If you have not heard of solar or sun cooking and baking, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Cooking with the sun has been around for quite some time. The first documented research and successful results of solar cooking or baking was in 1767 by a French-Swiss physicist, Horace de Saussure. It was not until the past decade that a more concerted effort has been made to develop an oven/cooker that would effectively utilize the energy of the sun for this purpose. Until the recent overwhelming increase in the cost of nonrenewable fuels such as fuel oil, gas and natural gas, there has not been a sense of urgency to find alternative sources of energy. Now there is more emphasis on greenhouse gases produced from burning fossil fuels, coal, wood and petroleum products.
In the past, electric power and natural gas have provided a cheap and convenient source of energy for powering or stoves and ovens, eliminating the need to pursue alternative sources of energy such as the sun. No one can deny that the earth is going through a change in climate, whether caused by man or a natural reoccurring cycle. If man is the cause of climate change through the "Greenhouse Gas Effect," then it would behoove us to do our share in preventing further damage to our ozone. We can reduce the size of our individual carbon footprint by cutting back on our consumption of nonrenewable resources.
One way to accomplish this is by utilizing the sun's energy through the use of solar panels and by baking and cooking a portion of our meals with a solar sun oven or cooker. Anything that can be cooked in a conventional oven can be cooked in a sun oven. From the moment a sufficiently designed solar oven is placed into position, pointing at the sun, it will reach 300 to 400 degrees F. within 25 minutes. If the solar
