Friday, August 28, 2009

9.5" Glass Plates



We found the 9.5" glass plates that we've been looking for at a thrift shop. They were 3 for less than $4.00. We painted one of them black on the back and baked it in the conventional oven for about half an hour @ about 250 F to cure the paint. We will use it for solar cooking bacon.










The glass plate fits perfectly inside our glass bowl.







We will use the other 2 clear glass plates as lids.








To the right you can see one of the 8 nesting black bowls inside the trifle bowl covered with one of the clear glass plates.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

8-piece Set of Black Bowls


While browsing through the clearance shelf of a local store one day, we spotted a box of Gibson 8-piece set of black bowls. http://www.gibsonusa.com/

They’re made from stoneware and are actually safe for the oven, dishwasher, and microwave. We, of course, didn't pass up the chance to buy them. We did a little research online when we got home and found out that the set is actually called a nesting bowl because they nest neatly inside one another.

We were disappointed to find out though that they have been discontinued. That's too bad because they’re just perfect for solar cooking. The smallest bowl was just right for our mini solar oven. Here are pictures of an egg we've successfully solar cooked in it. It was mostly sunny & 86 °F. The egg was completely cooked in 1 hour & 15 minutes.
































Here are pictures that show how hot the 8 1/4 " bowl got. It reached 300°F after 2 hours. The test was done after 12 p.m., 83°F, with continuous sunshine.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Update on Homemade Solar Box Cooker

Our solar box cooker reached 250° F! It was mostly sunny & 86° F outside.

Homemade Solar Box Cooker Temperature Test 3














After making some improvements on our solar box cooker, we tested it again to see if they made a difference.

It was partly cloudy, 88 F. Our goal was to reach 220 F.





We were surprised to see it reach 225 F! Not bad for recycled packaging.
















Sunshine Cooked Jamaican Red Beans and Rice Solar


Thursday, August 20, 2009

More Solar Cooker Rice Pudding Treat




We solar cooked some Swedish rice pudding again.





We will post the results of our homemade solar box cooker temperature test soon!

Solar Cooked Malaysian Clay Pot Chicken & Rice



This is our solar cooked version of the
Malaysian Clay Pot Rice & Chicken











Try this recipe



http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipeclaypotrice.htm




Sunday, August 16, 2009

Solar Box Cooker Project

We have finally completed our solar box cooker project that's inspired by the simple and Kyoto solar box cookers. We used the actual box that our HotPot solar cooker was shipped in. We thought that it made the perfect solar box cooker because it was already a box within a box, which was exactly what we needed to construct one. It took us about 45 minutes to complete the whole project.

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/%22Minimum%22_Solar_Box_Cooker

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Kyoto_Box

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Sunshine Cooked Cajun Spiced Pulled Pork & Solar Po' Boy Style Sandwich







We were actually going to solar cook a rice dish, but we were missing an essential ingredient to complete the recipe. So we decided on using up the remaining pork shoulder (butt) that we didn't cook when we solar cooked the Hawaiian Kalua pig. This was the second time we cooked a large cut of meat and this time we made sure that we checked the internal temperature of the meat, as suggested by a YouTuber. The outside temperature was 89 F. We had 5 hours of continuous sunshine and finished it just in time before the rain.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Solar Bread & Solar Cooker's Rack

With the kind of weather we've been having lately, we were lucky to have been able to solar cook these 2 loaves of Irish soda bread (one 100% whole wheat and one white).












These are pictures of our "Solar Cooker's Rack". :-)




We are still adding to our collection.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Solar Cooked German Style Potato Salad

Solar Cooked Bacon

After the cooked bacon slices were removed from the dark round cake pan, we washed and scrubbed it with soap and water to remove the bacon residue that was stuck to it. Maybe we should have soaked it first because we noticed that a little bit of the teflon coating started to peel off. We had to throw the pan into the trash. We will not use a dark round cake pan to cook bacon next time. We'll find a glass pie pan that we can spray black on the outside or a black plate to cook the bacon on. It will be easier to clean too.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mini Solar Oven Egg Test

We tested our mini solar oven to see if it will get hot enough to cook an egg.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Solar Cooked Algerian Chakchouka with Eggs

This is our solar cooked recipe for Chakchouka. Outside temperature 89 F and mostly sunny.Chakchouka is a Middle-Eastern vegetable and egg dish served with bread or rice. A staple in Algeria, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, and Israel. http://www.mediterrasian.com/deliciou...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Solar Roasted Greek Briam (Solar Cooking)



This is our solar "roasted" recipe for the Greek Briam dish.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Solar Cooked Green Bean Casserole Solar Cooking

This is one of our daughter's favorite foods. She couldn't wait to dig into it after it was solar cooked. :-)


Here is the recipe http://www.favoritebrandrecipes.com/Recipes/255/2056005255.htm


The Green Bean Casserole inventor, Dorcas Reilly

http://www.campbellkitchen.com/SpecialtyHolidayDorcasReilly.aspx?specialty=holiday

Monday, August 3, 2009

Solar Baked Traditional Irish Soda Bread

This is our solar baked version of the traditional Irish soda bread.
It was inspired by the traditional Irish white soda bread recipe from this site

http://www.sodabread.us/Recipes/sodabreadrecipes.htm

Saturday, August 1, 2009