Make Your Own Solar Oven (Guest Post)

Pin It Today, we welcome an exciting guest author, Agnes Jimenez.  Agnes is a professional blogger and writer who has written much on the subject of preparedness, food, and frugal living.  Her blog is a very popular blog filled with helpful information and advice.  We are very fortunate to have her provide some information on making your own solar oven today. 

If you have never considered how you will cook during an electrical outage or during an emergency, consider the benefits of making your own solar cooker. Of course, you can purchase a pre-built solar cooker, but why do that when you can make your own with common materials you probably already have on hand? A solar cooker can even come in handy when you want to keep the heat out of the kitchen and enjoy a hot meal.

For a simple, lightweight solar cooker you will need the following:

Image by "suphakit73"

• 2 cardboard boxes (two sizes that can nest) * 

• Shredded newspaper

• Black construction paper

• 4 pieces of cardboard

• Heavy duty aluminum foil

• Rubber cement

• Staples

• Heavy duty thread

• Tempered glass (optional)

*When selecting your cardboard boxes, be sure that the smaller box is large enough to accommodate any cooking vessel or pan that you will be using in your solar oven. The larger box should be approximately 1" to 2" larger in width and length. This will allow for a ½" to 1" gap on all sides. Additionally the smaller box should be the same height or ½" shorter than the larger box.

 Step #1

image by "mrpuen"

Cut the flaps off both boxes. Line the inside of the smaller box with black construction paper in order to help retain heat.

Step #2

Place the smaller box inside the larger one and fill gaps between the two boxes with shredded newspaper.

Step #3

Make flared reflectors by taking the 4 pieces of cardboard and cutting them at an angle. The bottom edge should be the same width as the side of the box where it will be attached; the top of each piece should be several inches wider than its base. Cover each reflector with heavy-duty aluminum foil; use rubber cement to attach the foil to the cardboard and make sure that the foil is not wrinkled or folded. Smooth it flat.

image by "TeddyBear[Picnic]"

Step #4

Staple each reflector to the outside edge of the solar cooker. Punch a small hole in each upper corner on all 4 of the reflectors. Use the heavy duty thread in tying adjacent corners together leaving the reflectors at a slight outward angle in order to reflect the sun.

Step #5

If you are using a tempered glass, have it cut to fit the inside dimension of your solar cooker and place it on top of the cooker. You are now ready to begin using your solar oven for baking bread, muffins, casseroles, and just about anything you can imagine.

References:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5635512_build-powered-oven-school-project.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-and-Use-a-Solar-Oven

About the Guest Author

Agnes Jimenez is a professional blogger and writer. She writes for many online establishments and supports those ones that offer practical lifestyles to consumers.  As a frugal living and emergency preparedness advocate, she recommends FoodInsurance.com for families who are looking for high quality food storage and emergency kit supplies.  You may connect with Food Insurance in Facebook.