With all of the excitement of last weeks solar cookers (http://www.GreenJoyment.com/solar-cookers) you may not have noticed that we have changed what you see when you visit the GreenJoyment blog.
What do you think? Like the changes? (Maybe you didn’t notice.)
In any case, we actually did this for a few reasons.
1. We wanted a little more professional look for our site (not that the old layout wasn’t professional, just that we think this one is better). We’ve also been told that this new layout is much easier to navigate.
2. Some people told us their computers were having difficult getting to the old web site. So, if you can’t access the site now, please let us know. (That seems kind of silly to say since if you can’t access the site, you can’t read this. Hmmm….) If you couldn’t access the site before, but you can now, please post a comment on the blog and
let us know. Also, if you find something that’s broken, or just doesn’t seem to work right, please email us at green [AT] greenjoyment.com with what’s going on, so that we can fix it.
3. We wanted a place to link to our upcoming book site on GreenJoyment. Yes, after many delays, the Ultimate Guide to Going Green is coming soon to you! We’re so close on it now, and so excited!
Carrie and I decided that it would be fun to eat an entire meal cooked by the sun.
So, we took our three cookers. In one, we placed leftover chili. In another, we placed potatoes.
And in a third, we placed Joan’s rice pudding (for dessert). Thanks Joan!
All three videos are posted below (we made them for YouTube as individual videos, but we ate this as a full meal).
Other than the mildly disappointing results from the sun not cooking the rice pudding (simply because we didn’t get it outside early enough in the day, we were very pleased with how this meal turned out! Baked Potatoes wrapped in foil and cooked in an eagle solar cooker
Just a quick note:
I was on TreeHugger’s site today and clicked an ad that showed up in the left-hand column.
It appears that TreeHugger is still looking for people to fill positions on it’s rapidly growing team, and we thought there might be some here in the GreenJoyment community who would be interested in finding out more and possibly applying.
If you do apply, it’s not necessary, but we’d love it if you would mention that you heard through GreenJoyment.com about their search for qualified people.
Find out more at TreeHugger, or read below.
We made cinnamon raisin bread in two of our solar cookers (The Solar Funnel Cooker and the Eagle solar cooker), and boy was it YUMMY!
AND, IT WORKS! That’s the most important part.
Our cookers got up to about 175 Fahrenheit (during the hottest time, but they stayed that hot for over an hour), and the bread was better than any store-bought variety for sure.
(Next time though, I’ll make the dough differently and let the yeast rise in warm water before just putting it in the dough mixture. I realized that’s what I did wrong, and why the bread tasted yeasty.)
The instructions are below, and we hope you will post your comments about what you like about this idea of making your own bread from the sun!
Here’s the video of how we made this bread, and the solar cookers in action.
Well, this is it! The big day for solar cooker week!
Which solar cooker does the best?
We took three solar cookers, and compared their performance side-by-side, in how they did with cooking 4 cups of water. It was a windy day, so the cookers may not have performed the best they could… but we tested a solar funnel cooker, a solar cookit, and the eagle solar cooker.
Which solar cooker performed the best?
In attempting to make eggplant in a pizza box solar cooker, Carrie and I met with disappointing results, and ended up cooking it in the oven.
The food turned out absolutely delicious, but it wasn’t because the cooker actually worked.
I think I figured out what we did wrong though, and look forward to sharing it with you in another video!
For now, you can learn how to make some really yummy eggplant Parmesean, which, curiously enough, uses mozzarella as the primary cheese and parmesan is just a secondary topping at the end.
This was totally delicious though. I’m getting hungry for some more just typing about it!
In our fourth cooker for this week, we show you how to make a solar cooker out of a pizza box. It’s relatively simple really, (as long as you get that cheese and grease out of the inside of your pizza box).
This was a really fascinating and simple solar cooker to make, although I’m not sure just yet what we’re going to cook in this box. It’s kinda little.
Maybe we would use it to bake cookies.
(Actually, you’ll see later today how we used this to make eggplant parmesean, with surprising results.
Hope you enjoy the video and learn how to make a pizza box solar cooker for yourself!
The eagle solar cooker has been my favorite solar cooker to make so far.
Even though there was a little measuring involved, and I messed up when making some of the bottom panels for the cooker, there was no protractor needed, and putting the panels together was very easily done with the duct tape.
I also like how the eagle collapses easily (though the Solar Cookit is supposed to be able to collapse easily too, I didn’t figure out how to get it to collapse.
We will also be posting a transcript of this video shortly (which will tell you more about how to make this on your own). So for now, here’s your materials list, and then watch and enjoy:
Materials List
Cardboard (or another material with a reflective surface)
Aluminum foil (if you’re using cardboard)
Glue (if you’re using aluminum foil)
Razor blade knife
Measuring tape
Duct tape
Cutting surface (optional)
Board (for folding against (optional))
Scoring tool (if you decide to use printing sheets or sheet metal for your cooker).
I found this project to be rather difficult.
Possibly because making one of these for the first time requires a protractor, or some other math tool that I just don’t have anymore (and never really used in high school anyway).
Perhaps I should have been a better math student. (I even LIKED geometry – it’s just been so long since I’ve used it.)
In any case, I don’t think the science has to be quite 100% exact for you if you make a solar cookit. And trust me, if I can make a solar cookit, anyone can make one.
Over 5,000 of them are being used in the Iridimi Camp (where over 17,000 refugees from Darfur live at present) and it’s hard to believe, but these Solar Cookit Cookers have changed thousands of lives there. (More about that below.) To make a solar cookit, you will need:
Tape Measure
Razor Blade Knife
Cardboard and aluminum foil (or another material works too – watch the video!)
Marking tool (Pencil or otherwise)
Protractor (IMPORTANT!)
Cutting surface
Straight edge (for cutting and/or folding against)
Welcome to Solar COOKER WEEK!
This week, we will be making four different solar cookers, showing you how they’re made, and then on Friday, we’ll be testing out a bunch of foods to see how (and if) the cookers actually work!
We’ll be posting at least 1 video every day this week.
It’s going to be a GREAT Week, so be sure you check back every day!
For our first video, we are going to teach you how to make a solar funnel cooker.
For this cooker, you will need:
Aluminum foil
Glue
Cardboard (I got some heavy duty cardboard, which was very difficult to fold)
A razor blade
A cutting surface (optional)
A measuring tape (optional)
Brads, bolts and nuts, screws, wire, or some other material that will hold things together (watch the video to see what I mean)
Straight edge (like a board) for forming creases)
We’ll be posting a transcript of the video soon, but for now, just watch and enjoy!
(I actually mess up in the video and call this the “box solar cooker” but decided not to edit/re-record it)