Can Solar Cookers Save the World?

The May 28, 2022, edition of GASTRO OBSCURA is the source of this article. You can sign up here.

I took a crash course in solar cooking last week.

I found a strange cardboard contraption in the attic and started my vacation in my kitchen. It looked like a flattened box, but when you unfolded it you saw printed instructions on one side and a chrome-painted lining on the other.

The device was powered by the sun. Solar Cookers International is a non-profit based in California. Science fair experiments are not the only things that can be done with solar ovens. For decades, SCI has used them to fight all manner of social, economic, and environmental ills, from the respiratory illnesses caused by smokey cookfires to the high price of fuel.

This week, the CooKit solved an issue for me, how to cook during a heat wave without heating up the house. I have baked cakes and roasted vegetables in my backyard in the last few days. Each dish took twice as long as usual, but they only needed to adjust the oven every so often to follow the sun.

The world needs to be tasted!

Solar cooking has been around for hundreds of years, but the case for it is stronger than ever. Is this the beginning of a new era of cooking?

Sunny Science

The Renaissance man by the name of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure had a space-age idea. The first solar oven was created by the famed mountaineer-physicist-meteorologist in 1767, and he even brought it up and down the Alps to test it at different altitudes and temperatures.

A number of inventors followed in his footsteps. They used mirrors and glass to illuminate a pot. The heat is trapped by a glass or plastic cover in the pot.

The heat is so low that there is no need to stir or monitor the food, even though solar-oven cooking takes longer than the average stove. It's almost impossible to burn food in a solar oven.

People were aware of the potential of solar power in the early days. Since there is no need to haul heavy fuel with a solar oven on hand, mountaineers and militaries have always been experimenting with solar cooking.

Many restaurants have used it as a draw. A Chinese mathematician used mirrors and reflectors to start a duck business. Restaurants in Thailand, Thailand, and Armenia all cook with sun power.

Solar Cookers For All

There are many people who cook with the sun. Environmental, health, and economic damage are caused by smoky fires and high fuel prices.

Caitlyn Hughes is the executive director of Solar Cookers International and I talked to her about the organization. The interview has been edited for clarity.

What would you say about your mission?

There are 2.6 billion people who cook over open fires, which is harmful to people and the planet.

People who are cooking this way don't have other options. They have to cut down trees in order to contribute to climate change. People can cook with no emissions and no pollutants if we can offer the solution of solar-thermal cooking.

What is it like to work at SCI?

The United Nations gives consultative status to Solar Cookers International. I met the Minister of Energy from Uganda at a UN climate conference, and he said this was the solution that people needed. I want to show more people in my country.

The world's largest online database of solar cooking information is managed by us. It has about 1,800 pages of information. There are free designs on how to build a solar cooker. There are places to buy a solar cooker. If you have time, you can learn more.

You also make and distribute solar ovens. I own a kit.

The design is still great. The United Nations Refugee Agency requested that Solar Cookers International design the CookIt because they wanted it to be easy to make and affordable around the world.

Is there a part of the world that SCI focuses on?

Ideally, all over the world! The sun shines everywhere. We've been working in Kenya for a few years now and it's a really good fit in terms of the need and opportunity for impact as well as the climate.

We are working in the Kakuma refugee camp. The refugees don't have enough fuel to cook their food. They have to trade some of their food for cooking fuel.

India has a strong presence in solar cooking. Three global advisors are doing amazing work in solar cooking. The rooftop steam systems can cook thousands of people at a time.

Is the staff at SCI using solar cookers?

We all love to cook. The temperature was over 100 degrees in Sacramento. We don't want to turn on our oven.

Corn on the cob is the easiest food to cook. You just put corn on the cob, put the husks on, and cook it in a solar cooker for about an hour and a half. It was cooked by the sun.

How to Cook With the Sun

Want to start solar cooking but don't know where to start? Here are some things to do.

• There are plenty of solar oven-making tutorials online (SCI even has one for making a CooKit, which is a panel-style cooker), but they’re also available to buy at stores such as REI.
• Certain foods suit solar cooking better than others, like stews and baked goods. Generally, I’ve been making dishes that would do well in an oven.
• Solar cooking depends on long, low heat. This means many hours of cooking! But burning food in a solar oven is nearly impossible. (Unless you’re using a super-powered parabolic oven.)
• Solar ovens can cook totally unattended. You can even leave your house while your food cooks! It’s actually better not to check on your food too often, as that can let heat escape.
• My cardboard CooKit can heat food to more than 220ºF. Seems low, but chicken is cooked once it reaches 165ºF.
• On a sunny day, you can cook twice with a solar cooker: starting in the morning for a midday meal and in the afternoon for an evening meal. One tip I came across is that the best time for solar cooking is when your shadow is shorter than your actual height, indicating that the sun is high in the sky.

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