How to make a solar oven with a pizza box?

Would you like to know How to make a solar oven with a pizza box?

Did you know that you can use a standard pizza box to make a solar oven? Solar ovens are great because they allow food to cook itself by harnessing the energy from the sun. You need some basic supplies and ingredients for your homemade solar oven, but it’s so easy!

This post will tell you how to make one so that you can start saving money today!

What is a pizza box solar oven?

A solar oven is a cooker that’s heated by the sun rather than an electrical source. The main reason you’d want to use this is that it can save you money on your energy bill. Eating food cooked in a solar oven costs next to nothing to make!

The way it works is simple. But before I go ahead and tell you how it works, let me first show you what one looks like.

This uses natural heat from the sun to cook just about anything in just a few hours — which is great if you’re cooking for hundreds of people!

If this isn’t enough time for what you’re cooking, just put more cardboard between the aluminum foil and the glass during construction to insulate better so that more heat stays inside!

You can use this to cook anything, but I’ve found that meat works best. Keep in mind that if you put a bunch of food inside the box, it will take longer — which is great if you want to make something for a party or some other event where people need to eat.

However, it’s faster and easier to use your electric oven for making single meals or light lunches.

All right then! Time for us to get started on making our solar oven.

Here are the supplies we’ll be needing: a pizza box (it needs to be big enough so that a person can stand inside of it), an aluminum tray from a deep freeze, some foil from your pantry drawer, an empty glass or cup, a glass bottle to act as an air hole when it’s inside the box, and some tape to hold everything in place.

The first thing you’ll want to do is take the pizza box and remove everything from its inside. Please keep all of these pieces — we’ll be using them later! Next, you’ll want to cover the bottom with foil so that the aluminum tray will sit on top of this quickly.

Afterward, you can also put one side in, but don’t cover the other sides just yet — we still need room to put in our food to cook! You should then cut out a door at the top that someone can get through (if you make your solar oven large enough like mine). This is where you’ll place the aluminum foil and glass during construction.

Once your pizza box doesn’t have its lid, you can now cover the sides with aluminum foil. Make sure to cut out an area for inserting your glass bottle — remember to do this on both sides of the box!

You might think that if someone isn’t able to open up the tiny bottle right away that it would damage your oven and prevent it from cooking food, but this isn’t a problem because we’re putting in our food long before we start cooking; it!

Afterward, find three small strips of cardboard to use as braces so that everything lines up nicely. Then tape them together using any adhesive so they don’t fall apart. These will need to go on top of the three sides that aren’t covered with aluminum foil.

Now that everything is in place, it’s time to start putting our food inside! This includes anything you’d like to cook but make sure it all fits within your solar oven! It can be a bit small depending on how big of a pizza box you used…

Once everything is in place with enough space between items, fill the bottle with water and put it into the hole you created earlier. The reason for this is that if there were no air holes at all, then the pressure would build up inside of your solar oven when the sun heats it.

This pressure could potentially break your glass or cause other problems — so using an air hole instead will prevent this from happening!

All right, now that our food is ready to be put inside the solar oven, we need to start thinking about how long it will take to cook everything. You can use a very rough estimate by looking at how high in the sky the sun is.

Suppose you’re in the northern hemisphere like I am (I’m in Canada), then during summertime, when it’s around noon. In that case, my solar oven has the most sunlight — but during wintertime, when I wake up early in the morning, around 8 am, my solar oven collects sunlight too.

The more sunlight you have during your cooking session, the less time it will take for things to get done!

On average, though, if there isn’t much of a difference when I’m cooking, then it takes around 4 hours for my solar oven to cook everything inside it. And if there’s a lot of sunlight, then it only takes an hour or two!

If you want more accurate results, though, find out how much energy your solar oven can produce by placing a thermometer inside near where the food would go. Be aware that the information on your thermometer will get damaged by intense heat — but this is fine because you don’t need the thermometer anymore after using it!

Although if you were thinking about inventing something better than what we have here, stop right now because who knows what kind of safety precautions are in place with this thing…

Once you know how much energy is being produced, you can also see how much energy is needed to heat food. Energy must always be conserved, though — so if your solar oven needs 4000 joules of energy for something to get done, then it will take 4000 joules of energy for that thing to cook!

Solar ovens are great because they can cook almost anything during any time of the year, even when there isn’t a lot of sunlight. All you need is enough light from the sun, and you’re set! Enjoy cooking with solar power as I do!

How to make your solar oven with a pizza box ?

Here’s everything you need: 1 pizza box, aluminum foil or shiny side up drinking glass, three drinking glasses that fit into the box, two buttons (big enough to shove at each end of the drinking glasses), paper towels, tape (any adhesive will do), and a pin.

