Solar Cooking
Solar Cooking Advantages
Think about it. Wouldn't it be great to cook a meal without increasing your energy bill? This is probably one of the simplest ways to capture the energy from the sun and make it work for us. Once you have a solar cooker or solar oven, you position it in a sunny place and make sure it is properly angled towards the sun. The food will come out very flavourful and there is less chance of over-cooking it thus keeping it more nutritious. You can cook virtually anything you could cook in a countertop slow cooker. These include: vegetables, meats, pastries and breads. Anyone suffering from EMF (electro Magnetic Field) sensitivity will find this method of cooking an added bonus. Another advantage is that food is cooked outside which means we don't need to use additional energy to cool the house.
Different Styles
There are a wide variety of designs. They fall into three main groups. There are box or panel ovens which tend to be larger but cook at lower temperatures, somewhere between 200 and 250 degrees F. The third type is the parabolic cooker. They tend to be smaller but cook at higher temperatures. They tend to be a bit more complicated and require more careful positioning. A multitude of plans exist for building a unit at home for very little money. Increasingly, more units are commercially available. These will vary greatly in size and price
Third World Application
Solar Cookers International has been promoting them in many of the third world countries all around the globe for over 20 years. In some of these countries fuel is very scarce. These ovens can be used for cooking and pasteurizing water. The work of SCI improves the life style of thousands by reducing the need for fuel and providing a good cooking alternative. They indicate this type of cooking is most effective between the Equator and 40 degrees latitude. Their work can be supported by going to www.solarcookers.org.
Conclusion
Cooking with the sun is a great way to reduce conventional energy consumption and be prepared in the event that our usual energy sources are interrupted. Portable units are a good option during camping or boating trips. A great deal more information is available on all aspects of solar cooking at
www.solarcooker-at-cantinawest.com.
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