Chandra, I don't have any experience with one, but Al has used them with the Scouts. Most people make their own.

When I visited my sister in Sacramento CA years ago there was a demo in a grocery store parking lot. That one was made of a box with foil or curved shiny aluminum. It was a save the planet type of thing. My brother in law roasted a chicken in the one he bought, but it took a while. This one was very cheap and someone could make it for very little if you had the plans. It was fun to try it. I don't know how long his lasted or whether they used it again. There was nothing to it that would cost $300. He used his own meat thermometer. It doesn't have to get that hot because it slow roasted the chicken. All is has to do is hold the heat from the sun. The insulation on this one was air spaces. I think you could roast a chicken in a car parked in the sun in OK or MO.

I looked at this concept quite a bit a few years ago because I felt like it would be a wonderful low-tech technology for Haiti. I still think it would be. They are consuming every tree to produce cooking fuel. They live in a tropical country, the sun would be free! :)

There is a lot of information on the 'net about making one.

Lisa

My only experience with reflector ovens/solar cookers was when Chris was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and we used them on campouts. It was okay but it wasn't such a great experience that I was in a hurry to rush home and cook our meals this way.

There are all kinds of build-your-own plans for reflector ovens/solar cookers like this and you can make them many ways and from many materials.

Would I spend $300 for one of these? No.

Even if I thought I wanted to have one of these ovens, I'd spend time making a couple of the different ones and trying them out for a while before I spent that kind of money to buy one.

As far as dehydrating......I just don't think you can dehydrate many foods outdoors in our humidity. Most of the time the foods are going to mold outdoors before they dry down to the proper percentage of moisture, whether you are using a reflector oven or just drying them on screens placed on tables or whatever. To be able to dehydrate food properly and in a safe manner you need good air flow within the dehydrator and you need to be able to control your temperature and dry the food at a consistent temperature. With one of these reflector ovens, your temperature will fluctuate throughout the day and the food will dry unevenly. It also seems like it would be hard to keep insects off the food outdoors, especially for the long amount of time needed to dehydrate food.

I've linked a page that has plans for many kinds of solar cookers.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Solar Cooking

Thanks for all your thoughts. I have decided to hold back and try DIY on few options from the Dawn's link on solar cooking before buying pro version. Making use of OK's sun and winds is always a fascinating expt for the home gardeners. I have one more project in the list for coming winter/spring. -Chandra

Chandra, When you buy the components to build your oven, order a big bag of patience and endurance, because solar cooking will try any that you might have. LOL