Sunny times...

I have found the perfect summer and winter spot to set up my SunCook solar oven - on the wooden deck outside our bedroom Happy Doors.  The side wall protects it from being blown away by the wind, and it is not too far from the kitchen - certainly no steps to have to carry boiling hot pots up...

The perfect sheltered spot for my solar oven

It's become so normal to use my solar oven that it's been a while since I last posted what I have cooked in it.  So I thought I'd share a few - just a few - of the goodies that I have cooked in my solar oven this summer...

Solar baked Christmas cakes

Firstly, I made our Christmas cakes again - not only for the family, but for every neighbour in our area :)  I think I made 14 in total LOL

RMan seriously enjoys a solar roast chicken...

Solar cooked whole chicken

...which literally falls apart when it's cooked.  All the liquid you see in the pan is the goodness that has come out of the chicken - absolutely no water was added to the pot.

Solar cooked chickens are so tender that
they just fall apart.  All the liquid in the
pot has come from the chicken -
concentrated goodness that makes an
excellent instant gravy

I love that my oven is big enough to fit not just one dish in, but two or three, depending on what I am cooking.  Here I made a pot of ostrich mince sauce for spaghetti bolognaise, beetroot, and a pot of tomatoes, from the garden - I always keep a pot of cooked tomatoes in the fridge - to make a quick sauce, add to a soup, or to blitz up into a dipping sauce.

Here you can see the pots as they went into the oven... 

The oven is large enough to multi-task -
beetroot, tomatoes and a pot of
ostrich mince sauce for spaghetti
bolognaise

... and here are the finished products :)

Cooked by the sun with no hassle

Following my honesty policy on this blog, I have always maintained that it is not possible to burn anything in the solar oven.  And, as far as pots of food, that stands true.

But recently we experienced a heatwave.  At 5.22p.m. in the afternoon it was still 38oC outside...

The temperature outside at 5.22p.m. was
38oC ...

...(and thanks to our double glazing) it was a comfortable 27.5oC inside the house.

Thanks to our double glazing, the temperature
inside at the same time of day

I had placed some halved tomatoes into the oven earlier to make sun-dried tomatoes.  I was so comfortable inside that I clean forgot about the tomatoes, and they burnt!

Oh no!!  My sun-dried tomatoes are burnt to
 sinder...!

To a crisp!  As you can see on the thermometer, the temp inside, even with the lid propped open, was at almost 150oC - at 5.30p.m.!!!

A peek at the thermometer - and this is with
the lid propped slight ajar to allow the
tomatoes to dry...

Far too hot to sun dry anything...

So, lesson learnt.  If ever I sun dry anything again, I must keep my eye on the internal temperature.  Until RMan gets round to making me a solar dryer, that is...

That is very high on my wish list.  Very, very high LOL

Gently, gently... (part 2)

Again, I start this post by saying I am not trying to offend anyone - these are merely my thoughts and ramblings.  And my feedback on the have / have not lifestyle we have adopted.

My deep pondering of last week has led to thoughts on how else this planet came to be the position that it now finds itself.

Between the extreme temperatures, droughts / fires last year in America, and in Australia this year, as well as the blizzard which Boston, USA experienced at the end of last week and which it has not experience with such severity since the 1970's, I don't think that there are many out there who will deny that something is definitely screwy with our weather.  Global warming?  Extreme weather cycles?  Who knows.  But something is out of kilter.

Whilst writing my previous post I caught myself thinking what on Earth are we, the inhabitants of Earth, doing?  And doing in the so-called name of technology.  In the name of inventiveness.  In the name of saving time and effort?  In the name of economics?  In the name of self-indulgence? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of new inventions.  But those inventions which actually benefit mankind, not the ones which are basically just trendy gadgets with a limited lifespan and which take up huge resources in their manufacture.

Take China for example.  They have no qualms in "copying" an item which carries European / USA patents - guess the logistics of patenting something in China is over the top?!  But, why do they need to copy the item, if it is already available? Because they can make it cheaper?  And then flood the market with their "Made in China" goods, which seldom match the quality of the original?

But, could this not be the result of the chaos which exists today?  The seemingly worldwide trend of "I must have the latest"?

For with all our mod-cons, all our time saving devices, all our fashion trends - are we any better off?  Are we cleverer - or lazier?  Are we able to save time - and what are we saving it for?  We're not doing more than we used to.  Are we?

