the Solar Sizzler: an affordable solar cooker
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 07.26.05
Treehugger loves writing about solar cookers. Here is one that has a special feature: you can buy it online and it is really cheap. It mounts on a camera tripod and comes apart so that you can fit it in a knapsack and take it camping. It's certainly not the most sophisticated cooker we have seen but at less than US$50 the price is toasty. It might make a good telescope at night, too. ::Solar Sizzler
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- How to Use a Solar Oven: Beans and Rice Recipe
- How to Use a Solar Cooker: What Works and What Doesn't
- 7 Great Weekend Solar Power Projects
- 5 Reuses for CDs: Turn Old CDs into New Geek Gear
- Build a Greenhouse without Going Broke
- iPhone 3GS: Snap Close-Up Pictures Like a Pro (Video!)
I've been using two of these for nearly a year and continue to be impressed by them! The temperature in the focal point gets to 1200F in a matter of seconds, which makes it cook like a hotplate. I can cook anything I'd normally do on a stove using regular pots and pans as long as the sun is shining.
Ed
Hello Ed,
Is cooking with this similar to cooking with fire, in that there is a good chance of scorching the outter portion of the food before the innards are cooked? How do you stir items and such?
Looks like a very useful piece of equipment.
Thanks!
Guess you can scorch things if you try hard enough. The pan itself doesn't reach 1200 degrees since the heat spreads around the pan or pot but it does actually "sizzle" meat on a clear sunny day.
The tops of the pots/pans can be lifted and whatevers inside can be stirred same as you would over a camp stove. It's just a bit higher since you have to aim the sunlight at the bottom of the pot, but not so high that you can't see what's happening. I've been RVing for several years and got the sizzlers this spring. I'm sure I've saved the cost of the units in propane I haven't used. Several of the solar cooking discussion groups spoke highly of it, which encouraged me to buy.
When I was a Girl Scout, many years ago, we made our own solar ovens with sticks and aluminum foil. I remember baking a cake this way. We simply aligned the foil reflector with the sun and placed the food on the ground in front of the reflector. In fact, we called it a reflector oven. It worked well.
Barbara Spring, author
The Dynamic Great Lakes
The Wilderness Within