Sun Oven: An Introduction to Cooking with the Sun! (and there are cookies!)

The Sun Oven Series - a new reference series by Mom with a PREP on how to use the power of the sun to cook! Great for emergency preparedness, off grid cooking, homesteading, camping, RVing and more!

Can I tell you just how excited I am to get a Sun Oven?! I have wanted one forever, and when Paul Munsen from Sun Ovens, International, approached me and offered me a Sun Oven to try out, I jumped at the chance! (If you missed tonight’s seminar, here’s a replay of it for you!)

But why was I excited?

  • The ability to cook without heating up my house
  • The ability to have an alternative to cooking during a power outage from any number of reasons
  • Finding new ways to prepare meals for my family
  • Dehydrating
  • Saving money on electric bills

Advantages of the Sun Oven

  • You don’t have to have a hot day – you just need to have direct sunlight – if you can see a shadow, you’ve got enough sun, no matter what the temperature.
  • Don’t heat up your kitchen – and you can cook in just about 15 more minutes that you might have in the oven (adjust about every 30 minutes)
  • Slow cook – Set up for the hottest part of your day, let the Sun Oven sit and by the time it’s dinner time, you’ve slow cooked a meal!
  • Things don’t burn – because the heat is distributed evenly, food doesn’t burn.
  • Food doesn’t dry out – because you capture the moisture within the cooking chamber, you don’t dry out things like you do in the oven.
  • Reduces energy costs – you aren’t spending money on cooking fuel or cooling your home in the summer.

Introducing the Sun Oven

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

The box is fairly large – the Sun Oven weighs about 22 lbs and is a little awkward to move around, but does have an easy-carry handle like carrying a suitcase. I’m pleading for some outdoor shed space to store it permanently to make it easier to pull out and set up.

I received the Preparedness and Dehydrating package – all the parts to be able to cook with the All-American Sun Oven plus dehydrate and boil water and more! This is the box as we opened it – everything packaged neatly inside.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

The  Sun Oven Dehydrating & Preparedness package includes

  • Multi-Level Dehydrating & Baking Rack Set (set of 3 racks w/1 roll parchment paper)
  • Two Easy Stack Pots w/interchangeable enamel and glass lids
  • Multi-Fuel Water Pasteurizing Indicator (WAPI)
  • Two Loaf Pans
  • SUN OVEN® eCookbook & Emergency Preparedness CD featuring 600 recipes, hundreds of pictures, video clips and much more has been developed by Cook’n, the award winning and #1 best-selling recipe organizer

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

The instructions are really straight forward to putting your box together. It’s almost completely assembled, you just need to install the back bracing bar and remember to remove that protective film over the mirrored wings! I almost forgot!
Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

When setting up your Sun Oven for the first time, you’ll need to walk through all the steps included in the instruction guide.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

You need to level and align the box with the sun, and know that you’ll need to step out and move it during the day to keep it aligned with the sun’s movements. It’s a quick, occasional adjustment. Here’s a video on learning to focus  your Sun Oven.

momwithaprep-sun-oven-into6a

Be forwarned! The screws that hold the glass down to creat the seal that will cook your food get REALLY hot. It’s best to use some protective gloves when handling your Sun Oven. We used some stretchy winter gloves during this process instead of the large thick oven mitts. They worked fine.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

You’ll set up  your oven the run the first time with some vinegar that will steam to help clean the  unit. Then we threw in some water to test the boil.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

So, of course, we had to cook some food!!! We had grabbed some store bought cookies that morning knowing we’d be testing something in the Sun Oven that afternoon, so set them up on the racks…

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

Waited a bit…and let me tell you, the boys spent a lot of time standing in front of the Sun Oven just waiting for it to finish, running out and checking every five minutes.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

I can say, that our first test failed. But we learned something!! Rotate! The first layer is done quickly, then allow the 2nd layer a little more time to be on top and to get crisp. Then the 3rd layer needs its time on top, too. We tested another batch yesterday and it worked so much better when we learned that one little trick. We didn’t rotate, just pulled each layer off as they were done.

Sun Oven - a great way to practice off grid cooking skills using only the power of the sun -- and get great cookies to boot!

And here were the results yesterday – crisp cookies that were yummy! They don’t brown the same way as your oven does, nonetheless, they’re good!!

What you can expect from the Sun Oven Series

  • Techniques and recipes to help you be successful at cooking with your Sun Oven
  • Resources for information
  • Real results – if I screw up, I’ll tell you. I’m learning, and you can learn right along with me!

Learn about the Sun Oven from my free seminar with Paul Munsen from Sun Ovens International 

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The Sun Oven Series - a new reference series by Mom with a PREP on how to use the power of the sun to cook! Great for emergency preparedness, off grid cooking, homesteading, camping, RVing and more!

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Katy Willis is a writer, lifelong homesteader, and master herbalist, master gardener, and canine nutritionist. Katy is a preparedness expert and modern homesteader practicing everyday preparedness, sustainability, and a holistic lifestyle.

She knows how important it is to be prepared for whatever life throws at you, because you just never know what's coming. And preparedness helps you give your family the best chance to thrive in any situation.

Katy is passionate about living naturally, growing food, keeping livestock, foraging, and making and using herbal remedies. Katy is an experienced herbalist and a member of the CMA (Complementary Medical Association).

Her preparedness skills go beyond just being "ready", she's ready to survive the initial disaster, and thrive afterward, too. She grows 100% organic food on roughly 15 acres and raises goats, chickens, and ducks. She also lovingly tends her orchard, where she grows many different fruit trees. And, because she likes to know exactly what she's feeding her family, she's a seasoned from-scratch cook and gluten-free baker.

Katy teaches foraging and environmental education classes, too, including self-sufficient living, modern homesteading, seed saving, and organic vegetable gardening.

Katy helps others learn forgotten skills, including basic survival skills and self-reliance.

She's been published on sites such as MSN, Angi, Home Advisor, Family Handyman, Wealth of Geeks, Readers Digest, and more.

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