Monday, March 7, 2011

Using Your Sun Oven as a Slow Cooker 101

Today we used my Global Sun Oven just like a crock pot.  Most often that is how I use it but today felt especially cool after the seminar  on Saturday.  A lot of people are surprised to find that the Global Sun Oven can be used as a slow cooker using the insert from their crock-pots! At the Solar Cooking Seminar with Paul Munsen, (President of Sun Ovens International, Inc.)he  told us a few things that are less known about using the solar oven. I realized I had already been using it for my crock pot but when Paul said it...I just felt so cool. Like, "hey...I thought of that too..."  The cooking times with the slow cooker recipes is exactly the same as the "low" setting. So, any recipe you have for the slow cooker...can be done solar. 

For this recipe we used : 

Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Chili
1 lb cooked hamburger or equivalent of the 
Honeyville Freeze Dried Ground Beef 
(or vegetarian use 1 cup TVP Taco )
1/2 cup  Dehydrated Onion 


Add to the following in a 4-6 quart slow cooker:
1 small can diced green chiles
2 15 oz can Pinto beans ( undrained) or 1 lb cooked pinto beans
1/2 cup dehydrated bell peppers
2 cans stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes (undrained) *
2T-4T chili Powder (depending on how hot you like it)
1T garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat in the solar oven 2-3 hours in direct sunlight. Serve with tortilla or corn chips. Optional, top with grated cheese, sour cream, diced onion and even fresh diced tomatoes if you like.



You will need to remove the metal shelf within the unit and just put the pot right on the bottom of your cooker.

This is a six quart insert that fits just perfectly in the Solar oven.  I keep it on a rolling Craftsman Tool cart that has been a perfect perch for my oven out in the sun.


Chili cooked perfectly in the solar oven instead of using the electricity and heating up the kitchen! How cool is that?! In Arizona, the cost of cooling my house goes way down if I don't use the regular oven and the slow cooker on the kitchen counter. The solar oven has offered a great alternative method for cooking that my family loves.



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