# Solar Cooking **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789 "2000-07-06T21:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/1 "2000-07-06T21:58:40Z")
I suppose this could be a General Question, but seems especially mundane. Has anyone here ever done any solar box cooking? What kind of cooker did you use (materials, etc.) how were your results, and what sort of things did you cook? I’ve been gleaning a few things off the web about it and think I can build one with no problem but not sure what sort of things cook the best. Thanks for any input! ---
**Author:** ![tubagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b77776/32.png) [@tubagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tubagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/2 "2000-07-06T22:20:00Z")
The only solar cooking I have done is an egg on a cooking pan, in the sun. That was when I was eight years old though 😛 ---
**Author:** ![winky99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/71c47a/32.png) [@winky99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/winky99)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/3 "2000-07-06T22:25:49Z")
I’ve solar cooked a ton of small bugs and leaves with a magnifying glass. 😃 Never ate any of them though. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/4 "2000-07-07T22:06:53Z")
I’ve never done any myself but when I was in boy scouts one of the kids built a solar cooker out of coat hangers and aluminum foil. It cooked for a while and then the clouds came in. The bread dough was in a tin can. You know if you are hungry even raw dough tastes good. Seriously though it did get about half done. Try the boy scout office for information. I have cooked biscuits next to a fire by reflecting heat with aluminum foil.They did just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Threll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Threll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threll)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/5 "2000-07-07T23:45:38Z")
Hummm solar cooking I think i did that once to my telescope. ---
**Author:** ![lswote](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lswote/32/5737_2.png) [@lswote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lswote)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/6 "2000-07-08T00:33:27Z")
I was in Cochabomba, Bolivia in November of 1998 and I visited a youth hostel where they made solar ovens to raise money. They were wooden boxes with some kind of reflective lining and a glass top panel. They cooked steak, potatoes, boiled eggs and some vegetables all at the same time over a period of 90 minutes to 2 hours for the lunch they hosted. I was impressed with how good a job it did cooking the food. Everythings was cooked and nothing was over-cooked. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/7 "2000-07-08T01:10:06Z")
Thanks, Wanderer. That’s the sorta info I was looking for. I did find the plans and tips for the box cooker online, but not too much in the way of recipes and was wondering if it was better geared towards making any certain types of food, etc. Guess I’ll try it and see, what do I have to lose but a box and some tinfoil, lol. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2000, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/8 "2000-07-08T03:58:48Z")
try this [url="[http://www.sunlightworks.com](http://www.sunlightworks.com)]site{/url} ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2000, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solar-cooking/24789/9 "2000-07-08T04:00:34Z")
someday I’ll figure this out.