactly what they are. (smile) It will be an easy re-heat another day when we have to be out doing errands all morning.

1:30 pm-swirl of olive oil in the Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun. Set timer for 15 minutes.

Then prep:

1/2 onion (chop)
1 clove garlic (mince)
1 sweet pepper (chop)
1 hot pepper (optional) (mince)
3/4 lb. ground meat

You can vary this by using stew meat instead.

In fact, you could even make this meatless-just increase the veggies and beans if you like!

1:45 pm-veggies and meat: add to pot, stir, cover, adjust to sun, set timer for 60 minutes. This time, as I mentioned, we want the meat fully cooked before adding other wet ingredients.

Then prep: have all ingredients ready, even set cans in the sun to maybe get a head start on warming and make it easier for the pot to get up to temperature quickly.

Okay, with our "double batch," we are going to divide the meat/veggies in half and add cans to each Pot. But if you have only one Hot Pot, of course you can cut down on the number of cans of additions. Just try not to fill your Pot more than 2/3 full. (And your chili will be meatier than mine, or you can cut back on the meat, too.)

Just before 1:30, open cans etc. To make it easier to add everything quickly, you can put the seasonings right in the can on top of the beans or tomatoes once you have drained them.

Preheat the second Hot Pot for up to 15 minutes. (You can time it by guessing when your meat is going to be done, or you can just preheat after the meat is done and give the meat more time in the first Hot Pot-it won't hurt it.)

2:45 pm-check and stir meat to make sure thoroughly cooked. (If not, quickly close pot and continue cooking meat. Again, the good news is that adding only the ingredients below, nothing really needs to be "cooked" after the meat, just warmed up and flavors melded. But be careful of food safety principles, not leaving food more than 2 hours at temperatures below 150 degrees.)

Transfer half of the meat/veggies into the second Hot Pot.

To one Pot of meat, add:

1 can tomatoes (any kind), drained (save juice for thinning chili later or use in another soup or another dish)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 T chili powder
1 t. cumin
dash or two cayenne
salt (& pepper if desired)

To the other Pot of meat, add:

2 cans tomatoes (any kind), drained (save juice for thinning chili later or use in another soup or another dish)
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 T chili powder
1 t. cumin
dash or two cayenne
salt (& pepper)

Cover, adjust to sun, set timer for 60 minutes.

3:45 pm-check food temp (should be at least 150 for food safety). If okay, set timer for 1 hour.

4:45 pm-check food temp (hopefully holding at least 150 for food safety, but still not bad some below that if you can eat by 5:30 pm and immediately chill any leftovers).

Adjust to sun, set timer for suppertime.

(Prep sides for chili if haven't already. Ideas: carrot & celery sticks with dip, salad, bread and butter, garlic bread, cornbread, pasta, potatoes)

This chili tasted great-thick and chunky. It's not overly spicy, though it might be if you added hot peppers! (smile) But of course if you like it spicier and don't have hot peppers, you can increase the chili powder and cayenne.










Christa Upton
South Dakota


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## cantinawest

*Cheddar Bratwursts on the SolSource*

Cooking Brats in the Park in Las Vegas using the SolSource


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## cantinawest

*Solar Oven Challah Bread*

Solar Oven Challah Bread in the Hot Pot Solar Cooker...

More Details on how to do it here: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_oven_challah_bread.html

Fully Cooked, but very light brown


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## cantinawest

*No extra heat in the house*

I Didn't use the kitchen stove or the oven today, and even though it is 107 F degrees outside we didn't feel it in the house much because all of our cooking was done outside. The air conditioning unit does not have to work so hard when we use the solar cookers. We didn't even burn any fuels at all and we cooked a Chicken Enchilada in the Sun Oven for the neighbors who just had a baby daughter, and we cooked for ourselves a Hamburger Rice Casserole in the Other Sun Oven and then we sat down at 6:30 to eat at the dinner table.

Today we did not have to contend with the mid-summer desert monsoons that like to billow up from the South. They usually bring lots of clouds and wind, but we don't seem to get any rain. Today just a bit of cloudiness, but not much.

