I stumbled onto something called a sun oven. Since propane, white gas and kerosene prices are about to go through the roof, a sun oven piqued my interest as an alternative cooking method. There are a lot of youtube videos on them, but I’d like to hear from someone who has experience using one for a while.
They look awful flimsy.

Ive read reviews and seen recipes. They do work but it's obviously not ideal, requires near constant sunlight and overall would be a last ditch effort for me, a Dutch oven over wood fire or buried coals would be way more proficient.

Sounds like a good way to culture bacteria.

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sun oven

I could see this working in some places. Phoenix and El Paso in July, sure. Seattle in January, probably not.

Mrs. BB61 and I have one. We have also used ours to bake bread. And for the naysayers, the bread came out just fine. A large Lazy Susan would be nice to help keep it oriented towards the Sun which would help keep the temperature up and decrease cooking time. I’ve talked with people that have put theirs in a wheel barrel with low sides which they then use to rotate the oven as needed.

Their “newest” model is designed for North America. IIRC, as it has been a while since I’ve been on their website, the North American model has better insulation. I’d buy that one as it helps keep the temperature up in colder weather. Anyway, I see no reason why you could not cook up a “crockpot” dish quite easily in one. But keep in mind, this is a tool that you would be using for one meal a day - this is not a microwave so to speak. So if you are thinking of buying one for emergency preparedness, I would certainly pair it with other off-the-grid items like Dutch ovens, charcoal grills, gas stoves, etc.

BB, you mentioned a North American model. Is that one of the All American brand models?
Does your oven use a little twin aperture device for correctly aiming the oven toward the sun for maximum exposure?
I understand that it’s not the equivalent of a microwave, but if it can get up to 400°F and cook a 3 lb. chicken in 1-1/2 hours, it should be able to warm up can goods etc. I’m just looking for a way to stretch my supply of propane when the next big hurricane comes through or whatever. That lazy susan idea sounds like it has merit. Thanks for the reply.

We have one and use it a fair bit. Works great.

I have an older model and don’t remember any fancy aiming device. I simply aligned it and went for it.

Yes. The All American model is the one I was thinking about. It sounds like Darthfuster has good experience with his too. One thing I failed to mentioned, we did experiment with ours. We bought it more for emergency preparedness than to save $$$ with rising fuel costs. Thus we decided to practice with it before we really needed it. From what we learned, I would recommend you start out with basic food dishes before you get fancy. Our first loaf of bread was a little doughy as I couldn’t help checking it all the time.

My Dad made one and it cooked up some nice ribs in a dutch oven inside. If I lived in a place that got more sun Id consider one.

Strambo, I hear that if you can see shadows, a sun oven will still work. You just have to allow for longer cook times.
I’m still intrigued with the idea of heating food, water for washing and such; especially if the grid goes down for an extended length of time.
If I can warm up some can goods and make cornbread with that thing I’ll be happy.