When people see a Sun Oven for the first time, especially in Arizona, the first thing they ask is, "Why doesn't everyone use one of these?" They usually come to the assumption that it's a question of price and don't give the matter a second thought. I must admit, I too was guilty of this. But if you think about it, many home cooks are perfectly willing to pay top dollar for a good chef's knife, a food processor, a stand mixer or a slow cooker. All of which, with the exception of the chef's knife, are less useful than a Sun Oven. Just like with any craft, home cooks know that high quality tools make the art of cooking much easier and more rewarding. The Sun Oven is designed to last much longer, again with the exception of the knife, than any of the above mentioned appliances. It's more versatile than a pressure cooker or a crock-pot. And while food processors and stand mixers are incredibly useful, they rarely come out of the cupboard in most home kitchens.
After giving it more thought I now believe the price has little to do with it. It's much more about habit. People don't cook with the power of the sun because they never have. Hopefully my blog will inspire at least some of my readers to change their habits and give solar cooking a try. If they do, they'll be rewarded with some of the best tasting meals they've ever prepared.
Today's dinner couldn't have been easier to make. Just take a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts and throw them in a pot with a jar of salsa. Put it in the Sun Oven. When it's done shred the chicken with two forks. The beans and rice were made in the Sun Oven too. I didn't use a recipe for the beans. After soaking the beans overnight I seasoned them with chopped onion, minced garlic, some chili powder, chopped red pepper and a bay leaf. It took about an hour to cook them in the Sun Oven.
Thanks for your blog. I found that suggestion you made a couple of days ago about how to cook the pizza. I'll have to try that.
ReplyDeleteI have found the cost of my solar oven to have been well worth the money and effort.
Peace, and happy cooking,
shamba
Yes, pre-baking the dough helps. I got a good tip from another solar cook the other day. He uses a pizza stone. He preheats it before placing the pizza in the oven. Next time I'm going to try that. In my opinion pizza is one of those foods that will never be as good made at home as in a professional wood fired oven. In Italy no one makes it at home. But sometimes good is good enough.
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