Image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)

What we are doing is saying, because I have a machine which can perform the task I need done, I can sit back and relax - "it's tiring putting washing into a machine, then shoving it in a tumble dryer or hanging it up and taking it down, ironing (well, some of you may do so - I don't LOL) it before putting it away".  Our parents (I'm showing my age here LOL) didn't have our modern gadgets to make their day easier, but they didn't do a whole lot less than we are doing now.  They had to fill the machine with water, allow it it agitate before draining it, and refilling it with fresh water to rinse the clothes.  Then they put the clothes through a mangle to squeeze them, before hanging them up on the line to dry.  No tumble dryers. 

But, even with all these wonder machines, we don't sit back and relax.  Why?  What are we filling our lives with busy-ness for?

Fracking - draining the very last reserves out of
Mother Earth

And, apart from our excessive consumption and hysterical mass production, are we not also polluting the ground and waterways with our chemical use - be they for :

 ~ pest prevention and fertilizing of crops;
 ~ for household "cleaning";
 ~ additives to foodstuffs to "make them last longer / stay fresher";
 ~ extracting, at great depth, the very last that the earth has to offer us;
 ~ or even the factories which are expelling them into the very air and water which makes our planet inhabitable by not only us homo sapiens (who are basically just advanced forms of animals, and in some cases not so advanced either LOL) but also by all the creatures who co-exist alongside us - or try to.

And as for fashion trends - is that not something which has been invented by manufacturers / tailors / clothing chain stores in order to sell more of their goods.  Why on God's planet, should it be important to have the latest cell phone / wear the latest fashion every season / year? What is wrong with last years cell phone / clothing.  Or the year before that?  Has it become the "thing" because if you don't keep up to date, you're not a successful business person?  And ditto for having the newest model vehicle or the most up-to-date appliances in your home / office.  Does it all boil down to "what do / will people think of me"?  It's crazy!

Why and when did we adopt consumer driven lifestyles - and, judging from reactions visible on the TV on far too many nights - allow that to dictate our feelings of happiness?  I mean, queuing up overnight outside a store in order to secure a "must-have" book or the latest electronic gadget as it's made available.  I wonder if those people have ever considered the implications of the importance they are attaching to those items, which will be so readily discarded when the next model makes its' appearance.

When did we humans lose the ability to experience authentic happiness?  Happiness from our roots.  From the ground up?  Happiness that we feel within us on a daily basis?  And happiness which is due to something other than an item we've purchased which makes us "feel good"?  Was it when we sold ourselves to laud the growth of economics?  Are we guilty of encouraging economies to expand beyond our basic needs?  Or have the corporations instilled this "want" in us through their advertising campaigns or movies through their high-faluting set dressing?

The race to sell more / have more / earn more?  Has that caused the chaos, disgruntled "poor me" attitude which is prevalent in society today, and the disregard for the long term consequences of our thoughtless actions.

I am fortunate because RMan and I have been able to "step back".  In November this year we will have been married for 33 years.  And at this precise moment in time we own less electrical / electronic gadgets than we did on our wedding day.  The some total of our "must have" items are:

a TV and local pay-to-view transmitter - we very rarely ( once or twice year) eat out, and we never go to movies / theatre.
A fridge.
A washing machine - powered by the genny once or twice a week.
A couple of side lights.
A hairdryer which is briefly powered by the genny once or twice a week in winter.  Summer - the hair just drips dry LOL
A charger for our cell phones and a computer.
And RMan has a couple of vital handyman tools.

I certainly don't miss a microwave (a pot over boiling water does the job more than adequately), an electric kettle or toaster (our 2 plate caravan LPG stove performs both those functions), the hated iron, heaters, air conditioners, ceiling fans, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, tumble dryer, etc...  To be honest, the only "gadget" I do miss is a stand alone freezer - but our current solar set-up does not make provision for that 365 24-hours-a-day energy guzzler, and the contents of it will not understand a couple of overcast days ( = losing all power in the middle of the night when our battery storage falls too low).  Would be nice to freeze our excess garden produce though...

Simple non-electric kitchen implements -
they actually give me time - for myself :)

I revel in using my eco-friendly kitchen implements - a handheld beater / whisk, an egg timer which uses sand to tick by the seconds / minutes, a manual coffee plunger, a wooden orange / lemon squeezer, hand operated grinders, my ice trays which fit in the purpose designed section of my freezer, my precious solar oven and even my hand operated kitchen food processor, to name but a few - because they all actually give me more time!  And they reduce my use and demand of electricity.

