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 Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:23 am
The Kyoto Box, a $6 solar cooker made from cardboard, has won the Financial Times-sponsored Climate Change Challenge contest for innovative ways to decrease the human impact on the environment. Its capacity to not only cook food but also sterilize water could help three billion people reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Kenya-based Norwegian creator of the cooker, Jon Bøhmer, has been awarded $75,000 to put the idea into production. Named after the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol, the cooker is made from two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, with either paper or straw insulation placed in between; an acrylic cover on top lets in and traps sunlight. Black paint on the inner box, and silver foil on the outer one, help concentrate the heat. The trapped rays make the inside hot enough to cook casseroles, bake bread and boil water [CNN]. Covering the cooking pot with a transparent cover retains heat and water [BBC], and temperatures inside the pot can reach about 175 degrees Fahrenheit. 
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:52 am
Nifty! I might just have to make one myself! =P
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:21 pm
Nice. I'm going to see about putting one together. I wonder if you could modify it to dehydrate foods?
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:20 pm
pirhan Nice. I'm going to see about putting one together. I wonder if you could modify it to dehydrate foods? You can, but the amount of tending that it takes is ridiculous, in my opinion. Everything wants to burn, there's not enough airflow to really let the moisture escape. For fruit leather it's pretty good, but still a pain. We built a hanging rack years ago (think one of those hanging closet shelves for handbags or sweaters) using screens, and covered in screening, to hang under a tree. Works really well, as long as the wind doesn't blow it too hard. I ended up using the racks to cure soap, and just dehydrating stuff in the oven with the door held open a crack by a wooden spoon. I've been hoping every day for a week to drag out the solar cooker here, but it's just been too windy.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:26 pm
I have the week off, it might be a nifty project to find some boxes and make a solar cooker.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:25 pm
I hope you all are using those solar cookers! It's really primetime now. We've had so many cloudy, rainy days here that mine is still packed up, but if it's sunny where you are, now is a great time to start using it!
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 6:37 pm
Does anyone know how to make a slightly more simple version? I mean, that one's not that complicated, but I am not at all handy. I don't know where to get a sheet of acrylic for the cover, and I don't have tools to cut it anyway unless scissors would do the job.
This one http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/outdoor/camping gear/hot pot simple solar cooker.do?search=basic is a ripoff at $99 if you ask me. But it looks pretty much like a funnel. Do you think I could make a cardboard funnel with aluminum foil coating the inside to do the job?
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 5:21 am
LorienLlewellyn Does anyone know how to make a slightly more simple version? I mean, that one's not that complicated, but I am not at all handy. I don't know where to get a sheet of acrylic for the cover, and I don't have tools to cut it anyway unless scissors would do the job. This one http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/outdoor/camping gear/hot pot simple solar cooker.do?search=basic is a ripoff at $99 if you ask me. But it looks pretty much like a funnel. Do you think I could make a cardboard funnel with aluminum foil coating the inside to do the job? I think the easiest thing for most of us to do is use the grill we may already have-----just line the top and bottom with foil, make a couple of side panels out of cardboard covered with foil, and cook in a dark-colored pot with a glass lid. Just leave the grill open and angle it to the sun, and put your pot on the grate. This would be a modification of the one you're talking about, Lorien, and as long as you're not baking cookies, it should work just fine. You could bake a loaf of bread in it if it's a handmade round loaf, not a loaf pan type. A casserole or soup would work just fine, and you could grill on it, I bet, on the right day---but it will be terribly bright!, wear the darkest sunglasses you can find!
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:14 pm
LorienLlewellyn Does anyone know how to make a slightly more simple version? I mean, that one's not that complicated, but I am not at all handy. I don't know where to get a sheet of acrylic for the cover, and I don't have tools to cut it anyway unless scissors would do the job. This one http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/outdoor/camping gear/hot pot simple solar cooker.do?search=basic is a ripoff at $99 if you ask me. But it looks pretty much like a funnel. Do you think I could make a cardboard funnel with aluminum foil coating the inside to do the job? There's TONS of solar cooker plans here. I'm sure you're bound to find something that you consider easy. And another collection of links, that mostly includes the above mentioned site but there's a few random other ones as well. http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/cooking.htm
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:54 pm
Just wanted to add this----insulation is a key thing if you want to use the cooker for several hours. The one I made is a box cooker, with a glass lid (I wouldn't feel safe with plastic of any kind at high temps), and it will reach 345 degrees and hold it for several hours. It also has several layers of cardboard between the boxes, 3" worth, and reflectors. It really is a lot like cooking in a conventional oven, with the exception of having to keep it oriented correctly, and having to think about what you're cooking. Any time that the glass is raised the temperature goes down, of course----and if you're getting a late start, it might not get back up to the temperature that you want.
So, to me, you'd want to consider what type of cooking you're planning on doing before you decide on the type of cooker to make.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:31 pm
onicoe http://solarcooking.org/plans/ There's TONS of solar cooker plans here. I'm sure you're bound to find something that you consider easy. And another collection of links, that mostly includes the above mentioned site but there's a few random other ones as well. http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/cooking.htm Oh, yeah, those look more up my alley. I'll have to try one of those. Thanks! sunsetsmile Just wanted to add this----insulation is a key thing if you want to use the cooker for several hours. The one I made is a box cooker, with a glass lid (I wouldn't feel safe with plastic of any kind at high temps), and it will reach 345 degrees and hold it for several hours. It also has several layers of cardboard between the boxes, 3" worth, and reflectors. It really is a lot like cooking in a conventional oven, with the exception of having to keep it oriented correctly, and having to think about what you're cooking. Any time that the glass is raised the temperature goes down, of course----and if you're getting a late start, it might not get back up to the temperature that you want. So, to me, you'd want to consider what type of cooking you're planning on doing before you decide on the type of cooker to make. Oooh, true. Well, I'm not much of a baker, so I don't think I'd need it to get very hot for very long. So hopefully one of the simpler ones would be enough to heat up quick and simple things or maybe just reheating leftovers?
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:45 pm
LorienLlewellyn onicoe http://solarcooking.org/plans/ There's TONS of solar cooker plans here. I'm sure you're bound to find something that you consider easy. And another collection of links, that mostly includes the above mentioned site but there's a few random other ones as well. http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/cooking.htm Oh, yeah, those look more up my alley. I'll have to try one of those. Thanks! sunsetsmile Just wanted to add this----insulation is a key thing if you want to use the cooker for several hours. The one I made is a box cooker, with a glass lid (I wouldn't feel safe with plastic of any kind at high temps), and it will reach 345 degrees and hold it for several hours. It also has several layers of cardboard between the boxes, 3" worth, and reflectors. It really is a lot like cooking in a conventional oven, with the exception of having to keep it oriented correctly, and having to think about what you're cooking. Any time that the glass is raised the temperature goes down, of course----and if you're getting a late start, it might not get back up to the temperature that you want. So, to me, you'd want to consider what type of cooking you're planning on doing before you decide on the type of cooker to make. Oooh, true. Well, I'm not much of a baker, so I don't think I'd need it to get very hot for very long. So hopefully one of the simpler ones would be enough to heat up quick and simple things or maybe just reheating leftovers? That's pretty much what I was thinking about with the foil-on-the-grill post. Sometimes I just don't want to mess with the other one.
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