How Solar Cookers Work

Solar Cooking Works - first you need a Solar Cooker (or Solar Oven)...

To get into Solar Cooking you will need a device that cooks in the sun. There are a few different types to consider and they all work slightly differently (to see the benefits / problems of each see Which one to use?).

Panel Cooker - This is probably the simplest of the Solar Cookers. It simply increases the amount of sunlight / heat that the food gets with reflective panels & traps some of the heat with a plastice bag around the food. You put your food in a pot, place a plastic bag around it and put the pot in the cooker & direct towards the sun.

Solar Oven (or Hot Box Cooker) - A Solar Oven is more of a box type design that uses a plastic or glass lid to catch the heat. The suns rays come through the lid & are converted to heat by non-toxic paint or a dark pot, but the lid keeps a large proportion of the heat in, raising the temperature.

Parabolic Cooker - The largest and hardest to use of the Solar Cooker range - and generally the most expensive and dangerous. They consist of mirrors or reflective surfaces designed to center a large amount of heat into a very small area. They get very hot & can cook quickly but require constant re-focussing (moving to face the sun).

Hybrid - Some can also be plugged in if there is no sun - but are often poor for cooking. Also when there is no sun for cooking - you would often not need to cook outside.