Antinuclear

Learn how to cook with solar energy

Newcastle-based Sun Cooking Australia is holding a free solar-cooking workshop on Sunday, February 2, which will include sampling of food cooked in a solar oven.

The workshop will take place at 3 Lewis Street, Wallsend, from noon to 3pm

LIVING GREEN: Cooking with sunshine, NewcastleHerald By KAREN TOIRKENS Jan. 26, 2014,WHEN people talk about “going solar”, we usually think of solar hot water and solar (PV) electricity systems. There are also a growing number of people using direct solar radiation to cook outdoors.

Solar cooking involves concentrating sunlight to create heat and essentially comprises two main methods: using parabolic solar cookers, where a dish with a reflective surface focuses the sun’s heat to a central point (making them well-suited for cooking foods at high temperature, such as frying, boiling and grilling); or using solar ovens, where solar radiation is trapped inside a well-insulated box (creating an ideal environment for slow-cooking, baking and dehydrating).

Fans of solar cooking cite a range of benefits, including reduced electricity or gas bills, greenhouse gas savings, succulent food (solar ovens lock in moisture), and reducing heat by avoiding indoor oven use.

While meals take longer to prepare than in their conventional counterparts, solar ovens require less hands-on time checking on food during cooking – it is difficult to burn food in them – and meals can be left to cook during the day without fear of burning the house down.

Many types of solar cookers can also be packed up and taken on camping trips.

Because solar cooking involves converting sunlight into heat, it can be performed year-round providing there is sunshine.

It is less successful during cloudy weather and in extended periods of rain, although some of the higher quality solar ovens can still be used for residual-heat cooking, where food is brought up to temperature on a conventional stovetop and placed into the solar oven to finish cooking.

But what about the cost?……..

Newcastle-based Sun Cooking Australia is holding a free solar-cooking workshop on Sunday, February 2, which will include sampling of food cooked in a solar oven.

The workshop will take place at 3 Lewis Street, Wallsend, from noon to 3pm…..http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2046959/living-green-cooking-with-sunshine/?cs=12

January 27, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ACTION