Solar Ovens

Laurie Schultz
Brownies/Troop 145/Tarheel Triad Girl Scout Council
North Carolina,United States

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Pringles Oven

Once you have eaten or otherwise disposed of your Pringles (and cleaned the tube), cut a slit about 7 inches long lengthwise in the tube. Cut 2 shorter slits at each end of the long slit, so you have something like the letter I. Fold back the cut sections; the "wings" will be the solar reflectors. Now line the open space with some heavy plastic -- an oven bag works well. Do not use plastic or saran wrap as it will melt. That's basically it. Put some food (e.g., a hot dog or some marshmallows) on a skewer and run it through the tube, place it in some sunny area, and wait for it to cook.

Pizza Box Cooker

Get a pizza box (preferably brown). Put the box together. Then cut a slit on 3 sides of the lid about 1 inch in from the sides. Leave the back part where it folds down attached. Cover the new lid and the inside of the box with aluminum foil. Then get an oven bag and cut it to fit the entire lid and tape it on. Place a piece of black construction paper on the bottom of the inside of the box as a collector. Put a tack with a piece of string on the outside of the lid and a small tack on the back outside of the box bottom. Tie the string to the tack in the box bottom angled so that the sun's rays bounce down into the box. That is all there is to it.

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