My manual food processor - it works a treat :)

They give me time to dream, think, plan - to give of myself in order to create.

And these hand operated items are a damned sight easier to clean than similar modern time saving gadgets for which one sometimes almost needs a degree in order to dismantle.

Sure, those other appliances I could not run on our current limited solar power, but I don't miss them.  Not a single one on a single day.  And I wouldn't go back to "normal" in order to do so either.  I love the simplicity of our lifestyle, and can't comprehend why it took us so long to adopt it / revert back.  I feel somehow free-er.  Does that make sense? :)

A home grown salad - there is nothing to beat the taste

Similarly growing our own vegetables gives both Rman and I the assurance that what we are eating does not contain anything other than the water it took to encourage them to grow.  Even if they have a nibble out here, and a munch out there...  Becoming more and more self-sufficient can only make us wiser, more contented people.  However that self-sufficiency has a limitation for we both have a problem with killing animals - even if they are reared for consumption.  We're too soft LOL

Local knowledge is priceless, and ancient local knowledge even more so.  As the San people today keep their heritage alive through their story telling whilst living by choice in their harsh desert environment, so, too, should we be aware that future generations will be lost without our safeguarding the knowledge of their roots, their beginnings and their indebtedness to this planet.  Do we take the time to remember and to consider how to preserve all that knowledge in our hurly-burly days? 

We need to be aware of the consequences - our eco-footprint - which we are leaving behind for future generations to handle.  And we need to relearn how to treat ourselves, and our Earthly Home, in a gentler way.

After all, what is the rush?

Protecting my solar oven from any welcome rain

I love my solar oven - I reckon you all know that :)

But, RMan and I aren't necessarily getting younger, and having recently discovered that I have an early touch of arthritis in my right hand, shoulder and knee, I am finding it more and more difficult to move heavy things.

And, at 13kgs (22 1/2 lbs), picking up the solar oven from where it sits at ground level in order to bring it indoors is not the most comfortable experience.  In addition, having it cluttering up the floor in our open plan lounge / dining room has been irritating - and dangerous at night.

Now, the instructions told me that my SunCook solar oven is not waterproof and should not be left outside in the rain.

The cover closes onto the inner lip

 This is because the cover closes onto an inner lip...

The inner lip slopes down towards the glass oven lid

 The inner lip slopes down slightly to the glass lid / oven door...

And below the glass oven door is the heat seal
which is loosely glued to the interior reflecting
walls of the oven and the inner lip which the lid
closes onto

And the glass lid / oven door sits on the heat seal below the glass.  The heat seal is not fixed in a waterproof kind of way, so any liquid (in this case rainwater) will seep into the insulating lining of the oven.

And, as I discovered when I accidentally left the oven outside one rainy day a few weeks ago, sodden insulation does not encourage maximum heat within the oven, because it seems as though that sodden wetness affects the temperature one can achieve within the oven...

Follow instructions, Dani.  You know that... :)

Ahem - I didn't!

So, after managing to successfully drain out the excess water, I had to come up with a solution as schlepping the oven indoors after every use is completely unnecessary...

57cm Weber braai cover

The SunCook's footprint is 59(l) X 56(w) X 29cms (h).  And the Weber braai cover is to fit a 57cm braai.  Obviously, I deduced, it will be slightly larger than the braai.  So I purchased a cover at our local Co-Op, rushed it home, and tried it on for size.

My waterproof solar oven :)

A perfect fit :)  Slightly baggy, but rather that than too tight.

I'm not too sure if the seam of the cover is that waterproof, so I am angling it away from that vulnerable part of the oven, and tucking the excess bit of the cover under the oven so that it can't blow away.

Now - I can happily leave my oven outside on the patio where I use it.

"Mr Golden Sun, please shine down on me..."

(The above title above is taken from the lyrics of the Barney & Friends song "Mr Sun")

I've been feeling under the weather for the past couple of weeks.  Dunno what it is, but I am constantly tired.  So tired, all I want to do is sleep.  Me - sleeping during daylight hours????  I've given it some thought and come to the conclusion that perhaps it is just my body spewing out what it had to absorb last year.  What with the financial strain we experienced, then the sale of our home of 18 years, and the packing up, and the living on a building site for 4 months, part of which was during winter, and then the unpacking, plus preparing for, and hosting, house guests over Christmas, I guess it feels it has cause to protest.  So, in the past couple of weeks I've given in to it when it required.  No point in pushing it beyond it's limits - it's the only body I have LOL

But - one less strain I can share is this.

