New stove: the GoSun solar oven
A relatively new product; recently came across it on a YouTube channel (Sailing Uma).
I /loved/ the idea so picked one up to try it out.
https://gosun.co/products/sport
The heart of the product is the double-wall glass vacuum tube, with interior coatings of AlN & Cu for trapping/converting the light & IR to heat. (I suspect that a simple layer of black paint could also be adequate.)
At the end of my picture album below, there is a cross-sectional diagram supplied by the manufacturer.
The performance edge of this design is the possibility of obtaining ~550F (claimed) due to the generated heat not being able to escape the vacuum tube cooking chamber.
Note that most of the traditional solar ovens only top out at ~300F or so.
Pic series of it in action;
The first thing I wanted to try was baking bannock (done w/ half white flour, half wheat flour).
I started small because not only is the 24"-long cooking tray only 2" wide, but with bread rising I wanted to make sure I had more than enough headroom before contacting the tube interior.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z3phd90gy...9fRhHVG_a?dl=0
(If a popup window from DropBox asks to install its software, you can just close it out & proceed to viewing the pics.)
Although the pics make the weather look sunny, it was mostly cloudy all afternoon - I took advantage of the breaks in the clouds for the photo opportunities.
The last pic in the series shows the light from the setting sun, and the second batch of breadsticks.
Cooking notes;
Conditions for the first batch:
48 degrees ambient temp; 11:45 AM
Mostly cloudy afternoon; started the bake with 60% cloud cover, which increased to 90% cloud cover & a couple of brief rain sprinkles.
It was pretty amazing to see the steam piping out of the vent, and the smell of baking bread - on a chilly cloudy day.
All equipment was cool to the touch - demonstrating that what little heat that was available, was being effectively collected & retained inside the vacuum tube.
2.5 hours later, and the breadsticks were slightly browned & ready to eat.
Second batch:
44 degrees ambient temp; 2:45 PM
Mostly cloudy again, with the cloud cover ranging from 90% to 80%.
I went with thinner breadsticks this time around because the sunshine was winding down for the day.
A little over two hours later with the sun now at the horizon, and piping hot breadsticks again.
Sort of a worst-case test, early February in our cloudy Willamette river valley in Oregon.
The next time I do the bannock recipe, I'll do thicker loaves to make more effective use of the limited volume - the goal being a small french-bread format.
Mixing in some shredded cheese before baking would make for fantastic lunch biscuits.
Future plans include baking potatoes, beans, rice, and carrots; as all of those inexpensive bulk foods will travel well.
Making homemade hot-pockets w/ Trader Joe's vegetarian chorizo inside the bannock - or even just a healthy way to bake pre-made burritos would be great.
I expect I will be taking this on virtually all of my extended car camping excursions - being able to make fresh bread out in the wilderness every day will be a game-changer.
I'll be providing future updates as I take this on more outdoor adventures - specifically, to sunnier interior Oregon & eventually New Mexico.
Thanks for reading & best regards,
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