Solar ovens are devices that concentrate and retain heat from the sun to cook foods. They can also used to reheat or to disinfect water.

The ovens may have integral cooking containers²⁾ but more commonly a black pot is placed into the oven.

Advantages:

• free!
• “Low and slow”³⁾ techiques adapted from crockpot recipes may be useful.
• cooking outside prevents heating interior of vehicle during warm weather

Disadvantages:

• requires good sun
• wind can blow the cooker around
• wind will wick off heat from open designs
• can be bulky - look for foldable/collapsible designs

Major design styles include:

• box - a box with reflectors
• bag - like a box, only made from flexible matrial like neoprene with mylar lining
• funnel - a rough parabolic shape
• thermal tube - horizontal clear tubes into which food is placed

The acronym CARD describes what is necessary for solar cooking:⁴⁾

• Collection (reflectors)
• Attraction (black pots or painted oven bottom)
• Retention (“greenhouse” enclosure or insulated box walls with cover)
• Duration - time in the oven

One might add S for Sunshine.

• Global Sun Oven (aka Burns Sun Oven), used by Bob Wells of Cheap RV Living and Nomadland fame, jimindenver⁵⁾
• Go Sun (thermal tube), used by zenerbufen⁶⁾, biobennett⁷⁾, AbsintheFairyGirl⁸⁾
• Sunflair (bag), used by jimindenver⁹⁾
• Sun Oven All American (box), used by PrairieFire_withwind¹⁰⁾
• SOS Sport, used by used by PrairieFire_withwind¹¹⁾
• Amazon search for solar ovens

• Providence Acres tire-based solar oven (from the wayback machine)
• Pocket Full of Wanderlust's $5 DIY solar oven (from the wayback machine)
• backwoodshome DIY solar oven
• open design made from a satellite dish
• solarcooking.org solar oven plans

• Bob Wells' article on solar ovens
• Heaven's Flame book on solar cooking (PDF) (from the wayback machine), out-of-print paperback.
• warming food between windshield and reflector