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Solar Cooking Experiment
Today’s the day! I’m going to try to bake brownies using a homemade, makeshift solar cooker. There are some easy, schmeezy directions online that show a person how to put together a solar cooker without much money invested. First off, I had to gather the supplies and mix the brownie dough. We bought some dark outdoor cooking pots and pans at a super discount specifically because they are dark and will attract the sunlight to them. I like adding chocolate chips to the batter because when you’re eating the brownies it adds just that bit of extra gooeyness to them that makes them so much more yummy.
 

 
Then I pulled out the biggest box I had available and lined it with two long sheets of aluminum foil, shiny side up.
Before:
 

 
After, with the pot of brownies placed inside:

 
I decided that I’d also use this white board I have and place it outside so I can keep track of what’s going on with it and, perhaps, be a bit informative for the passersby. I’m a teacher by training, so these experiments that I engage in are also good for instructional uses and I think the world is my classroom!
 

 
Next, I took some of the insulation that was left over from doing the steel roof (this was Dan’s idea) and, since it has a silver, reflective coating on it, use it to make the parabolic dish that one sees in the solar cookers online. I took two attached sheets and bent them on the diagonal, so they’d be able to bend like I needed them too. Additionally, I saw that they used clip clothespins online, so I thought I’d try that.
 

 
Facing it toward the sun… bam-O! Let’s see how much this baby heats up and how long it takes to bake a batch of brownies. We have lots of sun here, so we might as well use it. With these Kansas winds, however, they tend to blow things around and in the redirecting of the cooker, I learned that the traditional clothes pins don’t have the stamina that’s needed. I removed those and replaced them with the binder clips you can get at office supply stores.
 

 
That’s better… those clips really do a much better job in holding the pieces together. 
 
Dan suggested that I take the thermometer out of the oven and put it on the solar cooker to see what temperature it’s getting to. Good suggestion. I did that and checked on it a bit later and it was registering 150 degrees Farenheit.
 

 
The guess is that at 150 degrees, it’ll take about six hours to bake. Maybe by the time I’m back from the Martyrdom of the Bab, the brownies will be ready. We could have them for dessert tonight. Ahhh… anticipation…!
 
Solar cooking isn’t the only thing I was up to today. I brought in a bountiful harvest again—making the fourth one this week!
Zucchinis, cucumbers both English and burpless, jalapenos, green peppers, and tomatoes.
 

 
And… while walking around the garden beds, we happened to notice six cantalope developing and being close to picking time.
 

 
Doesn’t it look luscious! Can’t wait til it’s ready for picking!
 
This cooking and gardening stuff is really fun. I hope you enjoy reading about it and looking at the pictures as much as I do in going down this path to simpler living.
 
Bon appetit!