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 1 year of cooking; loving it, but getting started requires patience Feb 21, 2010
I have been using my oven for over a year. I love it. At first the I couldn't get the high temperature they said I should get, but I guess that the gasket much take some time to seat well, like a few months. Now I get up to 390, and I still have not removed the protective plastic on the reflectors.
I often cook stuff with great result except for food that need to be cooked fast. I guess that a lot of the flavors leave as smells. I have tried the usual bean, and rice. the most adventures thing I tired was a cheese cake, and it was the best I have ever made, better than a regular oven.
I like it very much. It seems to very simple and well made. I have not had the problem of plastic taste (I guess the manual describes how to deal with that.)
The only problem I have with it now is that I tend to over cook things, because the front glass fogs up and I am too worried about letting the heat out if I open it up to check on things.
I do wish I had a way of agitating things and a way to remove the moisture from the front glass.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Love my solar oven! Oct 25, 2009
I purchased the solar oven after I saw one used on a school garden tour. I was still a little skeptical, but have been pleasantly surprised by how well this oven cooks! I'm in northern California, it's October, and I'm still baking bread, cookies, muffins, I've roasted a chicken, a big ol' butternut squash, pizza, basically anything I'd do in my oven. We had a heat wave in September, and it was so nice to be able to prepare dinner without having to heat up the house! The oven is well constructed, easy to move around, but does get hot. You need oven mitts to remove anything from it, as even opening the door will burn your fingers without some protection. Some days I have it outside, it's sitting there at 350 degrees, and I feel guilty not cooking something! Would be easy to transport to a park, the beach, and if and when THE BIG ONE comes (earthquake), if we lose power for a while, I'll be cooking for the neighborhood.
The oven space isn't as large as a normal oven, so sometimes you have to cook things in batches. But who cares? I plan on using it at my son's school to teach the children about cooking in the garden...I think every home should have one!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Works OK, but doesn't get as hot as advertised Sep 13, 2009
I used my Sun Oven today for the first time. It got up to 80 degrees outside and not a cloud in the sky. It took an hour to get the oven up to 250 degrees, and 2 hours to get it to 310 where it peaked, and would not get any hotter, even though I re-aligned it every 30 minutes. I have serious doubts that it could ever reach 400 degrees, as they advertise.
My dinner was a pork roast with vegetables, and it came out fine. After 6 hours I pulled it out and the roast had an internal temperature of 180 degrees. I could taste just a tiny bit of that new-oven taste, but other than that it was fine; very moist and tender.
As other reviewers mentioned, make sure you get it up to temperature, and then clean it well for the off-gassing procedure, because it really does smell like something toxic, the first time you heat it up.
Make sure you keep all food covered; otherwise the moisture will fog up the glass top, and the temperature will drop considerably.
Overall I'm happy with it, but I don't think it should be touted as capable of attaining a 400 degree temperature, unless they could provide specific instructions for doing so.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Global Sun Oven Review Jul 29, 2009
Global Sun Oven:
I live in California near Los Angeles. I purchased sun oven around two years ago (c. 2007). Weighs 21 lbs according to information on web site. Sturdy, well constructed. Made from oak, aluminum, glass, rubber, and plastic.
My opinion is that the product is somewhat better than the company that makes it claims. It is durable and well-made. Comes with attached thermostat which is big help. Supposedly it is made in USA, and this is another plus to me. Also, I find it easy to use. I find that I can set up the oven in 1 to 2 minutes.
I have cooked pizza, soup, nachos, hot dogs, burritos, etc. Food tastes wonderful, and didn't burn. A few days ago, I made chicken soup, starting with 2 frozen thighs, in a 2 or 3 liter (quart) pot. After around 1.5 hours, the chicken, noodles, and vegetables were well-cooked, and the smell was heavenly! I feel that the soup tasted a little better then if cooked in regular oven or stove. Yesterday, I cooked a pizza and was surprised it didn't burn to aluminum foil, but came off rather easy.
According to my experience, the sun oven cooks food around as fast as a regular oven.
The only caveat is as follows. Oven is not a toy! Use heat pad to take out pots. glass oven cover and cooked items will be VERY HOT! Be sure to watch children around oven. This holds true with any oven.
My daughters (5, 6) and I take oven to park for picnic, and it attracts crowd when we set up.
Frank in CA USA
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Practical Cooker Jun 17, 2009
I've used this brand of solar cooker for about 15 years. We live in the Pacific Northwest, so it goes in the woodshed in winter. But in summer, I bake bread in it and, if we're having a hot lunch, lunch. By this time, my cooker doesn't really seal and the glass and reflectors are scratched. Nevertheless, one of the problems we have is that sometimes the bread gets overcooked. The other is that if we forget to take it in during high winds, it can blow over.
I can't imagine using my stove in the summer heat. The solar cooker's the solution.
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