My solar cooker

Today was my first (and second) attempt at making a solar cooker. I decided to use a thermal blanket. But I didn't know that it's so thin! So it got torn apart here and there pretty quickly...
I had some leftover metal net and my first plan was to place the thermal blanket inside of it. I bought a cauldron with a three-legged stand, but it didn't arrive yet, so I used this black grill stand - found it neglected in the garden... I placed glass vessel in it, and some beetroots (so they'll be edible even if uncooked...).
It worked surprisingly well!
The grill stand got hotter than the vessel, but it also got pretty warm, especially the bottom of it.
It was a sunny day, but also a bit chilly and windy, and with some thin clouds sometimes.

Then, as the blanket got torn anyway, I decided to try something else - I put it in my cage, which was designed for rabbits or quail but I can't have them yet, so I'm using it for seedlings. A part of it is covered, so the bunnies (or quail) would have a place to hide. I decided to put the thermal blanket there, and on the top frame. It was already evening when this was done, but again - it warmed up the grill stand.

I'll probably go back to the idea with a metal net and a three-legged stand, but maybe I'll use both. I just need to make the blanket stronger somehow...

I always wanted to try sticking a mosaic of mirror pieces onto a TV dish to focus the heat and maybe boil an egg.

Flora, I think it's a lot of fun to experiment and try new things. I'd suggest that you keep good notes about your set up and observations so that you can make changes and improvements.  Who knows, you might discover an angle that nobody has hit upon yet!

Burl, I've also thought about using mirrors to create a solar cooker. I just haven't gotten around to it yet because I already have a Sun Oven. The oven has polished aluminum reflectors, not much unlike mirrors. But they have the advantage of being lightweight, thus easier to use. People do use mirrors to concentrate the sun rays and those cookers can be very powerful, but need tending because the sun's position is constantly changing. My Sun Oven also needs tending, but it's not as sensitive as a parabolic mirror set up.

Flora, with my Sun Oven I find that it generates a whole lot more heat when there is a closed oven, rather than open to the air. When my oven gets too hot, one of the things I can do is crack open the lid a bit, which lets a portion of the heat escape. I've found that using a thin metal, black pot works better than a clear glass pot. The contents cook a lot faster.

The idea of using the blanket is worth exploring. It would be great for backpackers, I should think.

Burl, I'm thinking of something more like steam cooking. Maybe also yarn dyeing.
Su, I would like to cover it with glass or plexiglas but I don't have anything like that now... your oven looks professional!
Can't wait for the cauldron to arrive... it should warm up much better.

Improving the cage, while the net is waiting for a cauldron...
Worked well drying some potatoes!

My wife and I recently made a solar oven and documented the build process here for anyone who is interested to have a go themselves at this type of solar cooker:



And we put together an easy quiche recipe for it (it's delicious) and made a video tutorial for that too to get you started: