Pizza box solar oven

[jody]

I saw this on TV. Have not tried it.

Using a large pizza box, cut out a large opening from the lid and then cover the opening with plastic wrap. Line the inside bottom of the box with foil.

They baked cookies in this. I thought I might try it because I live in Texas and its been 100 to 110 everyday around here for a month.:~)

[puglogic]

I'm going to have to try that, Jody. I made a regular solar oven (that holds two big saucepans) but I've never tried this. Sounds great.....and I even have a gigantic pizza box that I was just moaning over having to throw away! (my recycling frowns on food containers)

[ljevtich]

Hi Jody, if it is 100 to 110 degrees, is it a dry heat or a moist heat? I would think with a moist heat, it would be hard to cook with solar. But with a dry heat, it would probably work great. And puglogic, can you put up the instructions on how you made a regular solar oven? Or do you have the thread? Thanks!

[jody]

It's been a dry heat this summer, Laura. Hot and dry!!!

Puglogic, if you do make one, let us know how it works out as I've still not tried it.

[Gina]

Solar cooking depends on direct sunlight, not air temp. I've never made an oven from a pizza box, but there are lots of references to them on the net. My commerical solar oven easily gets into the 300*s on a nice sunny day.

[loosechickens]

http://www.solarcookers.org/ is an excellent site for access to information about making your own solar cooker.

We've never made a pizza box cooker, but have made many cardboard box cookers from the Barbara Kerr design from Solar Cookers International, and even taught workshops on making them in Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico.

You'd be better to use a box deeper than a pizza box, and in our cardboard box cookers, we always painted the insides of the box black, and used an aluminum foil reflector outside the oven, but I don't see why the pizza box cooker wouldn't work, although not really practical for regular cooking.

You can make the Barbara Kerr cardboard box cooker with a couple of cardboard boxes, some newspaper or other material to crumple up between the boxes for insulation, some glue and a piece of window glass, in which you can cook most anything, for a few dollars of materials and a few hours of time.

We made our first one with a piece of glass and a couple cardboard boxes we found in a dumpster along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the summer of 1992.......made it on a picnic table and used it the next day to make stew.......and have been cooking with the sun ever since in a variety of solar cookers and solar ovens.......

We love our commercial Sun Oven, which we've had for years now, and cook in it probably 300 days a year......but, by all means start with a homemade cardboard one and see how much fun it is. In one way, there really IS practically a free lunch.....

[puglogic]

Hi y'all. I made mine from a plan I can no longer find, but very very close to this one:
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Minimum_Solar_Box_Cooker

Two cardboard boxes. Half a roll of aluminum foil. Some silver tape. A piece of clear flexible plastic (you could also use a turkey bag) A piece of wire. A couple of hours.

It was fun to make, and we use it all the time on sunny days. It doesn't get too hot here --- as Gina says, it's the amount of direct sun, not the air temperature.

I'll try the pizza box because it sounds fun!