Sunday, July 8, 2012

balancing act

Had to re balance the solar oven to account for the extra weight of the oven door and pivoting cooking tray.  May have to adjust again once I put the glass and reflectors back on.  Got it all black inside with high heat spray paint for gas grills.  93,101,68,0,B,0

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Balancing act is right. That is what it's going to be when you start baking.

Anonymous said...

curious to the temps you're getting. Odd thing happened to me . I thought black on the inside would make the oven get hotter. It did not it actually made the temp lower. Only thing I can think of was the black allowed the heat to be attracted to the insulation and then escape via the wood. I put the reflective mylar back on the inside and the temps went up. The max temp I have achieved was just a tad over 200. With the inside painted black I was around 175. Im in Florida. I use a cast iron dutch oven on the inside of the box. So far have made some potatos and a roaster chicken took about 6-7 hrs and was delish. Was my first attempt at a solar oven. A basic box oven made of 3/4 plywood 2" insulation board , some tin and plexiglass and some mylar emergency blanket used to line the inside.

What kinda temps is your oven producing? ofc 25% humidity and broiling sun might effect it some

UTSA Paratrooper 04 said...

I'm curious about any issues w/ fumes from the paint? On grills it used only on the outside.

John Wells said...

Fumes have never been an issue...I let any new paint job bake in the sun for a day before cooking any food...and everything I cook in a solar oven is in a container with a lid.

John Wells said...

Mr. Blood....hmmmm. Interesting that you mention black interior. I noticed in the pictures of the oven design that I am replicating does not have a black interior. As soon as mine is up and running, I will test that.

Al said...

Black thermal mass perhaps? Steel or rock/concrete? Longer to heat up but a more steady heat like a pizza oven but using solar. Just a thought from one who hasn't used a solar oven since boy scouts in the 60's.

Al

Carlos said...

For thermal mass using such low temperatures, a piece of 1/4" thick steel or cast iron would be better than a pizza stone. A chef friend says that you need some serious heat (800*F) to take advantage of stone as thermal mass to bake/cook with.

Allen Hare said...

Great progress on the oven.