Omelet wrote:
>
> In article >,
> "Pete C." > wrote:
>
> > Good solar ovens will produce results directly comparable to a
> > conventional oven as they produce an environment of dry external
> > non-radient heat. Be aware however, that a good many of the designs
> > you'll find are not good solar ovens and have undersized collector area
> > relative to the cooking area and won't generate enough heat for normal
> > oven type cooking. The small box ovens with reflector "petals" aren't
> > really adequate for cooking, really only for heating to consumption
> > temperature, say 160 degrees.
> >
> > An example of a good solar oven would be a steel oven box, insulated on
> > 5 sides and not the bottom, with a diffuser "pizza stone" type device
> > inside on the bottom, located at the focal point of a good sized
> > parabolic collector. Figure a good 6' dia collector for a cubic foot
> > sized oven. This setup will put sufficiently concentrated energy on the
> > bottom of the box to heat the oven interior to "normal" oven
> > temperatures like 350 degrees. With this design you can also interchange
> > the oven box with a pot holder so you can boil or simmer food. You do
> > have to periodically re-aim the collector, which is also how you
> > regulate the temp by aiming a little off to reduce the heat.
>
> When I was in Junior high, we made some solar ovens. Some of them got up
> to 300 degrees or more and they used them to bake bread. They were
> fairly simple but the main thing that seemed to make the difference is
> that they used Mirror tiles, epoxied to the sides of a metal box with
> the heavy glass front.
>
> For a solar stove, I've managed to get (thru freecycle) an old satellite
> antennae. One of those little ones.
>
> I plan to use mirror tile on it (I'm sure I can get free broken mirror
> at the local glass shop) and then locate the focal point on it to locate
> the "burner" for pan or pot cooking.
>
> I'm still playing with the concept. :-)
> I understand that I'll have to "track" the sun with it.
> --
> Peace, Om
>
> Remove _ to validate e-mails.
>
> "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Consider using good heavy aluminized mylar instead of mirror tiles. A
lot less weight, less fragile and you can just cut suitable pie wedges
to attach with spray glue. Also cheap and easy to replace if damaged or
deteriorated.

Various solar cooker designs at: http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/