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#138788 - 07/06/08 02:54 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: dweste]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


In the winter there is less than 8 hours between sunrise and sunset here.

I admit it's interesting and I think that it's a concept to be aware of but I would never rely on it for anything.

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#138822 - 07/06/08 10:58 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: ]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Hacksaw, I don't know where the cutoff is for practical solar, but no question if there is little sun there is little solar energy to harvest. Just as when there is little or nothing flammable around, relying on a found fuel technology makes no sense. Each has its appropriate place and its limits.

Where I live we have in excess of 200 days of sun, and I wouldn't rely on solar in the rain and fog of winter either. But even in winter here we have more than a few glorious days of bright blue skies and full sun between storm fronts, we call them bluebird days, that offer a solar opportunity.

The travel literature indicates summers are pretty nice up your way. If your closed vehicle is pointed south and it is hot inside when you come back after a few hours, you probably have useful solar. When the sun is melting ice and snow, you probably have useful solar. If agriculture has a growing season in your area, you probably have useful solar.

Survival choices should probably focus on what works. I would never suggest trying to use solar when it doesn't work. But when it does work, why take the solar option off the table?

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#138855 - 07/07/08 04:37 AM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: dweste]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


You do have a point. While winter days are short, summer days are long (it didn't get completely dark until after 11pm today).

If there were a solution portable enough, I'd consider it. I'm the first to beat the redundancy horse to death. But the older I get the more finicky I get about carrying/packing stuff which isn't vital. Maybe that's because of the extra weight I'm carrying under my belt. smile

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#138899 - 07/07/08 05:27 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: ]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


This thread got me to thinking about making my own portable rig...just to see for myself what it can do.

Here's what I'm going to do as a prototype since it won't cost me anything but some of my time...and that's not worth much smile

I'm going to make a folding backdrop out of cardboard which is small enough to fit into my Crusader canteen bag. Likely 6 to 8 sections overall so I can cover 180 degrees and underneath.

Then I'm going to coat the cardboard with sections of a space blanket attached with spray contact adhesive.

My Crusader cooking cup is black already and has a lid. I should be able to put water in it, put the whole thing in a big zip top bag and go...as long as there is sun.

If it works I'll make another one with really thin plastic sheets hinged with tape and stuck into the bag for a (non)rainy day. I doubt that would add more than a few ounces.

If I'm missing anything speak now before I get out my scissors!

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#138901 - 07/07/08 05:38 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: ]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Go for 360 degrees with the front lower than the back. If you can make the sections so the top is wider than the bottom so the reflector spreads out like a flower, that can help. Use an oven bag, not just a ziplock.

Set it up and ignore it for hours, unless you see something strange developing. Once you open a small solar set up's thermal isolator / bag it takes a long time to get back up to temperature.

Have fun and give us a report!

Edit: I put a 4.47 pound roasting chicken and some veggies out to cook in my cardboard box solar cooker at 10 am today. It is 11:45 and the pot is too hot to touch for more than a second and I can see the chicken browning where the lid is lifted about ½ inch because I overloaded the pot.



Edited by dweste (07/07/08 05:48 PM)

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#138909 - 07/07/08 08:53 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: dweste]
BobS Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 02/08/08
Posts: 924
Loc: Toledo Ohio
How thick is the chicken and how well did the chicken cook inside?

_________________________



You can run, but you'll only die tired.


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#138916 - 07/07/08 10:28 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: BobS]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Chicken #1 test result: Qualified failure.

Air temperature away from the focus of the oven was 130 degrees at 3:45.

The chicken breasts were a little over 2.5 inches thick. The skin browned well only at the very top, the breast and whole carrot stuffed in breast temp after 15 minutes of resting was 140 degrees, and the breast meat pulled apart easily. Juices were present and near the breast bone may have showed the palest of pink (I had to look a couple times and was not quite sure). Drumstick meat measured only 130 degrees, pulled apart easily, and the juices again might have been the slightest bit pink (I was a little more certain I saw some pink).

Unfortunately, solar ovens cook from the top down. The fact the breasts were probably cooked and the drumsticks probably not quite cooked, meant the rest of the bird was not done. The whole carrot stuffed in the breast was not quite cooked soft all the way through.

