Anything you can cook in a conventional electric or gas
oven and most things you can cook on a stovetop can be cooked in a
SUN OVEN®. You can bake, boil and steam, so the only
foods you cannot cook are fried foods.
Where are the SUN OVENS®
manufactured?
The SUN OVENS® which are sold in North America are
made in Elburn, Illinois. With the exception of the thermometer, all of the
component parts used in the SUN OVENS®
are made in the USA.
SUN OVENS®
that are used outside of North America are often made in the country in which
they are used.
What is the cooking temperature range?
The
SUN OVEN® will reach temperatures of 360 to 400
degrees Fahrenheit. Cooking temperatures will vary depending on the brightness
of the sun and how often the oven is refocused to follow the
sun.
Will food prepared in a SUN
OVEN® taste the same as food prepared in my
conventional oven?
The food tastes much better! SUN
OVEN® cooking allows many of the natural flavors of
food, which get baked out in conventional ovens, to remain. The slow, even rise
in temperatures in a SUN OVEN® gives the
complex carbohydrates time to break down into simple sugars allowing subtle
natural flavors to emerge. Sun baked-foods stay moist (the natural internal
juices do not bake out) resulting in a superior, moist taste and much less
shrinkage.
How long does it take?
Cooking times are close to
the same as those in a conventional oven. Because the sun sometimes goes behind
clouds, cooking times can vary. At times it may take a little longer. The
factors that affect the cooking time are: the quality of the sunlight at the
time you are cooking, the types and quantities of the food being cooked, and how
often the oven is refocused. A good rule of thumb is to add 10 to 15 minutes of
cooking time for each time the oven door is
opened.
The amazing thing about using a SUN
OVEN® is that it is almost impossible to burn food;
and sun-cooked food does not dry out. This enables food to be cooked for a
longer time at a lower temperature or in less time at a higher temperature,
without affecting the quality of the food.
There are two ways to cook in a SUN
OVEN®. If you refocus the oven to follow the sun
every 25 to 30 minutes, cooking times and methods will be very similar to
cooking with a conventional stove or oven. Or a SUN
OVEN® can be used for slow cooking, much like a
crock-pot. You can prepare your dinner, put it in the SUN
OVEN® and point the oven toward where the sun will be
approximately halfway through the time you will be gone. Leave, and come home to
a tasty, slow-cooked dinner. If you run late, there is no need to worry; the
SUN OVEN® will keep your food warm,
moist, and fresh for hours.
No, but dark, thin-walled pots with lids work best. Dark
pots change the light from the sun into heat energy. Shiny aluminum pots and
pans cause light to be reflected out thereby reducing the oven's temperature.
Glass casserole dishes with lids also work well.
With the exception of bakery goods, everything cooked in a
SUN OVEN®should be cooked in a pot with a lid.
Lids hold steam in the pot. If a lid is not used, the steam will
fog the inside of the glass and reduce the temperature. For baking cakes,
breads, cookies and pies, dark cookie sheets and baking tins work
best.
Yes, the SUN OVEN® has
been designed to accommodate baking two loaves of bread at a time. Several flat
pans can be cross stacked to enable several layers when making granola or
cookies. Two small stackable pots can be used on the leveling tray. The leveling
tray can be removed to increase the usable area inside the SUN
OVEN® and allow larger stackable pots or pans to be
used. (It is important to note that if the leveling tray is removed, pots and
pans should be placed on a trivet, not on the floor of the oven. To cook evenly,
there must be air flow all the way around the pot. A trivet will allow enough
air to pass under the pot to ensure an even
heat.)
Does food need to be stirred?
No, stirring to
prevent scorching is not required when cooking in a SUN
OVEN® due to the fact that there are no hot spots. The
temperature of the food and the pot remain the same and rise evenly. It is
almost impossible to burn food in a SUN OVEN®.
In full sun, bread baked in a SUN
OVEN® will brown. To insure a brown crust every time bread is
baked, a light mist of water can be sprayed on the dough just before it is
placed in SUN OVEN®. A dark lustrous finish on breads can be
achieved by using an egg-or milk-wash on the dough before baking.
