- A solar cooker is a small insulated box lined with highly reflective colors to bring in as much of the sun's energy as possible. The inside of the box is often lined with reflective material and well insulated so that once heat is reflected, it stays hot in the box. The inside of the solar cooker then acts like an over or slow cooker and bakes the food at low heat over several hours.
- Almost anything that can be cooked in a crockpot or the oven can be cooked in a solar cooker. The heat of the sunshine is absorbed into the dark materials and then radiated back out to food inside. Think of asphalt or other dark materials in the summer sun. The solar cooker takes that energy in channels it into a pot roast or pot of stew. The most important thing to consider when using a solar cooker is that this is a long process and should be used to cook something that can safely cook at low temperatures for most of the day.
- Since cooking with a solar cooker involves cooking at lower temperatures for a long period of time, people using the solar cooker for poultry or pork should use a eat thermometer and not simply appearance to indicate when the food is done enough to eat. In addition, a solar cooker can be very hot, so oven mitts and other precautions should be observed to avoid getting burned.
