First Solar Cooking Experience!

Today, I tried out a couple easy foods in my Sun Oven, which has helped me feel more confident and excited about solar cooking. 

First, I hard boiled some eggs.  According to the instructions I found, all I needed to do was get a dozen eggs in a cardboard/paper carton, remove the lid, and place in the oven.  No water is needed. The directions suggested about 90 minutes in the oven.  Of course, cooking time varies with the intensity of the sun, but the times give a good estimate.   I put them in the oven and left to run some errands.  I was gone about 2.5 hours (so about 1 hour over the suggested time).  

When I removed them, I placed them in ice water to cool.  There were some brown spots on the outside of the shell, so I was concerned they were ruined from overcooking.  Then, I opened one up. The yolk looked perfectly cooked, but much of the white section was a light brown.  I almost tossed them.   Nevertheless, I tried a bite.  It did taste a little overcooked, but edible. 

Next, I put in 2 layers of chocolate chip cookies.  I checked on them about every 20 minutes.  In about 40-45 minutes they looked done.  I tried one.  It was gooey and warm.  I let it sit a few more minutes and removed.   About five uncooked cookies were left over, so I put them in the traditional oven.   Coming out, they were the same color and texture as the Sun Oven batch. 

However, I noticed a big difference in taste.  When I ate one of each about an hour later, the Sun Oven cookies were firm yet still soft.  The traditional oven cookies were hard as rocks!   After school (about 4 hours later) my son tried one of each.  He loved the Sun Oven batch, promptly eating several while ignoring the other ones. 

If you get a solar oven, don’t be intimated by it.  Try out some simple items like eggs and cookies to build up your confidence. 

Next, I am looking for the perfect dinner recipe to cook in it!