Good day of cooking.


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## cantinawest

*Hot Pot Chicken Pie*

Recipe 25 in the Solar Hot Pot

*Chicken Hot Pot Pie*

All right, it's another experiment! (Hey, it's supper and school all in one! LOL)

1:00 pm-5 T. butter: cut into pieces, put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 30 minutes.

Then prep:

4-5 mushrooms (slice thinly)
1/2 onion or small bunch of green onions (chop finely)
2 carrots (chop finely)
1 stalk celery (chop finely)
3 T flour (sprinkle on veggies)
1 t. curry powder OR 1/2 t. thyme (sprinkle on veggies)
1/8 t. or more cayenne (sprinkle on veggies)
salt (and pepper) to taste (sprinkle on veggies)

1:30 pm-veggies, flour, and seasonings: add, quickly stir into butter, cover, set timer for 30 minutes.

Then prep biscuit dough by mixing:

3/4 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 t. salt
3/4 t. cream of tartar
3/8 t. baking soda










Drizzle in:

honey (about 1/2 t.)

Gently stir in, just until flour mixture is moistened:

1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. sliced green onions or chives, optional
1/4 c. water, or enough to make a soft dough

Pat out very thin (1/8 ") "biscuits." Brush top of each "biscuit" with butter or oil.

This made enough for the Chicken Pie plus some extra dough for the kids to snitch. They love the dough. (smile)

2:00 pm-

1/2 c. canned drained peas (or frozen peas and THAWED before use)
1/2 c. canned drained green beans,
1 can chicken (13 oz., fully cooked, UNdrained)
1/2 c. cream:

Add all and quickly stir a turn or two. Quickly place biscuits on top.

(Never add frozen vegetables to Hot Pot because that will cool down the Pot too much and make cooking time take too long. This could jeopardize food safety.)

Of course you could use cooked, chopped chicken with a little broth instead of canned.

Set baking rack on top and thermometer through baking rack into food. Cover, adjust to sun, set timer for 90 minutes.

3:30 pm-check temperature (should be 150 degrees Fahrenheit at least by 4:00 pm. If not, find a way to get the heat up quickly for food safety!)

If it's 150 or over, look to see if biscuits look done (without opening lid if possible). If biscuits are not done, keep checking every 15 minutes or so. (Adjust to sun if needed.)

We noticed an interesting thing this time-as the sun gets lower, the front of the Hot Pot itself makes a slight shadow on the front food. So, the biscuits in the back were browning more than the front. Around 4:30, we turned the Pot (the Pot ONLY) in the reflector around 180 degrees, and that way the front biscuits got a little more browning. Then we actually let it coast all the way until 5:45.

It turned out amazing! The "sauce" is quite thin, but the flavor is good, the veggies are lovely, and the biscuits are flaky.

We're probably around the peak of optimal solar cooking (with the sun so high in the sky these days), but still-I seriously had no idea that the sun could cook food as good as this, browning the biscuits and everything.

Hey, you could so make this with no chicken-would be a great veggie pot pie! Increase all the veggies and/or add more varieties of veggies. How about some nice eggplant chunks?
Christa Upton 
SD


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## cantinawest

*Flamin' sun burgers from the Hot Pot Solar Cooker*

Recipe 28 in the Solar Hot Pot

Flamin' Sun Burgers

(Recipe name by our teenage son!)

3:15 pm-2 T butter: put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 15 minutes.

Then prep:

8 oz. mushrooms (slice THICKLY this time. It will be easier to leave the mushrooms in the whole time the burgers are cooking.)
1 1/4 lb. ground meat or vegetarian burger mix (form 5 small, flat burgers)










Place flat burgers on round baking rack (make sure rack fits in Hot Pot!)

You could also do onions, peppers, garlic, or other veggies to go with the burgers.

3:30 pm-veggies: place in bottom of Hot Pot.

Then put baking rack with burgers in top of Hot Pot. Cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 1 hour.

