Stay Out Of The Kitchen With DIY Sunshiny Cookin'

If a pizza dinner is in your immediate future, why not reserve the box that it's delivered in so that you can create a handy little solar oven in order to cook up your next few meals? Able to achieve temperatures of up to 150 degrees farenheit, it does double your cooking time, but think of it as a laid back, passive-heating solar crock pot, and sometimes the best things in life are worth the wait. Yes, your kids are going to flip out and think that you're a wizard, which makes this project all the more fun. Just plan ahead and dump all of your goodies into it well ahead of your dinner hour so they're not clawing at the walls expecting instant-gratification microwave goodness. Sure, you could buy one that's commercially manufactured or you could just make a sturdier version out of wood, but if you have a heart of green beating inside that chest of yours, then you probably like the idea of using materials that you already have around your house.

What's so special about a solar oven, you say? Well, since it uses sunlight as its sole energy source, you're generating absolutely no carbon footprint while cooking a meal. Unlike conventional ovens, stovetops, toasters, and outdoor grills, all of which require some sort of fuel source, solar ovens simply harness the power of sunrays. Now that the mercury is rising outdoors, this cooking option is extra appealing -- in addition to keeping your kitchen nice and cool, there is no fuss or muss involved in this type of cooking and no energy expense!! In third world countries, solar ovens have become the favored old-but-new cooking technology in an effort to help combat the deforestation and desertification that occurs when wood is harvested as fuel source. Amazingly, their solar ovens are even simpler than the one I'm going to explain below, made out of nothing more than a foil lined cardboard reflector (sort of like what a vehicle sunshield might look like) outfitted with a dark pot and a plastic bag.

For your version though, all you need is that big old pizza box that you were planning on recycling along with aluminum foil, black construction paper, plastic wrap, and some sticky stuff like glue or tape. Okay, all set? This is what you do:

• Line the bottom portion of your pizza box with black construction paper.
• Adhere the construction paper with a little glue or tape so it stays in place.
• Wrap the top cardboard flap of the pizza box with aluminum foil.
• Make sure the foil is as smooth as possible before adhering it with a little glue or tape.
• Place whatever food you want to cook on a tray before inserting it into your solar oven.
• Make sure the foil wrapped flap is propped up so that it can reflect sunrays right into the oven.
• Wrap the cardboard/black construction paper base with plastic wrap (nice and smooth!).
• Select a spot with direct sun exposure, away from the prying eyes and hungry little mouths of critters.

Imagine how much more effectively you could crank up your cooking/heating potential if you created a permanent version using a real mirror, mylar or polished metal (rather than foil) and glass (rather than plastic wrap)! Some models have the potential of reaching temperatures of up to 400 degrees farenheit! Of course, Kenyan inventor Jon Bohmer proved earlier this year that sometimes the most simple resources can create the best results. His Kyoto Box -- which cost just $7 in materials and yielded him a $83,717 (£51,000) prize from the Forum for the Future -- is now going to be mass produced in Nairobi.