Luther Krueger

Yes, that's the kind of thing that the book "A Golden Thread" talks about. It begs the question if so many people know how powerful the sun was, why didn't solar cooking become a routine thing? Like on history prof said, If the Romans could stamp out coins, why didn't the take it to the next step and make the printing press? We may never know!

Happy to share my interview with Stephen Thomas, recorded in May for my solar cooking channel. I learned a ton from Stephen and especially excited to see the hybrid solar/wood-energized solar dryer. I just shared our visit also with facebook.com/@SCWNet, which I encourage fellow Permies to check out! https://youtu.be/OopjFimRG4c

Yes, the Ports, to whom the operations for the popular Sport model reverted after Solavore stepped out of the picture, hope to bring it back into production soon. I'd recommend going ahead and using greenhouse glazing, which I think would work very well. Glad you mentioned it, I have a few Sports (what with it being produced near my home town of Mpls) and one has a cracked window which sometimes feels more awkward to set up with the reflectors--and also I've gotten accustomted to only using the reflectors in the winter. Will see how I can make the reflectors that came with them attach to my scrap greenhouse glass--let me know how your plan works!

Luther Krueger wrote:I've been cooking with pure unmediated sunlight for 20+ years .....

John Weiland wrote:I use the Solavore Sport which has been discontinued for many years, but appears to possibly be poised for a re-boot...?...If not, I plan to just cut a 'to-fit' piece of twin-wall greenhouse glazing as a substitute. .

There are several groups that are working to distribute solar PV-to-induction or electric heating element cookers in Africa (SunSpotPV, ECOCA, MPISHI). My sense is they are running into unanticipated costs for what should be an appliance that would cost under US$300. When the sun is shining, parabolics and vacuum tube cookers cook just as fast as any fossil-fuel or electric cooker. Box cookers are as good or better than "crock pots" for slow cooking, and many panel cookers equal their cooking prowess. One needn't use them side-by side for comparison, e.g., I've often stir fried food in a 1.4 meter parabolic every bit as fast--and with far less need for fussing with dials--than my gas range. I have several guests' stories about both PV-direct cookers along with the standard fare of strictly thermal reflector/insulation cookers on youtube.com/@SolarCookingMuseum Recently I also posted the great work of Alexis Ziegler who's set up a whole community cooking system with strictly DC direct to heating element cooker at the Living Energy Farm in Virginia.

Joseph Bolton wrote:Cooking with solar: my first impression of how this would work best was a solar panel, battery, and an instapot pressure cooker. Those things are so low wattage, intermittent power usage when up to pressure and temperature, that they'd be fast and efficient compared to reflector based ovens.

I've been cooking with pure unmediated sunlight for 20+ years and would love to hear how the permaculture community is doing likewise  I have a non-monetized video series focused entirely on the many dedicated solar cooks who use, design, and promote solar cookers. Not selling any product, just the idea! youtube.com/@SolarCookingMuseum

There are many different manufactured and DIY solar cooker models you can try, some cook fast but limited amount of food, some cook a lot of food almost as fast as a gas range, and some are perfect slow cookers. The best source for all possible currently manufactured solar cookers, as well as DIY plans anyone can make that are just as powerful, check out Solar Cookers International's wiki - solarcooking.org  You can also learn more about the many devoted solar cooker makers, promoters, and power users at the Solar Cooking Museum's YT channel - youtube.com/@SolarCookingMuseum. --Luther Krueger  museum (at) bigbluesun (dot) net