178
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #194,271 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
Nice cooker, but seems overpriced
I am a very experience solar chef, and have used several different types of cookers. This one seems to be effective. I haven't done any testing to see how it compares to other cookers. The coordinated articulating collector panels are a nice innovation. Seems like they would be beneficial in winter or the shoulder seasons, and they probably do extend your range of cooking time to earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon. So it's a neat idea, but realistically, in my 20 years of solar cooking, I've never really felt very limited by those things. I've never worried about early morning or late evening cooking. And yes, I do pack away my solar cookers for the winter, and with this one you may be able to still use it. This is a nice design, but really seems a bit overpriced for what it is. Basically it's just a folded sheet of Coroplast with a shiny side and some bolts to hold it together. If you are new to cooking with the sun, I recommend you either make or get something cheaper as you experiment with solar cooking. Get some cardboard and make a CookIt, or find some boxes and make a box cooker. You'll find lots of good instructions online. Once you get some experience and find you like solar cooking, then maybe you might want to upgrade to this one.
On the other hand, if early morning, late evening, or winter cooking is important to you, or if you are rich enough to not worry about the price, then go ahead and buy this. It is a nice cooker, and I'm sure you will be happy with it.
