Who Needs a Grill? Build Your Own Solar Oven

From Popular Mechanics. I bet Texas could've used this during the ungodly heat wave they suffered through!

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"1.) Find Parts

This March in Minnesota, our solar oven got hot enough to bake a killer batch of scones—and in the summer, it can whip up brownies in a brownout. The project makes use of scraps (or full 4 x 8 sheets) of ¾-inch and ½-inch plywood. It also requires 4d trim nails, a 6-foot length of 1½-inch-wide flat wood trim, 36 inches of ¼-inch-square molding, a half-sheet of ½-inch rigid foam insulation, a half-sheet of ½-inch drywall, two white ceramic knobs, eight 3-inch mending plates, construction adhesive, high-­temperature flat black spray paint, heavy-duty aluminum foil, No. 8 bolts, washers and nuts and a piece of ¼-inch plate glass cut to 13 x 14½ inches, with the edges sanded smooth.

2.) Build the Box

Construct an open-top box using ¾-inch plywood for a 14 x 15½–inch bottom. Use ½-inch plywood to make four 7-inch-tall sides. With a vise and pliers, bend the mending plates to 135-degree angles. Fasten two plates to each box side with 1-inch No. 8 bolts, washers and nuts. Cut pieces of rigid foam insulation to line the box interior. Glue the foam to the plywood using construction adhesive. Cut and glue drywall panels to fit on top of the foam. Paint the interior black.

3.) Prep the Top

Nail wood trim over the edges of the foam and drywall. Cut the molding into four 9-inch lengths. Center the glass pane over the opening. Put the moldings around the glass perimeter. Nail them down to steady the pane. Glue the knobs to the glass.

4.) Make Reflectors

Cut rigid foam to four 12 x 24–inch panels. Wrap the foam in aluminum foil. Bolt the panels to the plates.

5.) Bake It Up

Prep food in a black enamel­ pot with a lid; set the pot in the box. Replace the glass. Prop up the oven at an angle so the sun and reflectors shine directly on it. Use an oven thermometer to gauge heat. Note: This oven does not bake as quickly as a regular one (but our scones, with butter and lingonberry jam, were still delicious). Wear oven mitts to handle the ceramic knobs—they get hot!"

I believe I've seen pre-foiled rigid foam at Home Depot--it had a shiny side on it. You'll have to check.

Solar oven cooking is done in hours as opposed to minutes in a standard oven, and seconds in a microwave. If you've got the time, the sun, and the inclination to save energy dollars, go for it. I could've used this last month!

Older versions feature parabolic shapes, such as an old satellite dish, an old radar dish, or even a solar cooker box.

Nowadays, they get made of such things as pizza boxes, car windshield shades wrapped around a grill, and even ready-to-use reflector arrays.

Mirror tiles, Lexan potato chip bags or helium balloons from the grocery store turned inside-out, and something as simple as a black cast iron pot out in your yard all day allow the sun to help you cook. Not only can you recycle stuff to make your solar cooker, you can turn former junk into a good meal!

Recipes abound on the web for this kind of cooking, baking, and even frying.