How to Build a Solar Oven

I’ve never heard of that the old phrase “Is there enough heat to lay an egg on the sidewalk”? It may seem hyperbolic (and a little crude too), but the sun is strong enough to cook a variety of foods if its energy rays can be captured, reflected, or otherwise concentrated in a small space.

With some inexpensive household materials, you can build a safe and efficient oven that can harness solar power to create an internal temperature above 200 degrees Fahrenheit. It is hot enough to cook sausages, bacon, brown hash or small tater. Of course, the conditions must be right to heat the oven so much: on a hot day the sun shines in the perfect position and the rays that shine in the carefully built oven with details. However, even if you throw it well enough to do the trick together, your solar oven can get a temperature of around 160 degrees. That’s hot enough to have a sudden roast wiener in the yard or to make a sweet, sweet chocolate on your next camping trip when the campfires are verbatim.

With the summer in full swing and the kids wasting their evenings, this is the perfect time for our family’s favorite projects. Building a solar oven provides some basic lessons on physics, solar energy, and food preparation. It’s also fun because everyone gets to eat the results. All you need is a supply of 20 minutes and a few dollars.

Collect your materials

• Cardboard box with a volume between 1 and 2 cubic meters
• Aluminum foil. It’s easy to handle high-wallet paper, but any paperwork will do
• A frying pan or black pan for your kitchen surface
• Insulating materials such as polystyrene, foam wrapping, newspaper or fiberglass insulation
• Clean plastic food wrap, Sara wrap or similar
• Like fabric tape, tube tape or gaffer tape
• Kitchen thermometer

Step 1: Think inside the box

Choose a good cardboard box. Aim for a box between 1 and 2 cubic meters in volume or the size of a typical beer fridge. We used Amazon’s 10 x 10 x 14 inch shipping box with great results. Cut your insulating material enough to complete the inside of the box. Cover the bottom and sides, but not the wings. You want the air inside the box to be as warm as possible, and this layer will insulate the oven so that the heat on the sides of the box is not lost too quickly. The kitchen oven works similarly using insulation to trap heat inside. To get extra credit, check it out this research report which tests the effectiveness of different types of insulation materials for kilns.

Step 2: Get a reflector

Cover the foam with foil, and glue it in place. The bright reflective metal bounces off the sun’s heating rays inside the box as it heats the interior more efficiently. Then cut out four pieces of aluminum foil, which are slightly larger than the four flaps in the box. Return these pieces of paper facing the inside of each lid. Strip the corners so that the paper is flat. You will place these light-reflecting wings to direct the sun’s rays into the box, which will help raise the temperature inside the oven.

Step 3: Set the stage

Place the cooking surface inside the box. There you put the food you want to heat. Use a cast iron skillet, small plate, or metal plate. Use something black that keeps you warm, as dark cooking surfaces catch more heat than silver or white.