Solar Cooking – Construction of an Oven

The following pictures give a rough idea of the construction process of a solar oven. All you need is to be capable working with hands, and some materials like aluminium foil, cartons, scotch tape and a chisel. For a detailed description of the construction of various types of solar ovens you can refer to www.solarcooking.org.

1st Step: Get a number of used carton boxes from your local supermarket or bicycle shop.

Step 1

Step 1

2nd Step: Your oven will basically consist of a small box that fits to a large one with 1-2 inches gap on each side. The smaller box should be large enough for your cooking pot to fit in. You will need a black cooking pot with a lid. A black pot is suitable for consetrating the sun rays and the heat.

Step 2

Step 2

3rd Step: Glue aluminium foil shiny side out to the inner walls of the smaller box.

Step 3

Step 3

4th Step: Now your inner box is nicely covered with aluminium foil that will reflect sun rays back to the pot.

Step 4

Step 4

5th Step: Use a paper cutter to cut pieces of carton that snugly fit the gaps between the large and small boxes. These will act as your insulation. Don’t forget to put pieces of carton on the bottom of the boxes besides the 4 sides.

Step 5

Step 5

6th Step: This is your completed, insulated oven.

Step 6

Step 6

7th Step: For better insulation you can even cover the gaps between the two boxes. You will then need a piece of glass that is larger than the small box and smaller than the big one, so that you can place it and lift it from the rim of the small box.

Step 7

Step 7

8th Step: Here is an example of solar oven usage. We cook baked vagetable mix briam.

Step 8

Step 8

9th Step: Use large pieces of carton boxes to construct the reflectors – solar collectors. You will need four reflectors, one for each side of the oven. Two should fit on the wide sides of the box and the other two to the small sides of the box. Each side of the reflector should be covered with aluminium foil the same way you covered the inner box of the oven see step 3. The reflectors should be placed in approx. 45 o angle for better sun reflection.

Step 9

Step 9