When poultry is baked in a SUN
OVEN® in a covered pot it does not brown. A golden brown
surface can be attained on meats and poultry by sprinkling a small amount of
sugar over them. Paprika is also useful for creating an appetizing
appearance.
How difficult is it to focus a SUN
OVEN®?
Focusing a
SUN OVEN® is very easy. All
that is required is to watch the shadows created by the oven. When the shadows
are even on all sides, the cooker is directly focused. The built-in leveling leg
on the back of the oven allows for easy tracking.
How often must a SUN OVEN® be refocused?
The need to
refocus depends a great deal on what you are cooking, the time of day, and the
temperature you wish to maintain. A good rule of thumb is to plan to readjust
every 30 minutes to maintain maximum heat. At noon the sun is high in the sky
and moves quickly past the maximum focus point, creating the need to refocus
more often. Later in the day you will not need to refocus as often. The
SUN OVEN® is equipped with a built in Levelator, which keeps food
level and avoids spills while being refocused.
Many meals can be cooked
without refocusing.
SUN OVEN® users often will put their ovens
outside, focused for the mid-day sun, with their dinner in it when they leave
for work in the morning. As the sun moves overhead, the temperature in the
SUN OVEN® chamber slowly rises to a cooking level. As the sun
passes, the food is kept warm and when they return from work they have a warm,
sun-cooked dinner. (Keep in mind food will not burn in a
SUN OVEN®
and that the chamber is extremely well insulated, allowing food to stay warm for
hours.)
The only parts that get hot are the oven
chamber, the cooking pan and the glass door. Proper care must be taken to use
hot pads when opening the door and removing food. The entire exterior of the
oven, including the reflectors, does not get hot and remains safe to
touch.
How long will a SUN OVEN® last?
The estimated life of a
SUN OVEN® is 15 + years. With proper care it should last a
lifetime.
What are the dimensions of the SUN OVEN®?
The size of
the
SUN OVEN® is 19'' x 19'' with an average depth of 11''. The
total weight is only 21 pounds. The back of the outside outer box is 14" high
and the front of the outer box is 9" high. The back of the oven chamber is 11"
high and the front is 7" high, with an average depth of 9". The door opening for
the oven chamber is 14" in diameter. When opened the reflectors are 32" in
diameter.
The following materials used to make a
SUN
OVEN®:
Reflectors
Anodized aluminum (which will never oxidize, rust or
corrode)
Outer shell
ABS plastic
Bezel Poplar wood (kiln
dried)
Inner shell
Anodized aluminum
Door
Tempered glass
Between the
aluminum inner shell and the plastic outer shell there is a thick batt of food
grade fiberglass insulation.
Yes, a SUN OVEN® can be
used on a clear winter day. The most important factor in using a SUN
OVEN® is the brightness of the sun, not the outside
air temperature. Often, a 40-degree, clear, low-humidity day will allow food to
cook faster than a 100-degree day with high humidity. The SUN
OVEN® has been used very successfully at the base camp
of a Mt. Everest expedition where the temperatures are often well below zero.
There are, however, more cooking hours available in the summer than in the
winter. In the summer, it is not unusual to cook from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM,
whereas during the early winter, effective cooking is limited to 10:00 AM to
2:00 PM.
Yes, a SUN
OVEN®makes an excellent solar
dryer. When the latch (which holds the door shut for cooking) is turned inward
and the glass door is set on top of the latch, moist air can escape and the
temperature inside the oven will remain low enough to keep the items being dried
from starting to cook.
Yes, SUN OVENS International, Inc. is involved in solar cooking projects in deforested
countries on 5 continents. We have been innovative in developing methods of
placement, training, and marketing to assist in the positioning of over 34,000
family sized GLOBAL SUN OVENS® in the U.S. and
more than 100 developing countries, and 250 large VILLAGER SUN
OVENS®in deforested developing
countries. We are striving to develop and implement comprehensive solar cooking
programs which will radically decrease the developing world's dependence on fuel
wood and dung as the primary cooking fuels, while benefiting the environment,
raising the standard of living, and improving the health of the poor worldwide.
Domestic SUN OVEN®saleshelp finance these
endeavors.
