The Great Solar Cookout 2012 was held yesterday in a local park. The sun was shining hot in a cloudless sky as the Phoenix area reached the first 100° day this year. We took our canopy and set it up for shade. Although the cookout is still in its infancy and small, it had grown from last year. There was a constant flow of interested people stopping by to talk and visit and learn, which kept us very busy and engaged all day. By the end of the day, we were both exhausted – from the work, but especially from the heat.
Great Solar Cookout 2012
We set up four cookers. Each cooker is impressive and interesting. I even took my Wonder Oven. And people were fascinated with them. A photographer from Channel 12 was there. He took a lot of pictures of my cookers and even did a short interview. (As of this morning, I haven’t seen it on their website, but if I do, I’ll post the link).
Our canopy and line of cookers is in the back row.
I started a chicken in the GSO early in the morning. I estimated that it would take 3 hours to cook. The delicious aroma of that chicken roasting could be smelled through out the park, and drew people over. The visual impact of seeing a chicken actual cooking in just a box sitting in the sun was impressive and the realization that solar cooking was “real cooking” could be read on their faces. Plus, they found it incredible that it would only take 3 hours for the chicken to cook. My estimate was right on the mark. Exactly three hours later, that chicken was golden brown, fell off the bone, moist, and tender. It didn’t take long for the chicken to be devoured. And one man stood around just gnawing to the bones left on the cutting board.
Golden brown roasted chicken after 3 hours in solar oven
We started off the morning baking cinnamon rolls in the windshield shade cooker, followed later by a steamed zucchini and vegetable mixture , and pinto beans in the Cookit. I like demonstrating these small cookers to show that fancy commercial ovens aren’t necessary – only the sun is necessary. And in an emergency situation, you can fix dinner with a car sunscreen sitting on a box. One young man was really impressed with the car shade. He said he gets lots of sun on his balcony and realized that he could make a small cooker to sit out there. He said he could make dinner and “impress the ladies.” 🙂
The car sunscreen cooker is an effective low budget cooker and can easily be put together in an emergency situation.
The CookIt is light weight and folds up small. It is a good portable cooker.
In the SOS Sport, we started with an omelet to complement the cinnamon rolls, and then made potato soup and fresh bread.
Omelet baking in the SOS Sport
A great BIG thank you to Troy at Preparing Wisely, a great local store, for providing all of the food that we prepared at the event. Stop in or visit on line. Tell them that you saw us at the Great Solar Cookout.
Thank You to Preparing Wisely for providing the food that we prepared at the Great Solar Cookout
Love it! I have a Sun Oven that I use regularly for chickens, pork roast, casseroles, meatloaf, rice, beans, bread, rolls, the list isn’t endless but it is extensive. I think it’s totally awesome that you have a public cookout to demonstrate how wonderful this cooking method is.
Wow! Great great result. Just curious, was the chicken covered during cooking and then uncovered for last 30 minutes? It looks as though it was uncovered and I didn’t want readers to get confused. We’re planning a big solar cookout at the Midtown Market in August, the weekend after Solar Cooking Day. LOVE your sign, too!
Thanks, The chicken was left uncovered for the entire cooking time. It is sitting straight up in the pan. I will be discussing the pan and the cooking method in the next post.