Sun drying tomatoes in my SunOK solar
oven

My SunOK solar ovens have finally arrived.  No thanks to DHL nor SA Customs, but that is a l-o-n-g story of ineptitude, and inefficient and totally unprofessional service and I won't bore you with it.   Suffice it to say that they are finally here, and I can now take a deep breath :)

I am so excited to be able to share the experience of cooking with the power of the sun.  And nothing but the sun.  Cooking in an oven in which food cannot burn.  Where the food prepared in it is full of the goodness of that food, and has not evaporated in the excessive steam of normal cooking procedures.

After filling the orders which were placed last year I have a limited number of units left from this consignment.  I have imported both the Tropical model which looks like the pic below...

... and the Premium model.

Premium model

Both can be used in South Africa.  However, with the added side mirror and the little sundial on the Premium model, one is able to capture more of the sun's power, and also pre-position the oven thereby doing away with the need to re-position it during the cooking process.

If you are interested in becoming less reliant on Escom, of preparing healthier meals for your family, and reducing your eco-footprint on this planet, then a solar oven is just what you need.  Not one kilowatt hour will be used, nor charged for, whilst you are cooking in a solar oven.  There is sometimes a small amount of stove top preparation, but compared to the energy guzzling electric or gas stove, it is minuscule in the grand scheme of things.

Please - contact me on : dani at ecofootprint dot co dot za and I'll be more than happy to let you have the details of how you can acquire one by return e-mail.

And then soon perhaps you'll also be discovering the joy of making solar cooked bread, and biscuits, and cakes, and soups, roast chickens, lamb, beef and hams, vegetables and desserts.  Even sun-drying excess produce from your garden.  It's so easy in a solar oven.

Mouth-wateringly tender, tasty and healthier food.  I kid you not.

In for a penny,,,

Following my last posting on our solar panel upgrade and installation, I thought I should give you a peek into our new power room, which is located in the southern side (the cooler side in the Southern hemisphere) of our *new* garage :)  Our old setup with the 4 X 130Ah Deep Cycle batteries did what was required of it i.e. run the alarm when we were not here, and kept our little bar fridge more or less in working order.  But the batteries were too damaged to provide us with anything like the power we needed now that we are living here permanently.  

Inadequate power set up, comprising of
4 X 130Ah Deep cycle batteries,
distance from the solar panels to the
inverter was too far (= loss of energy
capture) and the Phocos 40 amp solar power
charge controller which was too weak to handle
the job we gave it. Seriously, we melted the thing!

We were using roughly 15.5 KwH / day in our town house or 465 KwH / month. That was costing us ZAR1.18 / KwH or ZAR625.52 / month (incl. V.A.T.).

With that in mind I took a snap of the Owl electricity monitor at exactly three months use (to the minute LOL - no, I'm not OCD - I just wanted to give you an apples for apples comparison, and "to the minute" was exactly when we arrived on the farm on the 29th June 2012.)

Our Owl shows that we :
are currently using 139 watts of power at 20.44h
the internal temperature is 16.5 oC
- and - most importantly,
we have used 150.88 KwH since we
arrived on the farm on the 29th June 2012

Here, being more aware of what power we have available, and ensuring that everything unnecessary is switched off / unplugged when it is not required / being used (that includes your iPhone charger, RMan! ;) ), we have, via our solar power, consumed 150.88 KwH in three months, or 50.29 KwH / month.  Which would have cost us ZAR59.34 month.  And 50.29KwH is roughly 10.54% of our normal monthly electricity bill.

