Quick Note - Version 1 Hit 245 degrees F Today

So, the first version of the solar cooker, the one with no insulation hit a record  just shy 250 degrees today.
I had painted a large 36 oz V8 can today with grill paint. (according to the instructions that go with the beer bread) I put it in the cooker to cure the paint, and was pleasantly surprised by the results...

Granted, I'm pretty much cheating. It was 108 degrees and sunny today, but still ... very cool ... and that's with no reflectors other than the foil inside the box.

Baking bread should be a piece of cake. ... hey, maybe we can bake a cake next!

I'll also try and do a better job of securing photographic evidence.

Oh yeah, check this out ... looks like we have some ideas for Version 3 ...
Inclined Box Type Solar Cooker

Solar Cooker Version 1 - Should Still Work Just Fine

I figured out (by checking out some solar cooking recipes online), that maybe - at least this time of year in the desert - I'm just way over thinking this.

The extremely simple solar cooker I started with reached a temp of 225 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of hours in the midday summer desert sun. What I've learned by checking the times and temps for the recipes is that there are a good number of things that can be cooked in just a couple of hours at 200 degrees.

While the 1st version of the solar cooker that I slapped together might turn out to be worthless as a cooking tool come the cooler months (due to the lack of insulation) it should pretty easily bake up some bread.

Hi, remember me? - Solar Cooker Version 1.0

The best part? Our 5 year old is pretty psyched about trying this out with me this weekend, after having seen Curious George bake a lasagna in a solar oven. Gotta love PBS! ... Meanwhile the lady of the house still thinks I'm a nutbag, so it's nice to have someone on my side.

Solar Cooker - Back to the Drawing Board

So, with the insulation issue I have decided to scrap version 1.0. On to 2.0.

This one will be based on the "Minimum Solar Cooker " I saw over at SolarCooking.org

Due to the recent birthday of our 5 year old, and the purchase of a new vacuum, I seem to have plenty of cardboard around to do the trick.

I'm going for an inch of air-space insulation on each side and the bottom as well as filling in some of the airspace with foil covered cardboard in an attempt to radiate the heat back in, or at least prevent it from escaping - as mentioned in the "upgrades" section in the link above. (That and I already have it partially assembled and did not foil the inside of the outer box).

I'll also be using a plastic oven cooking bag instead of the glass pane (at least initially). I still intend to add the "Heaven's flame" reflector set up, but I'll give it a go with the lid in the instructions first.

I'm also thinking, that a good, simple way to test it would be to try the solar "Beer Bread" recipe found at CookingWithTheSun.com.