Cooking with camping grills and camping stoves that use fossil fuels are well known ways for cooking in the outdoors. What most people probably don’t know yet is that you can also use the sun to cook a proper meal at camp. It’s one of the most environmentally friendly ways to cook and economical especially over the long run since the only fuel you need in the sun. It’s one step towards energy independence.
The most widely used solar oven in the Global Sun Oven. There’s nothing too fancy about the Sun Oven; reflectors on all sides on the oven focuses the sun’s energy towards the cooking area which has a dark surface to absorb the heat.
The Sun Oven has some useful features like a self-leveling tray and a temperature gauge. It has a leg at the back so that you can tilt the oven and position it to have a better exposure to the sun.
It takes longer to cook with Sun Oven, at least 15% longer than cooking with standard kitchen ovens. Another thing you might not like is that you’d have to close the oven window for it to properly heat up so can’t cook food that you don’t want the moisture to be trapped inside. It’s good to know though that the Sun Oven has been successfully used in sub-zero temperatures at the base of Mount Everest so as long as you have the sun, you can cook with it.
Unfortunately the Global Sun Oven is too big and heavy for backpacking but I don’t think it’s practical for backpacking anyway because you don’t want to spend too much time cooking. However, it’s great for car camping or for use at home to save some energy. Reviews for the Sun Oven are mostly positive.
This guy gives an excellent demonstration on cooking with the Sun Oven.
