Introduction to solar cooking

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Last edited: 21 October 2013

Tens of thousands of solar cookers are in use in refugee camps in Chad.

Tens of thousands of solar cookers are also in use in developed countries.

Below is a collection of articles about solar cooking basics. If you are interested in trying solar cooking for the first time yourself, you may be wondering whether it is best to build your own solar cooker, or to buy a finished solar cooker commercially. Take a look at how solar cookers work to help understand the principles of solar cooking. Building your own solar cooker can be fairly easy and inexpensive way to go. Various types of solar cookers that are available to build are listed at build a solar cooker. You will find information there comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each style of cooker. There are also many solar cookers available commercially. Commercial cookers are typically well made, and waterproof. The location of the retailer will be important to consider to avoid high shipping costs. See possibilities at buy a solar cooker.

Once you have decided on a cooker, you will need to find appropriate cookware. Thin-walled dark enameled metal cook pots work well. They are good at heating up quickly. Cast iron pots also work, and are typically preheated in the solar cooker before cooking. The advantage of the heavier pots is that they will help maintain an even cooking temperature if the sun is occasionally blocked by clouds, but most solar cooks seem to use the enamel pots. Because dark cooking pots work the best in solar cookers, it is important to remember to use a nontoxic paint for the exterior cook pot surface if you choose to darken your own pots.

Consider the type of foods you will be preparing in your cooker. Solar panel cookers and solar box cookers are simple to use, and are best at baking and slow cooking, similar to crockpot cooking. Parabolic solar cookers will require frequent reorientation to the sun, but have the ability to fry foods and cook food on a griddle. Cooking guidelines will explain the best way to prepare specific food types. There are also many recipes of proven approaches to great dishes, but basically, most any recipe will work with the right solar cooker, by simply allowing for more cooking time. Most solar cooks will advise to not add much extra liquid when cooking, as you might do with traditional stovetop cooking. The natural juices of the food are retained when solar cooking.

Introductory articles

• Why solar cooking is important
• How solar cookers work
• Where is solar cooking possible?
• The case for solar cooking
• Most significant solar cooking projects
• The Case for Solar Thermal Cooking: Free Fuel—Zero Emissions
• United Nations Millennium Development Goals
• Build a solar cooker
• Buy a solar cooker
• Health and safety
• How to start solar cooking
• The history of solar cooking
• Solar cooking frequently-asked questions
• Solar cooking tips and tricks
• Recipes
• Cooking guidelines
• Solar cookbooks
• Solar cooking and emergency preparedness
• Promoting solar cooking

Introductory Manual

Solar Cookers: How to Make, Use, and Enjoy (There are also detailed versions in Arabic (Standard, Variation), French, Spanish, and English for Kenya, and Galician.)

Audio and video

See also

• Developing an intuitive feel for the dynamics of solar cooking
• In-depth look at solar cooking - Dr. Ed Pejack 
• Compendium of solar cooker designs
• All solar cooker designs
• Principles of Solar Box Cooker Design
• Affordable Solar Cookers For The Neediest - Beverly L. Blum

External links

• The Expanding World of Solar Box Cookers - Barbara Kerr

• Three part series by Sharon Cousins on practical, humanitarian, and environmental aspects and potentials of solar cooking: Solar Cooking: Clean, Bright and Accessible,Out of the Smoke, Into the Sun, and Cleaner Cooking, Healthier Planet