[gardeners] solar oven

flylo@txcyber.com (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 9 Aug 2001 11:22:59 -0500

Here is one site for the solar ovens. I think she's running a deal 
where, if you buy one ($199) they'll ship the thing for free. 

http://www.beulahland.com/sunoven 
A few years ago we were at a gathering for solar energy interests. 
They did a contest between two solar ovens (baking boxed 
brownies), something that usually takes ? 10 min? The homemade 
oven never did cook them and the one that looked like it fell out of a 
space station took about 2 hours. July in Texas, so if it's not hot 
enough here, it might be a problem elsewhere. 

Bargyla, what kind of wildlife are you dealing with? I might consider 
one of the ovens if I could figure out how to keep the cats and my 
hens from jumping inside and eating the food. Also flies. What do 
they do about flies? I know 300* - 400* oven temps probably would 
discourage the flies from hanging around, but not like you can 
PREHEAT the things! There's still going to be a long wait between 
room temp to cooking temp isn't there? 
I kow they've come a long way with these things but there are still 
some 'design issues' I'd like to see ironed out first. (Maybe a 
plexiglass lid and structure to keep all the unwanteds out.) For 
$200, I'd expect something more than a few reflectors. 
martha