So, I Thinks it's About time I Look into This Solar Cooking Stuff

Well, I have been looking into the whole solar cooking thing for a while - reading the blogs, looking at the pictures (both the DIY and "professional grade" versions) watching the youtube videos ... well you get the point.

It usually boiled down to the same old excuse ... who has the time.

But, now it's summer in the desert. I'm a cheap S.O.B,and when it's over 100 degrees outside, I feel a little silly at dinner time when my oven and my AC just seem to be duking it out ... and the loser is usually my wallet.

Oh yeah, and then I saw this ...

That's my grill before noon on a late June day here in Nevada ... over 120 degrees... and, in case you're wondering, no, it's not on.

Crazy, right?

So after a quick refresher of some online DIY solar ovens - I started with a serrated knife, a cardboard box and a picture frame what already had glass in it, all found in my garage- Literally a couple of minutes later I had the beginnings of a solar oven.

I had to wait a couple of hours to grab the thermometer on our family grocery shopping trip to see what was what.

Of course there's a bit more to do, but I was/am curious what happens if I approach this a single step at a time. I like to think we're off to a good start.

I checked it about an hour/ hour and a half after tossing the thermometer in there and, frankly, I was a little surprised.

Just in case you can't read it, that's 200 degrees - and it's just a regular old box and a pane of glass. So we're all on the same page, it's 99 degrees outside right now, but I'm still pretty excited.

Next up we'll try painting the inside black, and/ or adding some cardboard and aluminum foil reflectors. Let's see how how we can get this solar oven!