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| Sun oven out on the decking - making cock a leekie soup for freezer storage. |
So, this is our sun oven- one of our small scale contributions to battling Global warming. No, I don't pretend we use it everyday; we bought it for our house in Spain, where day to day sunshine is guaranteed for most of the year. We sold the house in Spain as we were not using it enough to warrant keeping it). Slightly soggy Cumbria can hardly compete with the Mediterranean climate, but as we have had really good weather this Spring, it would be a shame to waste all that lovely free energy.So we dusted it down and got on with some nice slow cooking. Cock a leekie soup is easy enough to make, and will not spoil if left for a bit too long in the sun. What normally takes about one and a half to two hours to cook on the hob, took about three hours in the sun oven. at an average temperature of 150 degrees C.
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One pot cooking - my Le Creuset oval pot does the job nicely. The folded tea towel
helps reduce condensation within the oven. |
The sun-oven is made by an American company called, somewhat predictably, Sun Oven Ⓡ. If you would like to know what it is all about, please
click here. They used to sell them on Amazon in the UK, but they are currently unavailable, which I think is a pity, when we are all being told to reduce our energy consumption. The current model is a slight upgrade from our oven, but essentially works on the same principals : a glass topped, insulated, small oven , surrounded by four reflecting panels which 'collect' the suns rays above the oven and help to maintain the temperature therein. There is certainly a greenhouse effect within the oven - how much the reflectors contribute I am not sure. Certainly,
parabolic reflectors are well proven to be excellent solar energy collectors and are being developed for use in hot sunny countries to generate electricity, using the
Stirling Engine Principal.
Whilst this technology has some way to go in its development, the fact that I can make a substantial meal, using solar energy alone, in a very unlikely spot in the world, demonstrates the potential for reducing the dependence on fossil fuels in hotter countries. It.s potential for use in underdeveloped countries is significant, and it is a tragedy that one never hears of such simple solutions being rolled out by the major NGOs operating in these areas.
I love my sun-oven. It's simple, safe and it works, and its potential for for further development and use is only restricted by our limited commitment to tackle Global Warming at every level in Society.
