First solar oven meal!

I ordered a Sport Solar Oven in June. They’ve been swamped with orders lately, so I just received it a week ago (first week of September). The shadows are across the entire front of the house when I get home this time of year, but I had a day where I got home at 4:30 and could toss some potatoes into it to give it a trial run.

They came out great. I used garden-fresh Russian Banana fingerling potatoes sliced about 1/4″ thick, tossed with a little olive oil, salt, and fresh rosemary. Put them in an 8″x8″ pan, covered with another one, and threw it in the oven with the reflectors on. Two hours later, they were done. I probably could have even taken them out sooner, but I was cooking the rest of the meal indoors.

I’m really impressed with this kit. It includes everything: the oven, reflectors, 2 pots (sadly, they don’t fit when the oven is on the side for catching low-angle sun rays), a water purification indicator…even an oven thermometer. My oven was about 275 degrees during this trial run – very respectable. I couldn’t get my homemade box oven to break 150.

I want to use it more, but it will take planning ahead. There are only certain things I’m willing to leave in it all day – vegetables, mostly – and I just realized that my best sun is in the front of the house in view of the road. I don’t think people would steal it, but I’m not quite willing to take the risk. We have a pretty high-traffic street.

Peak Oil Hausfrau has a nice running list of things she’s cooked in her solar oven (different model from mine – hers gets a bit hotter). It’s very inspirational, and great to see some real-life uses of this low-impact tool. I don’t know if I can bake in mine, but it’s got me thinking how many of the things I cook that could be done in the oven if I plan it right.