Solar ovens can cook baked potatoes using only the light of the sun. A box solar oven is an opaque box with a transparent lid. The glass or plastic of the lid lets visible light into the oven, then traps the infrared light so it can't go back out. The infrared light warms the cooking pot and the sides of the oven. The resulting heat is trapped by the insulation in the sides and bottom of the box. In short, a box solar oven works much the same way as your car sitting in the sun on a hot day.
Step 1
Wash the potatoes and prick them several times with a fork.
Step 2
Put the potatoes in the pot and put on the lid.
Step 3
Put the pot in the solar oven. If you are going to use a thermometer, put it in the oven as well. Close the the oven and attach reflectors if your oven has them.
Step 4
Point the oven at the sun, and then turn it another 30 degrees. In other words, you are pointing the oven at where the sun is going to be when it has moved another 30 degrees along the horizon.
Step 5
Let the potatoes cook for four hours. To check the potatoes, quickly remove the pot and close the oven while you check the potatoes. Stab the potato with a toothpick. If the toothpick goes into the potato easily and the potato feels soft, it is done. If the potato isn't done, put the lid on the pot as quickly as possible and put the pot back in the oven. Let the potatoes cook for up to six hours.
Tips and Warnings
- 1. A box solar oven is aimed directly at the sun when the shadow falls directly behind it. If the shadow is not symmetrical or falls to one side more than the other, the oven is not aimed well. 2. Another option is to put the potatoes in the oven, aim the oven due south, and let the potatoes cook all day. They will be ready in time for supper. 3. Clouds, wind and the angle of the sun all affect how hot the oven will get and how long the food will take to cook. Using a thermometer and looking at it often helps you teach yourself to "read" the solar cooking conditions.
- Solar ovens lose heat quickly when opened. When you are checking the potatoes, don't let the oven sit open.
Things You'll Need
- Fork
- Black enamel cooking pot (or another kind of pot suitable for a solar oven)
- Box solar oven
- Oven thermometer (optional)
- Toothpicks
- Hot pads
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