If you’ve never considered using a solar oven, now might be the time. With a solar oven, you can harness natural energy from the sun for cooking your favorite meals, desserts, and more.

Solar ovens are more than a science project. They’ve come a long way, and you may be surprised to learn how much. SUN OVENS® touts that it “enables the sun to bake, boil and steam food while enhancing the taste benefiting the environment and being prepared for an emergency.”

So what is a solar oven?

Basically, it’s a box. Some are a tad more complex than others, and you can even make your own solar oven. This box is generally black inside with some sort of reflective layering that directs and converts sunlight to heat energy that is retained in the box for cooking. Because they require the sun, solar cooking is done outdoors, making it ideal for reducing energy use at home, or creating beautiful fire-free meals while camping.

Solar ovens are generally inexpensive and simple to use, though special ovens are available for large-scale needs. Because of their overall simplicity and versatility, they are sometimes used by organizations to aid people affected by natural disasters, poverty, deforestation, and other circumstances that can make cooking food difficult, or worse.

You can make just about anything!

Cooking with a solar oven is much like using a crockpot or any other slow-cooking device. You really can cook anything in your solar oven that you can cook in a slow-cooker, but without the added energy use, lighting a fire, or heating up your home.

Some sight altering and tweaking of recipes and cook-time may be required, as the temperature of the oven will depend on the sun of the day.

Like all slow-cooking, planning ahead is a great idea. Cloudy, rainy days are not going to be helpful in planning a meal, and you can’t pop in a meal an hour before dinner. You’ll want to start your meal earlier in the day, giving your oven time to use the sun to its full potential and giving your meal plenty of time to cook.

Start by using your favorite, or tried and true, slow-cooker recipes, and then experiment from there. Pinterest is a great source of plan-ahead and slow-cooking recipes. Many traditional recipes can also be adjusted to work in a slow-cooker, but it will take a bit of practice to learn what needs done.

Some things to keep in mind when cooking with your solar oven:

1. It’s a new product, so like most things it will take a bit of trial and error to get use to it. Give it a chance and you will quickly learn what works best for you, your oven, and  your recipes.
2. Though you may think you need extra water because of the long cook-times.. you don’t! Because cause the box contains the heat and moisture, you do not need to add additional water. It’s best to stick to your recipe’s suggested quantities.
3. Plan ahead, and be flexible. Slow-cooking takes time, and the heat in your solar oven will vary depending on the strength of the ‘sun of the day’. It may be worth having a look at the forecast before setting your heart on a solar oven meal over the weekend.
4. Another tip to planning is to plan your cooking to start during the hottest times of day (generally between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.). If you want the meal at a traditional dinner hour, strongly consider using recipes with longer cook-times, or traditional slow-cooker recipes.
5. Finally, experiment and have fun! Visit your local farmers’ market, try new veggies, fruits and recipes. You never know what flavors (and new favorites) you may discover!

Give it a try, and give it a chance — you may be pleasantly surprised by what you find, and what you learn.