CERC Green Solar Oven

Step 10 Test it out

Now that your oven is ready, here are some final thoughts.  Cooking containers should also be black so consider finding a can and painting it black as well.  Because the paint may need some time to cure and may release extra solvents (read: bad smell), it is probably wise to run the oven a full temperature a few times without food in it to clear any smell.  Find a place with a clear, unobstructed view of the sky.  The time of day does not matter as much as one would expect.  We easy got past 115°C (240°F) in minutes at 6pm.  Align to the sun by pointing in the general direction and tilting/turning until no shadow from the sidewalls could be seen in the cooking chamber.  Remember that you need to adjust this every so often for optimum performance.  Use a meat thermometer or temperature probe to ensure the position is perfect and the hottest temperatures are being achieved.  Lastly, if your food needs to be kept flat and the tilting might cause a spill, you can push a wooden dowel, piece of metal, clothes hanger rod, just about anything through the middle of the chamber to be able to hang a gondola for food.  This will allow you to boil water even when significantly tilted. 

So there you have it:  an oven that can be built out of things normally destined for a landfill.  Be sure to post your best temperatures in the comments below.   Enjoy and thank you for reading.

-University of South Florida, Clean Energy Research Center Team

design and writeup by:  mec  2010