We started glazed carrots around 4:00. (See Sun-drenched Carrots post for whole recipe.) But I should have started them earlier, because it's so late in the day. But, they were "sorta" done by 5:30, and the kids liked them anyway. LOL (I have good kids. smile)

4:30 pm-(check burgers), adjust to sun, set timer for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how done your burgers are looking.

5:00 pm-check burgers and mushrooms; stir carrots. If burgers are not done, be aware of food safety. Are you tired of me talking about food safety yet? LOL Don't leave food for more than 2 hours under 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Seems like the only time we've had trouble with this, though, is with clouds. However, we are at a higher altitude (3500 ft.), so that gives us an advantage. Then again, we are above the 40th parallel, so that's a disadvantage. But most of the time, we've been well above 150 degrees within 2 hour marks. It's been so fun to see it work!

After burgers are done, add cheese and put cover back on to melt cheese, if desired.

The hamburger grease dripped down onto the mushrooms. If you don't like this, consider lean veggie burgers or lean venison burgers. (Or, of course you could skip the veggies underneath.)

I can't have store-bought hamburger buns (chemicals) and was too tired to make my own. But I don't miss the bun with these mushrooms smothering the burger!!!


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## cantinawest

Recipe 32 in the Solar Hot Pot

Sunny Taco Beef

We based this on Alton Brown's recipe for taco meat, with his Taco Potion #19, but made it less spicy (for the kids). http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/taco-potion-19-recipe.html

I guess since I changed amounts, this would be Taco Potion #20. LOL

9:45 am-1 T oil: put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 15 minutes.

Then prep:

1/4 of a medium onion (chop finely)
1 clove garlic (smash and mince)

10:00 am-veggies: add, cover, set timer for 30 minutes.

10:30 am-2 1/2 lb. ground beef: add, cover, set timer for 1 hour.










Then prep by mixing:

2 1/2 T. chili powder
2 T. cumin
1 T. corn starch
3 t. paprika (You have to use Hungarian of course. LOL See Nupshugahr Chicken Paprikash post to find out why.)
1 t. coriander
1 dash cayenne
1/2 t. salt

11:30 am-spices: add, cover, adjust to sun, set timer for one hour.

12:30 pm-check to be sure meat is done or at least at 150 degrees Fahrenheit. (If not, finish with higher heat.)

Stir thoroughly and drain grease. (Can use grease to sauté veggies for soup or substitute for butter or oil in a recipe later.) Serve with taco shells or chips, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, etc.

Hubby says this was a delicious, hearty, taco meat. 
Christa Upton
South Dakota


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## cantinawest

*Sunny Sausage Pizza in the Hot Pot*

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sunny-sausage-pizza.html


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## cantinawest

Here are a few photos from *the big solar cooking festival/convention in Sacramento, CA. from July 19, 2014*
It was very well attended and we had solar cooks from all over the world, many who have been cooking for 20 to even 30 years for some of them.
It was inspiring to see all of the many different styles and kinds of solar cookers as well as to meet many of those who invented a lot of these cookers.
There were also many visitors, spectators and fellow solar cooks from the community who came out to learn and to participate with their own solar cookers. 

There were solar cooks (chefs) and advocates from:

Sweden
Norway
UK
Australia
Japan
China
India
USA
Kenya
South Africa
Malaysia
Phillipines
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Nigeria
Germany
Afghanistan
Nepal
and Bolivia


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## cantinawest

*Only nine more recipes to go...*

Only nine more recipes to go in order to make 50 Solar Cooking recipes from the Hot Pot Solar Cooker....
http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_in_South_Dakota.html

Christa Upton in South Dakota has been solar cooking almost every day since May 1st, 2014 when she first acquired her Hot Pot solar cookers, and she decided she wanted to cook fifty different dishes with those Hot Pot panel cookers

Come and see what she has accomplished and what she will come up with for the last nine recipes.

I think she has done a great job!


