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Life After the Oil Crash "Deal With Reality or Reality Will Deal With You" User Login: Your Cart: Help: Overview of History, Uses, and Features How long will a Global Sun Oven last? The Global Sun Oven has a number of unique qualities and features that are not in other solar cooking devices. They are often compared with box cookers that are made out of aluminum foil and cardboard or homemade boxes of various sizes and shapes. While the energy conversion principles are the same, the materials utilized in manufacturing a Global Sun Oven have been carefully researched to include the most efficient materials available. The high quality materials required to make a Global Sun Oven make its initial cost slightly higher than other solar cooking devices but its overall (lifetime) cost is actually lower. NGO's that have worked with Sun Oven have found that they have had an easier time getting people to use them because the ovens work so well and maintain cooking temperatures that are significantly higher than other types of solar devices. Use of the Global Sun Oven can help you reduce your use of traditional cooking fuels such as natural gas, coal, and biomass. Until recently, the impact of high energy costs was cushioned by large reserves of "free" wood and other biomass fuels. As global energy demands have grown exponentially, however, the availability of these energy sources has diminished while the costs have soared. In many urban areas, woodfuel may be as expensive as kerosene or gas, while in rural areas the costs of free collection in terms time, energy and wellbeing are excessive. The demands of massive population growth and inefficient conversion of wood to charcoal have outstripped the world's forests ability to regenerate. The ecological impact of wood fuel is burdensome and has far reaching effects on the environment, including: -The decreasing availability of firewood. The occurrence and strength of floods and droughts increase when they are eliminated. Allowing these global trends to continue will lead to to further environmental destabilization. Science strongly supports the fact that deforestation for agricultural and fuel use is changing weather patterns, causing soil erosion, and depleting plant and animal life. The Global Sun Oven offers a powerful solution to the effects of deforestation and can have an enormous positive impact on the everyday life of millions of people in underdeveloped countries by improving their nutrition, health, and quality of life. One piece collapsible reflectors: The Global Sun Oven can be set up for use or taken down for storage in a matter of seconds. The reflectors literally fall into place at an angle that allows you to maximize the power of the sun. The reflectors are made of highly polished, mirror-like anodized aluminum that can be cleaned quickly and easily with glass cleaner, and they will never oxidize or rust. Spill-proof levelator: There is never any need to worry about your food spilling in a Global Sun Oven. While cooking, your food rests on a shelf that self adjusts to always stay level as you refocus. Easy temperature monitoring: A built in thermometer allows you know the temperature at a glance. Self-contained leveling leg: As the sun is at different points on the horizon the Global Sun Oven can readily be adjusted to follow it. A simple adjusting leg allows you to choose from 9 angled positions. Extremely well insulated: A thick batt of non-toxic insulation retains heat. Food cooked in the sun and left in the oven will remain hot for hours. Cold air is held out allowing the Global Sun Oven to be used on sunny days year around regardless of the ambient temperature. Frequently Asked Questions What can I cook in a Global Sun Oven? Anything you can cook in a conventional electric or gas oven can be cooked in a Global Sun Oven. You can bake, boil and steam using any of your favorite recipes. The Global Sun Oven will reach temperatures of 360 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The oven will generally reach its maximum temperature as it is being preheated. The temperature will drop when food is placed in the chamber. Solar cooking allows many of the natural flavors of food, which get baked out in conventional ovens, to remain. The slow, even rise in temperatures in a Global Sun Oven gives the complex carbohydrates time to break down into simple sugars allowing subtle natural flavors to emerge. Sun baked foods stay moist, the natural internal juices do not bake out, resulting in a superior, moist taste and much less shrinkage. Cooking times are close to the same as those in a conventional oven. Because the sun is often trying to run away and hide behind clouds, cooking times can vary. The factors that affect the cooking time are: the quality of the sunlight at the time you are cooking, the types and quantities of the food being cooked, and how often the oven is being refocused. Dark pots change the light from the sun into heat energy. If a lid is not used the steam will dissipate much of the heat. Shiny aluminum pots and pans cause light to be reflected out thereby reducing the oven's temperature. For baking cakes, breads, cookies, and pies, dark cookie sheets and baking tins work best. Stirring to prevent scorching is not required when cooking in a Global Sun Oven due to the fact that there are no hot spots. It is almost impossible to burn food in a Global Sun Oven ------- Is the Global Sun Oven easy to focus? All that is required is to watch the shadows created by the oven. When the shadows are even on all sides, the cooker is directly focused. The built-in leveling leg on the back of the oven allows for easy tracking. The need to refocus depends a great deal on what you are cooking, the time of day, and the temperature you wish to maintain. A good rule of thumb is to plan to readjust every 30 minutes to maintain maximum heat. At noon the sun is high in the sky and moves quickly past the maximum focus point, creating the need to refocus more often. The Global Sun Oven is equipped with a built in Levelator, which keeps food level and avoids spills while being refocused. Global Sun Oven users often will put their ovens outside, focused for the mid-day sun, with their dinner in it when they leave for work in the morning. As the sun moves overhead, the temperature in the Global Sun Oven chamber slowly rises to a cooking level. As the sun passes, the food is kept warm and when they return from work they have a warm, sun-cooked dinner. The only parts that get hot are the oven chamber, the cooking pan, and the glass door. Proper care must be taken to use hot pads when opening the door and removing food. The entire exterior of the oven, including the reflectors, remains safe to touch. The Global Sun Oven reaches temperatures comparable to that of conventional ovens, therefore no special recipes are required. A good rule of thumb is to add 10 to 15 minutes of cooking time for each time the oven door is opened. The size of the Global Sun Oven is 19'' x 19'' with an average depth of 11''. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert presenting an achievement award to Paul Munsen, president of Sun Ovens International ------ Can I use a Global Sun Oven in the winter? The most important factor in using a Global Sun Oven is the brightness of the day, NOT the outside air temperature. Often, a 40-degree, clear, low-humidity day will allow food to cook faster than a 100-degree day with high humidity. The Global Sun Oven has been used very successfully at the base camp of a Mt Everest expedition where the temperatures are often well below zero. There are, however, more cooking hours available in the summer than in the winter. In the early summer, it is not unusual to cook from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, whereas during the early winter, effective cooking is limited to 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The black surfaces on the inside of the oven captures and transforms the sun's energy into a form that cannot escape the oven chamber. When a Global Sun Oven is focused in the sun, the interior of the oven is heated by the sun's energy. Direct and reflected sunlight enters the oven chamber through the glass door. It then turns to heat energy wh...
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