Hearty and tasty meals are one of the many reasons why, as a family, we love camping. True, you don’t have that many appliances, cooking tools, and utensils as you do back home, but that’s part of the charm of why the food ends up tasting so good. Especially if it’s after a long and healthy hike. While dehydrated foods make for an easy and mess-free option, and I have nothing against them, I still prefer the taste of cooked meals.

Dehydrated foods are a nice alternative and a must-have as a “just in case” solution, but it’s regular foods you eat at home that make all the difference in your stay outdoors. If you’ve never camped before, and you haven’t tasted cooked camp foods, you won’t be able to understand what it feels like to have egg frittata prepared with a compact solar oven using the sun as heating source.

What Are the Advantages of Solar Ovens?

If you’ve been catching up with this blog, you know how much we appreciate sustainability as a family. This is one of the primary reasons why we chose to incorporate this type of cooker on our list of camping equipment essentials. If you live in a country like Australia, famous for its many sunny days, then you have to make the most of this free energy source. 

There’s some sense of contentment in knowing your camping leisure isn’t at the expense of nature. It’s just as great for families that choose to live off-grid. Besides, when you rely on the sun to do the baking, you don’t have to fret whether or not you’d run out of fuel. This isn’t the case with cookers that work with gas, or wood. As a clean source, there’s no worry about pollution either, unlike the gas or wood burning fumes. 

Speaking of which, the solar power used for cooking neither alters the taste of the food, nor affects the nutrients it has, so it’s a healthy solution. Another huge benefit I’m sure most would agree with is also the less clean-up left to do with the solar oven which isn’t possible with the charcoal left from the wood. It’s the type of investment that keeps on giving as you don’t pay for fuel, and is beneficial for a camper even more than for simple meal preps. 

The oven can be used for water sterilisation too, perfect to give you peace of mind in situations when you run out of potable water source, and are questioning the quality of the water you have around. While water has to be sterilised at 65° C for about six minutes, and foods require 82° C to remove bacteria, parasites and other contaminants, the solar cookers easily reach and even exceed these temperature requirements. 

Still, to be on the safe side, always check with a WAPI device to be sure on the cleanliness, and whether you can use it for drinking, cooking, washing dishes and clothes, and bathing. Last but not least, it’s very user-friendly, and you don’t have to worry about the setup or how to use it as you’re in no danger of injury. The only disadvantage is that you need the sun to benefit from all this, so it’s not a reliable option for cloudy days (it may not reach the desired temperatures), and night.

But, that’s where the advanced solar cooker steps in. I’m talking about the hybrid design, of course, that can also be used without the sun, thanks to the solar + electric mechanism, allowing you to easily power it from the car, RV, and any other 12V source when the sun sets. This type is also reliable in a range of weather conditions, including snowy, breezy, muddy, windy and dusty, which isn’t the case with regular ovens powered by the sun.

What Can You Cook in a Solar Oven?

There are several types of these ovens, ranging from panel and parabolic, to box and tube designs. What you can cook in them is much like what you can cook at home – they’re very versatile, which is great news for any camper missing home-cooked meals. When it comes to what you can cook, there are various meals you can have fun preparing and cooking. From simple sauces, and baked potato salads, to baked beans, stews, roasts, soups, and fish meals – the possibilities are endless. 

Every oven should come with a leaflet of instructions, which is where you can find out how long it would take for a certain meal to be prepared, and at what temperature. It’s equally possible to bake breads and cakes, which someone with sweet tooth would surely appreciate when being away from home. Invest in an oven such as this, and prepare to be amazed at all the foods you can enjoy at the campsite.