I lifted the bird out and placed it on a carving board to check underneath. Red and pink juices ran onto the board. None of the potatoes, onions, or turnips that lined the bottom of the pot were done. I did not start with any liquid in the pot (there was no room to put in the canned tomatos), but there was about an inch of juice in the bottom of the pot.

Being a confirmed coward, I reloaded the pot and put it in a 325 degree oven to finish cooking. All knives, boards, utensils, and my hands washed in hot soapy water.

Thoughts for next time: Bird too big (the recipes I found all recommended a 2.5 pound bird but I got the smallest one I could find at the store.). Overloaded pot couldn’t close (all recipes for all solar cooking indicate a closed pot).

Chili #1 test: Put an almost full pot on to see if a vegetable chili could cook starting at 3:45. We’ll see if there is enough solar to do the job. This is a second clean pot, not the one used for the chicken #1 test.

Sigh. Solar advocate face slightly red.


Edited by dweste (07/07/08 10:31 PM)

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#138917 - 07/07/08 10:31 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: BobS]
Nicodemus Offline
Paranoid?
Veteran

Registered: 10/30/05
Posts: 1341
Loc: Virginia, US
If you guys can post some pictures too, please do.I can't wait to see some of the reports on this stuff!
_________________________
"Learn survival skills when your life doesn't depend on it."

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#138922 - 07/07/08 10:45 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: dweste]
BobS Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 02/08/08
Posts: 924
Loc: Toledo Ohio
Originally Posted By: dweste
Chicken #1 test result: Qualified failure.

Air temperature away from the focus of the oven was 130 degrees at 3:45.

The chicken breasts were a little over 2.5 inches thick. The skin browned well only at the very top, the breast and whole carrot stuffed in breast temp after 15 minutes of resting was 140 degrees, and the breast meat pulled apart easily. Juices were present and near the breast bone may have showed the palest of pink (I had to look a couple times and was not quite sure). Drumstick meat measured only 130 degrees, pulled apart easily, and the juices again might have been the slightest bit pink (I was a little more certain I saw some pink).

Unfortunately, solar ovens cook from the top down. The fact the breasts were probably cooked and the drumsticks probably not quite cooked, meant the rest of the bird was not done. The whole carrot stuffed in the breast was not quite cooked soft all the way through.

I lifted the bird out and placed it on a carving board to check underneath. Red and pink juices ran onto the board. None of the potatoes, onions, or turnips that lined the bottom of the pot were done. I did not start with any liquid in the pot (there was no room to put in the canned tomatos), but there was about an inch of juice in the bottom of the pot.

Being a confirmed coward, I reloaded the pot and put it in a 325 degree oven to finish cooking. All knives, boards, utensils, and my hands washed in hot soapy water.

Thoughts for next time: Bird too big (the recipes I found all recommended a 2.5 pound bird but I got the smallest one I could find at the store.). Overloaded pot couldn’t close (all recipes for all solar cooking indicate a closed pot).

Chili #1 test: Put an almost full pot on to see if a vegetable chili could cook starting at 3:45. We’ll see if there is enough solar to do the job. This is a second clean pot, not the one used for the chicken #1 test.

Sigh. Solar advocate face slightly red.


I think a way to cook the chicken in a solar oven would be the way I cook it when I’m making barbecued chicken on my grill.


I boil the chicken in water for 45-min to an hour (after the water boils it's 45-min). Then when on the grill all I have to do is brown it and brush on the barbecue sauce. If you did something like this with the solar it probably would be easier to make sure the chicken is done inside.

Use the solar to boil the water the chicken is sitting in. then brown it after that.

_________________________



You can run, but you'll only die tired.


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#138923 - 07/07/08 11:00 PM Re: Still playing with solar cooking [Re: BobS]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


I wouldn't stuff the chicken...you are going to need to cook it all the way through if you do and it's going to require more cooking. Some chefs actually don't recommend stuffing birds anyhow because the stuffing (be it veggies or stuffing or whatever) can get contaminated by touching the raw chicken on the inside. Then if you can't get the stuffing up to a certain temp to kill the potential nasties, it might not be safe to eat. And if you do get it up to temp on the inside, the outside of the bird is WAY over done.

If you could put something inside the chicken which would help cook it from the inside, you'd be laughing. Maybe a case for beer can chicken?

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