Our Cotek 1000 watt inverter, although small,
is sufficient for now, but in hindsight we should've
purchased a 2000watt inverter.  All green lights =
input load is sufficient, battery charge is sufficient
and output load is good :)

With that calculation out of the way, I can now tell you that, at our current usage, our solar panels will be paid off, via our savings on our electricity bill, in 74 months (6.18 years) without any further electricity price hikes being taken into account.  And, bearing in mind that Escom wants to whack South Africans with a 15.11% price hike for the 2012 / 2013 period, I am hazarding a very safe bet that our panels will definitely be paid off faster than the 6.18 years.  From that moment on our power is "free-er" :)

As you can see from our new
Outback charge controller,
we currently have an input of
74.2 volts (8.7Amps)
and the output is 13.5 volts
(40.2Amps).
At 14.4 volts (the way I
understand it) the batteries "float"
i.e. they automatically equalize their
charge. You can also see the solar
panels have generated 1.8 KwH thus
far today (12.30p.m.) and the batteries
are currently being charged with 540 watts 

As far as replacement costs are concerned, the solar panels have a guaranteed lifetime of 25 years, and the 6 X 2volt batteries for 7 -10 years (depending on how you take care of them (top up the water when required, watch the output load, etc)).  When it comes time to replace these items, their costs will, hopefully, have come down quite substantially.  Solar panels currently cost ZAR11 - 14 / watt in South Africa for poly crystalline panels.  Apparently. those in the solar panel manufacturing industry are aiming to get the cost of solar panels down to below ZAR8.20 ($1.00) / watt!  

Our new solar power wiring diagram:
this photo illustrates how our solar panels
are connected to the charge controller
(not shown), and the 2 volt batteries
are connected to the Outback charge controller
and the Cotek inverter.  The yellow and orange
screw caps (floater things) on top of the
batteries indicate the health (water level) of the
batteries.

What we purchased was this:

5 X 135watt solar panels
6 X 1188Ah 2volt batteries which we have linked in series to give us 12 volt
1 X Outback 60Amp charge controller
and add all that to our existing 1000watt Cotek inverter 

We subsequently returned the 3 X 85watt solar panels which we had purchased for our neighbour, and which he didn't want, and exchanged them for another 1 X 135watt panel, which we are going to use in conjunction with the 4 X 130Ah Deep cycle batteries and a water pump - to occasionally, and when necessary, move the water from our rain water barrels next to the house, up to water storage tanks which will be located at the top of our property.  More on rain water storage later...

Our 6 X 1188Ah 2 volt batteries are wired in
series to make up the 12 volts we require.
Please note that this is how we were advised
to wire up our batteries.  Please check with
your local solar power agent regarding your
specific wiring requirements

Now, I realize that not everyone can afford to lay out a fair whack of money in order to get off the grid.  But, by taking baby-steps, savings are possible through investing in some solar powered lights - both for internal and external use), unplugging all those chargers which come with all those fancy new must have gadgets, switching off your power hungry hot water geysers and only switching them on for 1/2 hour prior to using them (or, if you can afford it, changing to a solar powered geyser), and ditching your electric stove / oven and using the sun to cook 95% of your meals :)

Which reminds me, my Sun Cook solar ovens order is on it's way from Portugal, so, not too much longer to all of you who have ordered one... :)

Anyone for solar?

B-i-g news.

I have been given distribution rights for the solar oven I use - the Sun Cook® which is manufactured by SunOK in Portugal.

And - because of that - I can now offer a Sun Cook® solar oven to anyone in South Africa who would like to own one.

I am so thrilled - I am passionate about my solar oven, and, if I can share the joy - what more could I ask for?

There are two Sun Cook® models available - the Premium and the Tropical.

SunOK Premium model

The Sun Cook® Premium has an additional side mirror and a small sundial, but it is intended for use in the Northern Hemisphere where the sun's angle is not as ideal.  I (finally) received the Premium model, but have only used the side mirror attachment once or twice.

The Tropical model -
it has the same specs as
the Premium model, but
excludes the side mirror
and sundial

So, I am recommending, and stocking, the Sun Cook® Tropical model.

I can, however, order the Sun Cook® Premium, if you require it - but there will be a delay of 6 - 8 weeks from order to delivery.

If you live in the Southern African region and you are interested in lowering your eco-footprint, Escom power costs, creating delicious and nutritious meals, please - drop me an email to:

dani @ ecofootprint . co . za (copy and paste to your mail programme and remove the spaces :)

and I'll give you the costings.  But, I guarantee you won't find it cheaper anywhere else, because I am not in it to make a huge profit like others, I just want to share the passion / pleasure / lower electricity bills :)

Oh, and by the way, I'm including a free CD copy of my "Introduction to solar cooking.pdf" and "Free from the Sun" solar recipes with every solar oven purchased.

Choc cherry biscuits cooking in my Sun Cook® 
solar oven :)