Yesterday, August 23 2019, I cooked consecutive dishes. Starting at noon, 2 pounds of chicken drumsticks. These were removed from the cooker at 2 p.m. .

At 4 p.m. I put in a zucchini that had been "spiralized" into a healthy pasta. This was thoroughly cooked by 5 p.m/

The two were combined with 8 oz of jarred pasta sauce and had a final heating of 90 seconds in the microwave.

In retrospect, I should have used my Wonderbag to keep the chicken hot and should have started later in the day, closer to mealtime.

Heat absorption and retention is super important in solar cooking. Thermal mass = the temperature and the weight of the food and the pot. Thermal mass is an important consideration for slow cooking foods like stews.

Last week I used a very heavy pot (soapstone) which was heated in the All Season Solar Cooker Camper for an hour before the food was placed inside. 3 large stuffed bell peppers at refrigerator temperature. 90 minutes later, I removed one pepper for lunch. The other two peppers, still insise the soapstone pot, were placed in the Wonderbag. 5 hours later the remaining two peppers were served. They were more tender than the earlier one. The pot was still too hot to touch. The peppers steamed when the lid was opened.

Light collection (ASSC Camper)

Light Absorption (black soapstone pot)

Heat retention (cooking bag)

Duration (ASSC Camper adjustability)

Heat retention cooking (soapstone pot and Wonderbag)

Great solar cooking day, mid winter.

Solar Cooking: a Quickstart Guide

Solar cooking success relies on 4 important requirements:

Light Collection

Light Absorption

Heat Retention

Cooking Time Duration

Remove any one of the 4 basic requirements listed above and solar cooking will fail.

Light Collection and Concentration: Solar cookers use one or more reflectors to concentrate light into the cooking area. Cookers with multiple reflectors provide the best cooking power. Will a single reflector work? Yes. However, cooking will be much slower. Use a multi-reflector cooker to collect and concentrate the light into the cooking area.Light Absorption: To maximize cooking success, you must consider light absorption and reflection. For best results, use cooking pots that have a dull, dark surface -- a flat black finish is best. Other colors of cookware can work, but the lighter-colored and shinier your cookware, the slower your cooking will be. Heat Retention: Once light is collected and absorbed, your pot will begin to get hot -- but retaining that heat is crucial to cooking success. Reflective panel cookers like the ASSC can retain heat by using glass bakeware (2 bowls required) or reusable high heat bags to contain your cooking pot. Cooking Time Duration: We have collected light, turned that light into heat, and have retained that heat. Now we need to have those 3 elements working together for a sufficient duration to complete our task. Most solar cooker designs will provide good temperatures for 4 hours a day - between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The best solar cookers will be capable of providing good cooking performance any time the sun is shining 8 to 12 hours each day.

If your solar cooking outing did not produce the results you expected, check the list above.

Great shower for campers and RV boondocks. Saves your cooking and heating fuel. One gallon steel sprayer, slightly modified. Photos soon.

This may well be the most boring video you have ever watched. But here is a description of the various types of cookware and enclosures that can be used with the All Season Solar Cooker.