Sun Cook Solar Cooker Features

What is it?

The Sun Cook Solar oven/cooker is a solar cooker that cooks for 4 to 6 persons by using solar energy. Being a slow cooker means that the food never burns and becomes tastier and moister than usual.

Concept

The Sun Cook® oven uses for the first time ever in a cooker the so called "ideal optics" or "non imaging optics“ (a.k.a. Compound Parabolic Concentrators or CPC).

The oven is like a box into which are placed vessels with food to be cooked. It includes two lids:

• the external lid has a mirror on its inward facing side and has to be open for operation, while protecting the internals when closed.

• the internal lid is made with a double glass that allows for the through flow of solar radiation into the cooking compartment, both directly from the sun and reflected by the external lid.

All the radiation directed inside is absorbed by a black metallic plate placed at the bottom and then converted into thermal energy. This energy heats the cooking compartment in a very gradual and homogeneous way.

The side mirror avoids the need of regular re-orientation towards the sun. It is made of two sliding halves thus allowing for the positioning of the lid at any angle and for the opening of the internal lid without having to remove it.

The box is built with carefully selected recyclable plastics allowing both for lightness and durability. It has two integrated handles for easy transportation.

Why use it?

Nutrition:

Whatever the food you want to cook, the SUN COOK will prove to be an excellent choice. Baking, stewing, roasting, boiling or sautéing, all except frying, can be made on this solar oven. You can even grill although without getting the usual grill marks on the food or the smoke's taste on the food.

The major advantage is that because there isn't a hot spot (like a flame) and the heat input is gentle a very homogeneous temperature is attained. This means that less water is needed, the food's juices are conserved and that complex carbohydrates have enough time to break down.

The resulting food is tastier, more succulent and might even, in some cases, be more nutritive (by losing less nutrients) when compared with other more traditional cooking methods.

Regarding performance the maximum temperature reached is 200ºC (400ºF) although, when food is placed inside, the water's evaporation stabilizes the temperature at around the boiling point. That is enough to cook everything, even bread or potatos.

Convenience:

The SUN COOK relies on the sun's rays to heat up its cooking compartment. As a result temperature builds in a very progressive and uniform way without the "hot" and "not so hot" spots that are so characteristic of most of the traditional cooking methods. One of the consequences is that food never burns and thus, users can concentrate on other activities while the cooking gets done.

There's absolutely no need to stir up the food or to keep watching it. This characteristic, combined with the sophisticated optics requiring no re-orientation to keep tracking the sun while cooking, make it the ultimate appliance for persons that want to dedicate themselves to other activities while the cooking goes on.

In addition the SUN COOK also comprises a sundial that enables users to schedule the time when the cooking should stop. This is done by adjusting the oven with an angle that makes the side mirror cast its shadow over the glass lid after the time marked on the sundial elapses. This might seem complex but is really simple when tried.

But it's not only the quality of the food nor the convenience experienced by its users that make the SUN COOK so special: as there are no ashes, no burnt food and no fuels the SUN COOK is very easy to cleanup after being used. All it takes is a damp and smooth piece of cloth in order to clean the inside surfaces from water condensation and any eventual spill overs.

Safety:

The Sun Cook uses no fuels and doesn't have any flame making it very safe for its users.

For the same reason there's also no smoke thus sparing users from the inconvenience of breathing it and getting its smell on the clothes. Users that cook frequently in ways that expose them to smoke will also get the added benefit of reducing or eliminating the risk of developing lung and eye diseases.

The risk of users getting burned is very low. The only hot surfaces are located inside as the external parts will only get hot as any other appliance placed under the sunshine. Inside the cooking compartment users should be careful not to touch the internal mirrors nor the bottom plate. This is easily and naturally done as the aperture is large enough to let the users hands place or fetch the cooking vessel.

One of the Sun Cook's design requirements was that the focal point of its concentrating mirrors should pose no danger of causing fires in the surroundings or even blindness to its users . This was achieved by adopting the box design that concentrates the sun's rays inside it.

Another potential worry of outdoor cookers is the danger of animals eating or spilling the food. In order to address this the cooking compartment might only be opened by pressing a button that releases it. This also prevents small children from opening it.

Who uses it and where?

The SUN COOK is much appreciated by different kinds of users and used in very different situations and occasions: 

• from the prestigious chef at a 5-star resort near Lisbon that takes advantage of its cooking to get the most flavor out of each ingredient to amateur gourmets that are conquered by the taste and succulence of solar food;
• from off grid or remote homes in developed countries to populations facing energy shortages due to desertification or forced migrations;
• from everyday users to people enjoying some special outdoor meals with friends;
• from mountaineers like João Garcia (now close to achieving his goal of climbing the 14 mountains with more that 8000m, without the use of oxygen), to regular beach goers;
• from retirees longing for healthier food to children enjoying looking at cakes growing while their parents can relax due to the SUN COOK's intrinsic safety;
• from people complementing their BBQ with solar cooked potatos or rice or even a dessert, to people cooking  an entire meal at once, dessert included, benefiting from the fact that flavors and smells don't get mixed;
• from relaxing campers to enthusiastic fishermen wishing to immediately enjoy the result of their fishery;
• from scouts and environmental friendly outdoor cookers to outdoor workers not willing to spend too long heating or cooking their meals.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT http://www.sunok.eu/