How to make a Windshield Shade Solar Funnel Oven
Materials
needed:
A reflective accordion-folding car sunshade
A Cake rack (or wire frame or grill)
(4 ½ in.) of Velcro
Black pot
Bucket or plastic wastebasket
A plastic baking oven bag
A oven thermometer
- Lay the sunshade out with the notched side toward you, as above.
- Cut the Velcro into three pieces, each about 1 ½ inches long.
- Hand sew one half of each piece, evenly spaced, onto the edge to the left of the notch; sew the matching half of each piece onto the underneath size to the right of the notch, so that they fit together when the two sides are brought together to form a funnel. (see below) Note: I first tried sewing these on a sewing machine, but found it cut through the reflective material.
- Press the Velcro pieces together, and set the funnel on top of a bucket or a round or rectangular plastic wastebasket.
- Place
a black pot on top of a square cake rack, placed inside a plastic
baking bag. A standard size rack (10
in.). This is placed inside the funnel, so that the rack rests
on the top edges of the bucket or wastebasket. Since the
sunshade material is soft and flexible, the rack is necessary to
support the pot. It also allows the suns rays to shine down
under the pot and reflect on all sides. If such a rack is not
available, a wire frame could be made to work as well. Note:
the flexible material will squash down around the sides of the rack.
The funnel can be tilted in the direction of the sun.
A stick placed across from one side of the funnel to the other helps to stabilize it in windy weather.
After cooking, simply fold up your “oven” and slip the elastic bands in place for easy travel or storage.
I have found this totally simple solar oven extremely practical, as it is so lightweight and easy to carry along anywhere. But in addition, it has reached a higher temperature in a shorter time than all the other models I have experimented with so far. I was able to buy all of the things needed at the Dollar Tree keeping the cost for this solar funnel oven under six dollars.
