This project is an experiment, craft, and fresh functional idea all at the same time. Learn how to make a solar oven to cook sausages and other tasty dishes. In addition, you can think of new uses for this solar oven that we will explain step by step with very detailed photos of what you should do.
How to make a solar oven?
You will need:
- Can of Pringles or another cylindrical container.
- Sharp knife or carving knife.
- Ruler.
- Marker.
- Skewer.
- Hot glue.
- Small drill.
- Magnet.
- Plastic wrapping.
- Scotch tape.
Steps to follow:
Step 1
We will start this homemade solar oven using the ruler draws a rectangle on one side of the can.
Step 2
Use the knife to remove the rectangle. Save this piece for later.
Step 3
Using the skewer, you have to make a hole through the plastic lid.
Step 4
Remove the skewer and place the plastic lid on the bottom of the can.
Step 5
Mark where the hole should go at the bottom of the can.
Step 6
Drill a hole there.
Step 7
Place the skewer through the plastic lid, and through the center of the cylinder, and through the bottom hole.
Step 8
Use the rectangular piece cut previously to make the support. This will help keep the oven still, without bearings.
Step 9
Take the rectangle and pour hot glue along the center of the piece. Stick the piece in the oven. Try to make sure that when you leave the solar oven, you can face the sun directly.
Step 10
Optionally, you can put a magnet on the bottom of this solar oven. It helps keep it in place and allows different angles. Add a plastic wrap to keep the heat inside the oven.
How does a solar oven work?
It bases the operation of this type of solar furnace on three principles: the greenhouse effect, the concentration of sunlight and heat insulation. Basically, the oven captures the sun’s rays inside, as it lets them through the glass. Once inside, light is transformed into heat, thanks to the plates it contains, which absorb heat and maintain it. The wavelength that the heat generated now has makes it unable to return to the outside. Thus, gradually, the temperature inside the oven increases.
All this would be useless if the oven did not have good insulation. That the materials and the form in which the oven is made suppose a good thermal insulation does that the heat does not dissipate by other means and thus it is maintained during its use. Another type of furnace performs a concentration of sunlight at a single point to heat the desired material or food, as it does. For example, a stirling concentrator. This is what is known as a parabolic solar oven.
In the homemade solar oven, you can make the same dishes as in a traditional oven because you can bake, boil, stew and even salute. It will also be useful to sterilize some type of glass jar or dehydrate food. The prepared dishes will maintain that authentic taste since there are few probabilities that burn.
Cooking in these types of ovens is considered healthy because as heat is distributed equally in all places, food does not lose nutrients as it happens in the case of fires that go directly to food.
Some recommendations for cooking time is to use a small amount of liquid and put the vegetables and ingredients in small or medium pieces, this will make the cooking done in a shorter time. It is not advisable to use aluminum foil because it delays the cooking process.
Different Uses
Dehydrating food or drying is one of the uses that allows us to make a homemade oven, we must only create a small source of air that extracts excess heat to carry the process out. It also serves to thaw food although it is not considered advisable since there are bacteria that reproduce at high temperatures.
Leaving aside the food this solar oven also serves to melt and melt, since this oven is used in a homemade but also industrial. If we use the indicated materials and perform the procedure correctly, we can create figures of wax, plastic and even PVC.
Pasteurize or sterilize bottles or even water, eliminating bacteria that can cause intestinal diseases. The high temperatures these ovens reach help with this process since many microorganisms do not survive at high levels of heat.
We can cook from clay to plasticine for an oven, being a great help for those who dedicate themselves to the crafts. It can be used to bake dolls, costume jewelry and even decorative figures. Recognized brands already use this technique because they save electrical energy and obtain the same finish.
It also serves to dry clothes and is that in those times of trouble where you need a garment and is wet all you have to do is place it inside the oven with the door open and suffer from excess heat as can be placed on top of the glass allowing it to dry quickly.
This solar oven also allows us to heat water that can often be used for hygiene or personal use especially if we want to save on electricity or gas depending on the type of conventional kitchen you have at home. It also serves for preserves of fruit, since it is one hundred percent possible to make it in this type of oven.
Now that you know all the information about the solar oven, you could encourage yourself to make or buy one since there are many advantages that will bring you home from economic savings to much richer and healthier food dishes.
