Health, safety, and the benefits of slow cooking
The benefits of slow cooking apply to the box and panel cookers. The “fast” cooker, based on the parabola or on any other solar concentrator, will reach higher temperatures relatively quickly (though not as fast as on a gas or electric stove). Studies have shown that both taste and quality of food in slow cooking […]
Sustainability
With the accepted notion that climate warming is man-made, we aim to reduce our carbon dioxide output. Solar cooking replaces gas, electricity, or other forms of energy most of which produce greenhouse gases in production, transportation, and during use. Thus, cooking with the sun can reduce our “carbon footprint”. However, solar cookers have an energy […]
History
Short version: Though people knew how to use the sun’s rays to light fire (example lighting the torch of Olympia with a magnifying glass), the first solar cooker is ascribed to the Scientist Horace de Saussure who in 1767 experimented with a glazed box and measured temperatures of over 100 degrees Celsius. Long version: A […]
Solar cooking in the Mishna
Solar cooking was mentioned in the Jewish holy scripts of the Mishna (compiled circa. 200 BC to 100 AD) written in Hebrew. The texts refer to the Mishnaic and Talmudic discussions on whether solar cooking was allowed on the Sabbath day (Saturday), when cooking or creating a fire is not permitted, stating that cooking done […]