solar cooking

solar cooking

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Solar Cooking's Benefits

An increasingly large number of people everywhere in the world are turning to solar cooking as an alternative way to conventional ways of cooking. Others simply have no best option due to their living conditions.

Either way solar cooking saves both time and money and is an environmentally friendly solution as solar cookers, or solar ovens, require only good exposition to sunlight to work. It saves time because in remote areas people don't have to go looking for wood, which can be a scarce resource in the area. It saves money because sunlight is free. Plus, the fact that no electricity or gas is used in the process of cooking also means less pollution, more preservation of natural habitats and non-renewable sources of energy.

There is a great variety of models, but all solar cookers, or solar ovens, have a simple design. One of the most common forms is that of a box cooker – an insulated box painted black on the inside and covered with glass or resistant plastic. The food placed in a special pot or container, preferably a dark thin metal pot with dark tight-fitting lids to hold in heat and moisture, is heated by the sunlight that enters the box. You only need an outdoor spot that has plenty of sunlight for several hours, is protected from strong wind, and is safe for the food while cooking.  

There are naturally more advantages to solar cooking. Besides the environmental benefits, there are also health benefits, for example, as the moderate temperatures used in solar cooking allow food to preserve more nutrients, and it does not burn even if it isn't stirred. Other Advantages are that it can be left to cook unattended for several hours, provided a few small precautions are taken. This means, you can put a solar cooker out in the morning and came back home in the late afternoon to a ready hot meal.

But it is in camping that solar cookers are particularly useful. Since they are portable you can cook virtually anywhere with a sunny spot. Add to that the fact that you don't need wood or charcoal, that there are no fumes, and that they are munch safer than having an actual fire,  which can easily get out of control as well as be dangerous for children. They can also be easily used to purify drinking water in an emergency.

Nowadays, there are many types of solar cookers ranging from the DIY to the more sophisticated ones that you can purchase easily on specialized stores.

About the Author

The author has a website about solar power. You can visit it at http://www.getsolarquick.com .

Solar Cooking