Sun Oven, box oven and solar cooking

I started my solar cooking adventure making a box oven design I found on the internet. I bought black pots and everything but when it was all said and done it was pretty much useless. I also made something using a car windshield blocker, covered it with foil and it was useless as well. You need insulation, you have to get the cook vessel hot and you have to hold the heat in. That said the more I see of the commercial units the more possibilities I see for actually making something that works.
But out of frustration I broke down and spent to much money on a commercial alternative. Yes they do work well but the construction is a bit flimsy for the money am I sorry I spent the money, no they work. Was it overpriced? Yeah I think so but I could say the same for a lot of things.

Currently I have a GoSun Sport and the Fusion. If I could rush right out and buy another solar oven it would be the Sun Oven.
They all have their strong points and weak points I wish I could buy them all and get to the bottom of it.
But I have what I have.
I sure would like to add a Sun Oven.
I also have a propane stove and wok, I keep plenty of propane bottles on hand so frying and boiling water is not a problem.
Between the wok and solar cookers all I need is grocery's, the rest is easy.

It is empowering to know that I can cook just about anything with only the sun!
But on a cloudy day I got the wok.

I don't know much about the Sun Oven.

Since you made the box oven why not do some experimenting to make it work for you?

And also use the car windshield blocker.

Here are some comments from this thread Haybox Cooking Thermal-Cooker Box

The haybox I use is a cardboard box, three flakes of hay with some scooped out in the shape of a pot, a flake of hay for on top, a piece of cardboard on top of that, a seat cushion on top of that, and two bottles of vinegar to weight it all down.

My wife discovered these all on her own and has now made herself one plus three more for gifts. We have used it on several different meals and I can say it works very well indeed for really hot stuff or even for not so hot stuff. We are real happy with how it works making yogurt.

This thread is about Experiments with haybox pots

Please let us know if you try these experiments with that solar cooker you made and how they turned out.

Have you posted on here about your experiences with the gosun? I've looked at them and also the sun oven but haven't broke down and bought either. I think the sun oven would work best for my family size-wise but the gosun would work better for my cloudy location.

My kids and I tried making box ovens for a science experiment this summer when we had record high temperatures. We studied the science behind them, watched various instructional videos and then they each designed an oven and tried to bake a single cookie. Let's just say that the most successful cookie was warm with slightly melted chocolate chips but we couldn't tell if it was actually baked. I like the idea of solar cooking but I think I need something professionally made.

I bought one of these after this last summer was sort of already over and the days were getting grey and cool, but I was still able to cook rice twice and beans once. It's fiddly to set up and take down, but I'm hoping that gets easier with practice. Cooking on the solar cooker, for me, took about about six or eight times as long as cooking on the stove, but I'm hoping that'll be better mid-summer.

I'm fascinated by the shape of the GoSun solar ovens. Tommy, what temperatures do yours get up to? To me, that's key to solar cooking. Like Jenny, I experimented with a homemade one, but couldn't achieve very high cooking temps. Mine worked more like a crock pot or slow cooker.

I have a Sun Oven and I love it. I get 325-350F (170-180C) consistently, occasionally higher, which is nice for planning cooking and meal times. The other thing I like about the Sun Oven, is that I can use my own cookware. I got the accessory kit when I bought it, which includes cookware, but I can use my own too. Since I get the best oven temps mid-day, I can easily move my cooking pot to my haybox cooker to finish cooking or keeping something warm until our evening meal.