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## cantinawest

*New Contributing Solar Cook in St. Louis, Missouri*

We have another new Solar Cook from the St. Louis Missouri area who has just started solar cooking a couple of months ago and is now contributing posts about her experiences: http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/beer-bread-round-2.html


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## nightwing

quit screwing with the light weight stuff put a chicken on a can of beer put it on a 
steel plate and read aim eat.

this thing melts glass it has more uses than just cooking.


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## cantinawest

*Great for solar smelting...*

Great for solar smelting, but a little too potent for cooking.
Although I do have colleagues that have built cookers with the fresnel lens, but they also admit that it is a bit unwieldy trying to cook and not burn the food.


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## cantinawest

*Sunbeam Meaty Beans*

Recipe 43 in the Solar Hot Pot

Sunbeam Meaty Beans

This is like a cross between baked or BBQ beans and sloppy joes. I actually like it on potatoes (baked or mashed), but you could probably put it on almost anything, including rolls.










If it is early (or late) in the cooking season or partly cloudy, you might want to start this at noon instead of 1:00.

We are doing a double recipe in two Pots so we can have an easy reheat supper tomorrow. Actually, it'll probably go for 3 meals all together!

This will fill the Solar Hot Pot quite a bit, but for some reason, we never have trouble heating up beans, so it still works.

1:00 pm-1 T. oil: put in Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 30 minutes. Actually,

Then prep:

1/2 c. onions (chop finely)
1 clove garlic (smash and mince)
salt (and pepper if you like) (sprinkle on meat)

1:15 pm-1/2 lb. ground meat, onions, & garlic: add, cover, set timer for 60 minutes. This is one of those recipes where we want the meat fully cooked before adding other ingredients.

Have ready:

2 cans drained pinto beans or "pork and beans"
1 can drained kidney beans
1 can drained lima beans

Then prep by stirring together:

3/4 c. ketchup
1/4 t. dry mustard
1/4 c. (very generous squirt) honey
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t. oregano

I hate "measuring" honey because I hate washing out the measuring cup. LOL So I usually just squirt. You can taste your sauce and make sure it's the balance of sweet and sour that you like.

2:15 pm-check and stir meat to make sure thoroughly cooked. If not, quickly close Pot, adjust to sun, and continue cooking meat. The good news is that nothing really needs to be 'cooked' after the meat, just warmed up and flavors melded. But be careful of food safety principles, not leaving food-especially meat-more than 2 hours before it is thoroughly warmed to 150 degrees.)

As soon as meat is done-beans, and your homemade sauce: quickly add, stir, place baking rack in top of Hot Pot, set meat thermometer through baking rack to touch top of food pile.

Cover, adjust to sun, set timer for 60 minutes.

3:15 pm-check food temp without opening lid (should be at least 150 for food safety). Set timer for 60 minutes.

4:15 pm--check food temp.

If at least 150, you are probably okay to "coast" to 5:00 supper like we like to do.

These got really hot mid-afternoon (180 degrees if the thermometer was right). And they're SO good--filling and tasty. Easier to do in the Solar Hot Pot than they are on the stove!!!


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooker Fast Food*

Solar Cooker Fast Food...Frozen Pizza in the Sun Oven

45 second video... I don't know how to get the video to appear here in this post, just the link is all I can post.


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## cantinawest

*The big guns*

Here is a photo of the Giant Villager Sun Oven along with a lot of regular sized Sun Ovens being used to cook in Haiti where the people seem to live in perpetual emergency like conditions...










*And two roof mounted Villager Sun Ovens in Haiti...the big guns.*


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## cantinawest

*mini-box solar oven*

Nice little compact box cooker


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## cantinawest

*The Devil is turning up the heat on the solar cooker*

We found the devil turning up the heat on the SolSource parabolic cooker...

You can see his reflection in the reflector panel


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## cantinawest

*A different style of solar cooker*

A very uniquely designed and fabricated solar "parabolic" style cooker that can get very hot...


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## cantinawest

*Solar Butterscotch Brownies*

Recipe 42 in the Solar Hot Pot

Solar Butterscotch Brownies

FINALLY recipe 42!! (smile) And we're cooking recipe 43 today, too. We have a nice, sunny day today! (smile)

10:00 am--2/3 of a stick of butter and 2/3 c. oil: put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up Hot Pot facing the sun, set timer for 30 minutes.










Then prep by mixing:

1 generous cup brown sugar
2 t. vanilla
1 large egg
dash salt

10:30 am--sugar mixture: add to oils and mix well.

Then add 1 2/3 c. flour and mix well again.

Then sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Set timer for 60 minutes.

11:30 am--check for done-ness; keep checking every 15 minutes until done.

The wind kept blowing the scent in my window while it was baking--smelled wonderful!

I originally had it set to bake for 2 hours, but it was overdone at 1 hour and 50 minutes! (So I changed the recipe to start looking for done-ness at only an hour.) Ours was still edible, though. (smile) Bit of a dark-browned taste and somewhat dry. Will have to try again. (smile)

We did beets in our other Hot Pot. (Have I mentioned how much I love doing veggies in the Hot Pot? SO easy and no nutrition lost to boiling water!!!)

We ate the beets along with the rest of lunch (eggs, toast, & fruit), enjoyed the Butterscotch Brownies for dessert, and started Sunbeam Meaty Beans for supper! Two Pots of it: "planned-overs" for an easy supper tomorrow, especially as there are clouds and rain predicted for tomorrow! It's smelling very good right now! (See other post for Sunbeam Meaty Beans recipe coming soon.)


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## cantinawest

*Four Foods cooked in an afternoon in the solar cookers*

Four foods this afternoon in the solar cookers...and it did not take much effort or, time. In fact I worked while they cooked

Hot Pot Plum Jam
Quinoa
Enchilada
Bacon


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## cantinawest

*First time cooking meat in his new SolSource Parabolic*

Our friend (teacher) in Kentucky is learning as he goes while using his new SolSource Parabolic Cooker...http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/cooking-meat-finally.html


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## cantinawest

*Fall Solar Cooking*

Did some Baked Cinnamon Apples in the Sun oven the other day...
I needed a little taste of fall...

This is my Apple pie without the crust 










This is the fast way to ready my apples










Dehydrating Apples outside


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## cantinawest

*Taking your solar cooker on the road*

This guy can make some money as he services his customers at their locations...










This one is taking everything with him...and the kitchen stove.


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## cantinawest

*Holiday Solar Cooker Recipes*

Here's a couple of solar cooker recipes for the Holidays...

We do a lot of solar cooking around the Holidays...scones on the parabolic for Thanksgiving every year. 

http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/images/solar-cooked-gingerbread-men.jpg










http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar_cooking_recipe_pumpkin_dessert.html


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## cantinawest

*Sunbeam Banana bread with chocolate chips*

Here is a new recipe from a colleague of mine...*Sunbeam Banana Bread (w/chocolate chips)*

*http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sunbeam-banana-bread.html*


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## cantinawest

*Lunch time solar cooking in November*

Lunch time: Spanish Rice in the Sun Oven...
And Bacon
and Popcorn.
Well, just the rice for lunch and then I will have some bacon later on as well as popcorn in the evening


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## cantinawest

*Solar cooked apple pie*

Solar parabolic cooker cooking an apple pie (in Germany)


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## cantinawest

*Cold November Day with Hot Pot Cooked Chicken breast*

Yesterday was the coldest day of the fall season so far here in the high desert southwest of Southern Utah 28 F, but it was bright and sunny so I took a brined chicken breast with me to work and placed it in the Hot Pot Solar Cooker that I always have in my vehicle.
Since the sun is lower at this time of year and it was colder outside as well, I figured I would need to cook the raw chicken breast a bit longer, so I had it out for a little over an hour while I worked.
When I took the chicken breast out of the Hot Pot it looked pale, but it definitely was cooked...and I found that it cooked too long and had dried out a just a little bit. Thanks to the brining though it was still much more moist than it ordinarily would have been.
It was hot enough that I burned my mouth


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## cantinawest

*Apple Cider and no-bake solar cookies*

Apple cider in the Solar Cooker http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/sunwarmed-spiced-apple-cider.html



















No-bake sun cookies http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/nobake-sun-cookies.html


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## cantinawest

*Lots of sun, so I made popcorn on the parabolic*

Lots of sun today, the day after Thanksgiving, and I needed to do a batch of popcorn for my weekend so I took five minutes and popped up a bowl on the parabolic...


