Homemade Solar Oven

I am working my way through my bucket list and one of the things I have always wanted to try was solar cooking. It moved up on my bucket list after Hurricane Ike left us with no power for 17 days but since I started a job after that that had me supervising 28 workers and no free time I had to wait until now to try it.
I did some research on the internet and found a quick and easy way to make one with only using items that I have in my garage and art studio. it is amazing how you save things and have no idea why at the time but they come in handy later,
Basically the oven is a cardboard box lined with Styrofoam panels that I saved from packing boxes.
I used a 12 by 12 box and cut the Styrofoam to fit snugly inside like a box in a box. I then wrapped them in tinfoil and slid them into place.  If you don't have Styrofoam you can put a box inside one the next size bigger and stuff the walls between the two with crumbled paper to insulate it. On the bottom I placed a black piece of paper to absorb the heat better.
Online I have found sites where the entire inner box is lined in black and some just the tin foiled Styrofoam so I tested it first with just the tinfoil and my second larger oven will be lined in black cardboard.

The reflectors are made with cardboard panels positioned around the main box to reflect the sunlight into the oven. I am still learning the ins and outs of positioning the panels correctly but I have managed to bake Irish soda bread in my first oven as well as chicken and rice.


The second photo is my second attempt at a solar oven. As you can see this one is a little larger (13 by 13 inner box) but except for the front wall being slanted down and the inner walls lined with black cardboard it is the same design. I have not yet made the reflector panels for it so I am using the ones off the first oven,
The first oven reached 225 maximum temp but it took a few hours this new one reached 200 in less than half an hour and today is much cloudier then when I tested the other one.
. I started out testing blueberry muffins in it like  I did the last cooker. I think that is a safe thing to cook and since it was the 89 cent package kind I am not risking much. They cooked much faster with the new design.

The soar panels are not adjusted for cooking yet in either of the photos. It is easier to photograph them that way. That is the last step. Both ovens have Plexiglas covers to retain in the heat. I check and re position the ovens every 20 to 30 minutes When I am baking bread I uncover the pan for the last 1/2 of the cooking time.

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