Our weather changed, skies cleared up and the sun is beating down.  It’s already 86ºF outside.  This may sound rather obvious, but the solar cooker really started to heat up once the sun came out.  Yeah, sounds very obvious.  But it really made all the difference.  I checked that stick of butter after it had been in the solar cooker for a ½ hour, still cold.  Once I realised the sun was out we checked it right away and the butter was melted and sizzling a bit.

Success!!!

The brownies are baked!  

And I burnt my fingers a little after getting them out of the solar cooker, yes I was using a hot pad, but when I set the pan down on top of some black cloths I had sitting there on my table in my backyard kitchen the brownie pan started to slide off of the cloth stack a little and I instinctively reached for it.  I know, you would think I have cooking instincts that tell me not to grab a pan of freshly baked brownies with my bare hands, but, not when I am outside, standing at a folding table in my backyard having some doubts about the validity of my project!  Yeah, the doubts ended right then and there with my singed finger tips.  And no, not the same hand as the Ukelele finger tips.  Other hand!   I have 2 hurting hands, so now I really can’t do dishes!

I’m not really a brownie baker, I don’t like the sticky, gooey factor.  I never can tell when they are done.  Same with the solar oven brownies.  Pretty sure I over-cooked ‘em.  They were in the cooker for about 1½ hours.

Next is the supper.  I see an additional solar oven in our future, ‘cuz I loaded it up with potatoes for baking and a bread pan full of sliced carrots, and I just don’t know if I can fit the Bratwurst in later when it’s time.   I guess I could just lay them on the tray in between the potatoes if I wanna.

I wrapped the taters in foil and laid a black cloth over the tray of ‘em.  The carrots also have foil over the pan and a black cloth draped over that.

I kinda chickened out at the grocery store and bought smoked/cooked Bratwurst, so they don’t need to be in the solar oven nearly as long as if I had to actually cook them, and considering the crowded conditions in the solar cooker right now, maybe that was a good decision after all.  

The solar oven is really getting hot this afternoon.  Next time I am at the store I’ll buy an oven thermometer so I can see just how hot it’s getting.

I must say, I look at cardboard boxes and shade with new eyes now.

Ooops!  That’s not a solar oven, that’s the solar clothes dryer!

If we have sun tomorrow I think I will cook some chicken.  

I wonder if AlGore has a bunch of solar ovens?  Hmmm…  

Here’s a site that has plans for making a solar box cooker very similar to the one we built.  They have all the info on tons of different ways to construct solar cookers, and lots of recipes you may want to try.

So what do ya think?  Is this a project your family might enjoy and benefit from?

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