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## cantinawest

*Poached eggs and toast on a solar panel cooker*

Here are some people in Spain using their Copenhagen Lite Solar Panel Cooker to do some breakfast items...

Poached Eggs










and Toast


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cookers being used in various ways and places*

Dinner rolls in a homemade solar cooker in Nicaragua (the women made these cookers)










New York Company that Solar Cooks their popcorn and sells it online and throughout New York
This is quite the parabolic cooker setup 










Short video of their popcorn operation. http://vimeo.com/113841263


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## cantinawest

*Nice January day for solar cooking*

The temps are going back up a bit...mid 50s and higher this week, after some pretty cold days previously.

Sun is out and it makes for a good solar cooking day...*beef-onion soup in the Sun Oven.*


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## cantinawest

*Facebook photos don't stay in the post*

I just noticed, while looking back over some of the posts in this thread, that any Facebook photos that I shared in posts have not remained in the post.
I don't know if Facebook comes looking for them and takes them down, or if their servers don't host them past a certain date, or if the urls are not acceptable to Prepared Society's servers for posting photos from Facebook...or what.
So there are a lot of posts in this thread that have no photos now. 

Is there something I am not aware of when it comes to photo sharing protocol?


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## LincTex

Please ask a moderator to move your question to this forum:

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f45/


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## cantinawest

*Starting my solar cooking at night*

February Sun Oven BAKED BEANS... set out at night to cook.

I just took out a piping hot pot of baked beans at 4:30 PM on a nice February afternoon...time to eat.

I started the meal last night by prepping and mixing it up at about 7:00 PM and then I went outside and set up the Sun Oven with the beans and faced it towards the point where the sun would crest the house in the morning at about 10:00 AM and then left it out all night.
My son was just arriving home and wondered why I was going to set the solar cooker up in the dark, perhaps to cook by moonlight he asked?
At this time of the year the nights can be very cold here in the high desert and so I risk nothing by leaving the oven out with the food in it all night because it is like leaving it in a "big freezer", and then when the sun's rays finally start entering into the oven it starts cooking on it's own. I leave early in the morning to work, but don't have to take time to set the oven out when I can do so the night before. I have done this with many roasts, chickens etc. during the winter. Can't do the same thing in the summer though, nights are way too warm.


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## cantinawest

Solar Cooking Bacon in Kentucky...*http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/bacon-up-a-little-something-special.html*


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## cantinawest

*Sunday Dinner Solar Roast Beef*

We put the roast out at 9:00 AM and let it go all day...low and slow
in the Sun Oven and when we got home from church it was all ready...and tender. 

And cooking in the Hot Pot Solar Cooker at one of my job sites for lunch.

Chicken and gravy over rice


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## cantinawest

*Comparison of two parabolic cookers*

Comparison of two parabolic cookers...

A big one and a small one
More details here from our Kentucky Science Teacher

*http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/side-by-side-comparison.html*


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## cantinawest

*Chili on a warm day*

80 F degrees today, and so that meant I had a hankerin' for Chili. 

Actually I will eat chili anytime, no matter the weather wink emoticon

I also did a quick lunch at noon...frozen pizza, fishsticks and chicken nuggets...mmm junky 








Cooked chili in the afternoon









Uncooked chili in the morning









Junk food for lunch


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## cantinawest

*Somer more solar cooked dishes*

Some of our solar cooking over the last several weeks...

White Bread and

Zucchini Cake

and

Potato, veggie and meat soup


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## cantinawest

*SolSource Parabolic cooker in Norway*

SoulSource parabolic cooker being used in various parts of Norway...


