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Kyoto Box

The original Kyoto Box design. See below for updated design.

News and recent developments[]

Design of theYear UK box oven

Selected at London Week: Designs of the Year

Design discussion[]

Minimum Solar Box Cooker Photo small

The "Minimum" Solar Box Cooker uses a single back reflector that is very easily tilted up and down to track the sun instead of tilting the entire cooker as is the case with the Kyoto Box.

This design, while simple, has a number of shortcomings:

  • The reflectors will not stay in position with even the slightest wind.
  • When the sun is not straight overhead, in order to make use of the reflectors, the entire box has to be tipped up to face the sun. This causes the cooking pot(s) to slide around and spill food.

Rather than have four reflectors, it is much more desirable to have a single rear reflector such as in the "Minimum" Solar Box Cooker design.

Revised design[]

Kyoto box

Probably due the poor cooking performance or the original design, Jon Bohmer has modified the design of the Kyoto Box to be more similar to earlier box cookers. An interesting innovation is the use of a white reflector instead of one covered with aluminum foil or Mylar.

Audio and video[]

  • March 2009: 

External links[]