Least intimidating book on solar cooking!

books:


	• Cooking with Sunshine: The Complete Guide to Solar Cuisine with 150 Easy Sun-Cooked Recipes Lorraine Anderson, Rick Palkovic Da Capo Press, 2006 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This is the reference I paid money for...

I usually preview my books by borrowing them from the library to see if they are worth buying. This is one that I chose for my personal collection.

I also checked out "Cooking with the Sun" (by Halacy and Halacy), which had some good introductory information and interesting-looking recipes. However, as soon as I got to the list of supplies needed for actually building their solar oven (plywood, fiberglass insulation, 1/16" thick aluminum or iron sheets, double-strength window glass, etc.) I gave up. My tools are limited to hammers and screwdrivers, and I didn't even know what some of the required items were, much less what to do with them.

This book, by contrast, has wonderful, step-by-step, illustrated directions on how to make a solar oven (box cooker) using simple stuff I have at home (cardboard boxes, newspaper, aluminum foil, turkey oven-roasting bag, Elmer's glue, etc.). There are also simple-looking directions for making a reflective-panel cooker.

I love how this book caters to the average Joe (or Josephine) who wants to cook with solar but doesn't want to spend a bundle to get started. The book gives lots of recommendations for improvising inexpensive options in cookware, explaining what works best and what doesn't work so well (and why!). For example, two dark 9" cake pans held together with large binder clamps (those things used in offices to hold large quantities of paper together) can work just as well as an expensive enameled dutch oven.

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Start Cooking with Sunshine!

I must say this book is a real gem. It is small but contains some good information. Half the book is information on solar cooking and it even tells you how to build two simple solar cookers from things you probably have around the house or can get cheap. The other half of the book contains recipes for cooking with your solar cooker. Excluding the recipes, the book can be read in a few hours at most. After which you will know enough to be able to build your own solar cooker and be cooking in no time. The book also gives sources for buying a cooker should you really want to do so.

I built a panel cooker in about an hour or two following the easy instructions. The next day I cooked a meal with it using a recipe I modified a bit to work with the cooker. It turned out better than I thought it would to be honest. I have cooked several dishes using the cooker now and everything has turned out great. I personally find the food to be of better quality than the typical high heat cooking usually done on stoves and ovens.

Most recipes can be adapted to be cooked with sunshine so you are not limited to what is provided in the book. As the book says a general rule is a conventional recipe will take about twice as long to cook in the solar cooker. I found this to be about true, though it might take just a little longer but doubling the time seems to be about right.

If you are interested in learning how to build a solar cooker and start cooking with one then I recommend getting this book. It keeps things pretty simple and easy while still giving you the information you need to start cooking good meals with free energy from the sun.

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yum!

You must try the Asparagus Pesto! By my calculations, a batch of this makes more and costs less than store-bought pesto. (Also less oily, if you wish.)

How and Why?

Just picked up the book yesterday and read it from cover to cover last night. Great opening section about how solar cooking works. I haven't seen it explained more clearly anywhere else. Great explanations on how to build your own- two types. And the recipes look wonderful. I'll be trying many of them when I finish building mine.

Least intimidating book on solar cooking!

This book is easy to read and use. The information is presented clearly and it is easy to understand. This book is a great source book to teach yourself solar cooking. It is also easy to include younger children. Older children could pick it up and teach themselves from reading it. The recipes are of a wide variety so there should be a favorite for just about everyone. It isn't too "new age" as some other books on this subject. Outlines food safety issues very well with easy to remember rules and suggestions for building your own solar cooker. Easy enough for a child to do.

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reviews: page 1, 2

What could be more entertaining and magical than putting food into a cardboard box outdoors on a sunny day and taking it out fully cooked a few hours later? Solar cooking ? a safe, simple cooking method using the sun's rays as the sole heat source ? has been known for centuries and can be done at least during the summer in just about any place where there's sun. In Cooking with Sunshine, Lorraine Anderson and Rick Palkovic provide everything you need to know to cook great sun-fueled meals. They describe how to build your own inexpensive solar cooker, explain how solar cooking works and its benefits over traditional methods, offer more than 100 tasty recipes emphasizing healthy ingredients, and suggest a month's worth of menu ideas.

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