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## readytogo

*Crock Pot Almond/Coconut bread pudding.*

This one is not your basic bread pudding folks, this one is especial. Almond Coconut with a Rum Butter Sauce. Make this pudding with old French or Italian bread has better body and flavor, eliminated the vanilla and add almond flavoring instead, use brown sugar and to the recipe add 1 cup of coconut flakes and some slice or crush almonds. Caramelize 1.5 cups of sugar and coat a bowl that will fit your Crockpot, let it cold completely then add the bread mixture and on top add 1 or 2 tbsp of butter. Cook on high for about 2 hours or until a knife inserted comes out clean. In my old pot it took that time. Let it cool some and inverted it in a serving plate or cool it in the fridge and next day over a water bath it will loosen up and will be much easier to unmold, I didn't waited that long ,I get anxious when something smells that good. The sugar that may get stuck to the bowl can be loosen up in a water bath and use to make the sauce with a little butter and rum added or a nice butter rum sauce can be made with some more slice almond added to it. What really makes this a great desert is the fact that there is no need to heat up the whole house or waste all that electricity or propane.







Enjoy It.:wave:


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## cantinawest

readytogo said:


> This one is not your basic bread pudding folks, this one is especial. Almond Coconut with a Rum Butter Sauce. Make this pudding with old French or Italian bread has better body and flavor, eliminated the vanilla and add almond flavoring instead, use brown sugar and to the recipe add 1 cup of coconut flakes and some slice or crush almonds. Caramelize 1.5 cups of sugar and coat a bowl that will fit your Crockpot, let it cold completely then add the bread mixture and on top add 1 or 2 tbsp of butter. Cook on high for about 2 hours or until a knife inserted comes out clean. In my old pot it took that time. Let it cool some and inverted it in a serving plate or cool it in the fridge and next day over a water bath it will loosen up and will be much easier to unmold, I didn't waited that long ,I get anxious when something smells that good. The sugar that may get stuck to the bowl can be loosen up in a water bath and use to make the sauce with a little butter and rum added or a nice butter rum sauce can be made with some more slice almond added to it. What really makes this a great desert is the fact that there is no need to heat up the whole house or waste all that electricity or propane.
> View attachment 12205
> 
> Enjoy It.:wave:


Hola Readyto Go

You aught to think about using a solar cooker for your slow cooker recipes.
They work especially well with slow cooker style recipes as well as baking and such.


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## cantinawest

*Summer time solar cooking*

Nothing like watermelon and ...solar cooked chili on a warm summer afternoon
wink emoticon

This is what we had today for dinner, and boy was it good chili.


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## cantinawest

*Annual Solar Cook of in Sacramento California*

Three SolSource Parabolic cookers at work in the park in Sacramento, CA

*Tres Caballeros*


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## cantinawest

*August 2015 Solar Cooking*

Some recent photos of solar cooking we have done.

*Lasagna* in the SunFocus and *Cherry Cruch Pie* in the Sun Oven 

Along with a quick post from a lady who has been using her new Hot Pot solar cooker and is liking the results: *http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/cook-for-the-family-.html*


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## cantinawest

*Variety of Breads in a Solar Oven*

Here is a posting from a lady in the Boston, MA area that cooks a variety of breads in her Solar Ovens.

*http://www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com/solar-cooker-variations-on-italian-supermarket-bread.html*


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## cantinawest

*Short video on homemade solar cooker*

How to make a simple parabolic solar cooker with easily found materials


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## cantinawest

*New parabolic cooker, and it's compact unit.*

This is a new parabolic cooker that is due to come out on the market soon.
They are trying to bring it about through kickstarter.

I have not tried this one, nor do I have any relationship with this company, but I have put in for one and am anxious to see how it stacks up with others like it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/photongrill/photongrill-inflatable-high-power-portable-bbq

http://photongrill.com/video/


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Lemon-Garlic Chicken*

*Solar Cooked Lemon-Garlic and Parmesan Chicken was our Sunday dinner* a couple of days ago.

