Suncookers: The Solar Oven Revolution

A solar oven or solar cooker is a device which uses sunlight as its energy source. Because they use no fuel and they cost nothing to run, humanitarian organizations are promoting their use worldwide to help slow deforestation and desertification, caused by using wood as fuel for cooking. Solar cookers are also sometimes used in outdoor cooking, especially in situations where minimum fuel consumption or fire risk are considered highly important.


Solar cooking is a new approach to cooking in many parts of the world, so a big challenge is social acceptance of this totally new approach and abandonment of traditional cooking methods, such as the three-stone fire.


Solar cookers provide hot food during or shortly after the hottest part of the day, when people are less inclined to eat a hot meal. However, a thick pan that conducts heat slowly (such as Cast Iron) will lose heat at a slower rate, and that, combined with the insulation of the oven or an insulated basket, can be used to keep food warm well into the evening.


Solar cookers take longer to cook food compared to an oven. Using a solar oven therefore requires that food preparation be started several hours before the meal. However, it requires less hands-on time cooking, so this is often considered a reasonable trade-off.