Solar Cooking|Catching the Spark
How I Became Interested in Solar Cooking
I first became interested in solar cooking – or at least the idea of solar cooking – quite a few years ago. Time passed and I was always too busy to get past the “just thinking about it” stage. Until a few years ago.
At that time, we were setting up a vendor booth at craft shows every Saturday — outside and usually in the sun. And week after week, as I ate my lunch, I always thought how nice it would be to have a hot, home cooked lunch. That summer, as I was preparing for the fall craft shows, I decided to investigate ways that I could cook outside at the show, thinking that perhaps I could harness the heat from the sun. . That is how I stumbled upon the idea of solar cooking. WOW! Was I surprised! Not only was it not a new idea, it was a very old idea. Apparently this is a very popular cooking method around the world. But I had never heard of it.
I decided that if native women around the world were smart enough to do — then I was smart enough to do it too! There was just one little problem — getting Mr. B’s help to make a solar oven. There were lots of plans on the internet – some big, some small.. But he was too busy getting ready for the fall shows and he just wasn’t sold on the idea.
At this point, I wasn’t ready or willing to invest in a commercial product.
So finally I found a very, very simple plan to make a reflective oven out of just a silver windshield shade. This was my first solar oven.
The first meal I cooked was just a very simple lunch. I heated hot dogs in chili. Mr. B was really impressed with just this simple little lunch and has now joined me in my love of solar cooking.
I started this blog in 2009 with the name “Adventure in Solar Cooking”, so that you could share the adventure. In 2014, I changed the name to “Sunshine on My Shoulder”. I also write a second blog at “A Merry Old Woman”.
This is the second post in a 5 part series. To continue to part three, click here to follow along as I begin “Learning to Solar Cook”
Or to read part 1 about “My First Solar Oven”, click here.
How did you first learn about solar cooking? What got you interested? Please share your experience in the comment box.
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