Solar Cooking – The All American Sun Oven
Well we finally got off the carousel and purchased the one Solar Oven design I had literally wanted for what seems forever – a “Sun Oven”, which I have considered to be the absolute *best* of the “Box” style solar ovens.
Back in the 1980’s the original Sun Oven was designed by a retired restraunteer named Tom Burns – here is a great quote on the History of the Global Sun Oven from the website “Solar Cooker at CantinaWest“:
History of the SUN OVEN®
GLOBAL SUN OVENS® were developed in 1986 by Tom Burns, a retired restaurateur from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was very active with Rotary International. From his experience in operating restaurants he knew a great deal about cooking and from his international travel he became aware of the ever-growing problem of deforestation. Tom took a concept that has been around for centuries and engineered into it more recently developed materials to produce the world’s most effective solar cooking devices. With the help of the Sandia National Laboratories the oven was refined.
From 1986 to 1997 SUN OVENS® were made and marketed by Burns Milwaukee, Inc. Thousands of portable models have been shipped to more than 126 countries around the globe. These amazing cookers have helped feed refugees in relocation camps, natives in remote Third World villages, workers at field sites, climbers on the slopes of Mount Everest, and soldiers during the Persian Gulf War.
In 1998 SUN OVENS International, Inc. was formed and the manufacturing was moved from Milwaukee to Elburn, IL (40 miles west of Chicago). SUN OVENS International, Inc. has expanded the use of the ovens by making them more widely available in the U.S. and around the world. Assembly plants to make GLOBAL SUN OVENS® have been established in a number of developing countries to reduce the cost of the ovens and shipping to the people that need them the most. While thousands of ovens have been sent around the world, there are still more than 2 billion people who cook with wood and charcoal and as populations increase so will the need for SUN OVENS®.
One of its greatest selling points is “manufactured in the United States of America”. Finally, several years ago, the Global Sun Oven was replaced with an improved design named the “All American Sun Oven” which is slightly larger, thus gaining higher temperatures under the same conditions and having a 20% larger cooking area inside. Additionally, the tempered glass cover is thicker, contains less lead, and thus is more efficient for gathering the energy of the sun and sealing it in the cooking box.
Here is our new one:
After gathering the morning sun and becoming elated as the temperature continued to rise above 300 degrees Fahrenheit, I replaced that work table with something lower, heavier, with a larger surface and far more stable. My “X” table was just handy for initial testing. It is set up at quite an angle as that really was early morning sunshine.
Later that day, as an initial test, I decided to cook some “refrigerator biscuits”, specifically the Pillsbury Buttery Grands:
NOTE: At this color, the next time I do these I will be keeping a very close eye on the biscuits and, after a toothpick test, pull them out before they are cooked over-done. Please do not ask how I know this too be proper, it is a chef’s secret. <blush>
p.s. On a good solar afternoon, the All American Sun Oven will go over 360 degrees with no problem. Bottom line, if there is enough sun to cast shadows, there is enough to bake, boil or broil. The only thing you cannot do is fry.