We just put it all into our largest casserole dish and then put a cover/lid on it and set it into our big Sun Focus Solar Oven while we went to church and when we took it out four and a half hours later it was cooked to perfection.


Chicken (legs, quarters) 8-10 pieces
Half a large lemon, squeezed (or three tablespoons of lemon juice)
2 tbl spoons of butter
1/2 cup whole cream 
1 can Chicken Broth
3 large cloves of crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of fresh or frozen spinach
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of chicken

On stove top (or parabolic cooker) Melt butter and saute garlic, then add broth, cream, salt, pepper, lemon and spinach into pan.
Mix indgredients and then pour over chicken in casserole dish.
sprinkle parmesan over the chicken.
Cover and then place into solar oven. (we use a dark cookie tray to make a lid to cover casserole dish)
Cook for three to five hours. 
(Longer and more moderate temps make for a more succulent and tender chicken.)


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## cantinawest

*Save your pumpkins...*

Halloween is almost here and I imagine there are lots of pumpkins
that will be lost to vandals, carvers and the elements, but if you have one that is not rotted or decomposing and is still relatively fresh, you can throw it into
your solar oven, cook it up and use it for different recipes...especially pie. 

This photo comes from a site of a colleague of mine.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Chicken and Beef Enchiladas*

*Solar Cooked Chicken and Beef Enchiladas*

One was cooked in the Sun Oven the other in the SunFocus.

Both turned out great, flavorful and nice and moist, not dried out like sometimes happens when I do Enchiladas and lasagnas in the kitchen oven.

Right now, for lunch I have my Sun Oven doing "junk food" 
Fishsticks, Corndogs and Tatertots...

Some for me and some for my son who is at home right now. 
Not healthy, but sometimes I just need a quick meal.


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## cantinawest

*Solar Oven Taco meat*

*I was cooking taco meat for dinner this evening when some visitors showed up to check out the Sun Oven...*

.
.


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## Dakine

I love my AA Sun Oven, and this new hybrid is looking VERY INTERESTING! I wouldn't mind having a 2nd one for sure...


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## cantinawest

*The SunFocus Hybrid was at work as well*

*Yep, even the SunFocus Hybrid Electric Was out working and getting in the Holiday mood as well.

Dry run before the big cooking day...*


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## cantinawest

*Solar cooking scrambled eggs*

Here are a couple of photos of some scrambled eggs on the Solar Burner.

This is something we do quite often on the parabolic. Quick and easy.


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## cantinawest

*Spring 2011 Solar Cook off Near Tucson, AZ*

A few homemade solar cookers being used at a solar cook-off in AZ


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## cantinawest

*Unique parabolic design from South Africa*

Solar Parabolic design from a guy in South Africa...

He calls it the Heat Moth.

http://www.philforhumanity.com/Heatmoth_A_Solar_Cooker.html


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## cantinawest

*Solar Cooked Dinner and leftovers for lunches*

Solar Cooked Dinner and leftovers for lunches...

Home made Chili
.
.
.


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## cantinawest

*Variations on the Parabolic Design*

*Some parabolic Design Styles and where they are most commonly found...*


*The Square parabolic is most common to India and very popular there
*The following two round parabolics are also common in India, especially this type of base/stand
*The fourth photo shows the parabolic which is most common in China, but found in many countries throughout the world including here in the USA
The last photo is a design originally from Europe (Germany) and is more common in Europe, although you will find all styles there as well.
.
.
.


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## cantinawest

*Hot Pot Solar Cooker*

Short video of the Hot Pot Solar Panel Cooker doing beans.
.
.
.


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## cantinawest

*Scones on a parabolic cooker in Germany*

Scones on a parabolic cooker in Germany

Great way to fry foods and keep the smell outside...


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## cantinawest

*Bacon and beans*

I cooked up a quick batch of bacon 
and also some homemade beef chili.

Both of the items I cooked with the purpose of eating some at the moment, but mainly for lunches throughout the coming week so that I can have it preaportioned for my various lunches out on the job site.

I also use my Hot Pot to reheat, or cook my lunches while out working.


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