Solar Cooking is a great way to do something positive for the environment. By using the natural power of the sun and not the generated, manufactured or stripped power of electricity, oil, coal or gas, you can create wonderful meals at home and lessen your impact on the Earth. Plus cooking with fire, even using wood, can be dangerous and also add carbon to the atmosphere.
One other added benefit of solar cooking is that the slow cooking process tends to keep more nutrients in your food, which is always a great thing when you are feeding yourself or your family.
There are many different types of solar cookers, from homemade solar ovens to elaborate large-scale solar cookers that are utilized at institutions. But in all that variation, there are still three basic types of solar cookers: box cookers, curved concentrator cookers and panel cookers. Each uses a slightly different strategy to harness the power of the sun to cook your food.
Did you know that you can even make a decent solar cooker out of cardboard? As long as you don’t plan on keeping it out in the rain, cardboard works just fine.
To utilize a solar cooker, you’ll need sunshine of course. The spot you choose for your solar cooker should be sunny for several hours and sheltered from the wind. Obviously, if animals are a concern where you live, you may need to protect your food further, depending on the type of solar cooker you use. Most animals looking for food do so at night anyway, when the solar cooker can’t operate.
When you cook in your solar cooker you’ll do best when you use dark, lightweight and shallow pots. Cast iron pots can be used, but since they absorb so much heat, it may take longer to cook your food.
Would you like to learn more about solar cooking? Just leave me a comment!
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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