Solar cooker & solar cooking is growing in popularity and with good reason. Using solar energy as the “fuel” for it has many benefits. Obviously it reduces the energy consumption of other more expensive sources of energy. Also it is a safe, clean, non-polluting way to cook delicious tasting food without using man-made energy supplies. This helps prevent environmental contaminations and helps those without other fuel sources be able to cook using the sun as their fuel.

Millions of people world-wide are now learning to use solar energy for cooking. In many poverty stricken countries where fuel is scarce, solar cookers and solar ovens literally saves lives. Using these solar cooking methods gives those without sources of fuel, the energy they need to cook their food. Even in the more industrialized countries cooking with solar energy is becoming more and more mainstream.

Solar energy for cooking works on the principle of using sunlight as the fuel. A solar powered cooker must have an outdoor spot that stays in the sunlight for several hours. A transparent heat trap encircles the cooking container. The heat trap used depends on the type of solar cooker. Using dark shallow metal pots works best. Dark surfaces get very hot in sunlight, so dark pots with tight fitting lids to held heat and moisture work bet for solar cooking.

The typical box cooker provides slow even cooking for large quantities of food. Some variations of the solar box cooker include slanting the face toward the sun and varying the number of reflectors used to capture the sun’s energy.

Panel cookers are designed so that various flat panels concentrate the rays from the sun onto a pot that has been placed under a glass bowl or inside a plastic bag. This type of solar cooker can be set up in under an hour for almost no cost.

Parabolic cookers are concave disks that direct the sunlight onto the bottom of a pot. Using a parabolic solar cooker cooks food almost as fast as a conventional stove. Parabolic cookers can be complicated to make. They must also be moved to follow the sun. Some danger of burns and injuries to the eye is present if the parabolic solar cooker is not used properly.

The invention of a clear polycarbonate plastic that is unbreakable has added a new super-reflecting material called “Clear Dome Solar Flex” to the list of inexpensive, highly durable, solar cooking reflectors. This makes it much easier to set up and use solar cooking. These new reflectors could help promote the use of solar cooking in all the developed nations.

Watch for solar cooking to become more accepted as more and more people look for ways to conserve energy and protect our planet. Don’t wait try solar cooking today…you’ll get great tasting food with free solar energy.