First, assemble your solar oven! You’ll first want to make sure your pizza box has two holes on opposite sides. The first hole should be big enough for fitting your hands inside while the other should be small, like an air hole — remember to cut this out on both sides of the box!

Then place some aluminum foil over both holes, leaving one corner free for taping down later on. Once that’s done, you might start thinking about how long it’ll take your solar oven to cook everything inside. You can use a rough estimate by looking at how high the sun is in the sky during a given the time of day.

If it’s around noon when the sun is up in the northern hemisphere, this would be a good time to cook with a solar oven!

Now fill up two glasses with water and place them next to each other inside of your pizza box, so they fit right into place against one another snugly.

Then add some paper towels on top of the glasses to keep them from breaking whenever you close off our solar oven. Afterward, add an extra glass overtop onto both cups and tape it down securely onto all four sides with aluminum foil or tape! Make sure that it fits snugly against either end of the two inside glasses.

The last step is to add a sun thermometer into your solar oven! I used a drinking glass, but you can also use an aluminum foil-covered drinking glass, a lens with specific material over it, or any other kind of device that senses sunlight energy levels.

Be sure to place this in the middle of your solar oven so that when you close off both ends, it’ll measure how much energy is coming in from the outside world.

Finally — when everything gets lovely and dark inside our box after closing off both ends with buttons… We’re ready for cooking! Wait around 4 hours if there aren’t many clouds during summertime if you wish to cook faster than usual — or

if you don’t need to cook your food that badly, you can wait 8 hours just for the sake of saving energy.

Now that everything’s lovely and dark inside our box, let’s open up one end using our tape hinge! If you have a thermometer installed in there… Don’t worry because it should be okay! Just don’t touch anything or breathe on it because these things will heat up pretty fast!

Once you remove the buttons, slide open one end like a drawer to reveal your brand new solar oven cooking away as we speak! It shouldn’t take too long, depending on how much sunlight is surrounding us.

Remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Okay, now where was I? Oh yeah — remember never to touch or breathe on anything while your solar oven is running because that will cause it to heat up fast!

If you’re making a solar oven for yourself — try checking if everything fits together nicely by closing off one end with the buttons and sliding open the other. If everything goes according to plan, it should turn out fine, so get ready for cooking!

What are some things you want to cook using your new pizza box solar oven? I’m thinking about trying to bake cookies next time… But there are too many options, so good luck creating your solar oven!

Why use a solar oven over an electric stove or gas stove?

Using an electric stove or gas stove for cooking is expensive — especially if you live in the city or suburbs where energy costs are higher. On the other hand, solar ovens can cook food using free sunlight (which always surrounds us).

It’s a better choice than electric stoves because it saves money and reduces your carbon footprint on our planet! By using a solar oven, you aren’t burning up all that electricity as ordinary stoves do; Instead, you’re converting sunlight into heat which cooks everything inside of your pizza box stove.

I hope this article taught you how to make your simple yet effective solar oven out of any old pizza box that’s lying around at home! If you give this project a shot, please send me pictures of your food cooking inside your pizza box so I can post them on my website!

Tips for using the solar oven

-If there’s too much sunlight inside, then the pizza box will overheat and crack under pressure; If there isn’t enough sunlight, then your food won’t be cooked fast enough! I’d suggest finding a balance between having good sunlight but not so much that it’ll burn the sides.

-Try putting your cooking item as close as possible to where you can measure outside temperature using a thermometer.

Keep in mind that cooking usually starts around 2 pm — but if you want it done quicker or slower, use thicker or thinner glasses on top of your pizza box depending on how dark you need them to be for whatever ingredient you’re trying to cook first.

My solar oven does pretty well for slow and steady heat all day long, thanks to the darkness of the pizza box. I love this project because it only requires a few things to work, so good luck making your solar oven if you plan on trying this!

Recipes for what you can cook in the sun!

Casseroles, apple pies, barbecued meat, quiche, gratin dishes, omelets & fried eggs flexible plastic bags as a lid to focus the sun’s rays on food placed below.

-To avoid burning yourself or your oven — never touch anything inside while it’s cooking! Be patient, and it’ll all be worth it in the end… If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

FAQs about how to make a solar oven with a pizza box

Can you cook pizza in a solar oven?

Oh, of course! Just remember to preheat your oven first before you put the pizza inside so it can cook evenly.

Keep in mind that cooking usually starts around 2 pm, so if you want it done quicker or slower, use thicker or thinner glasses on top of your pizza box depending on how dark you need them to be for whatever ingredient you’re trying to cook first.

-I tried making a solar oven out of an old takeout container and…It didn’t work at all?! Try making one with a darker surface (like a black pizza box) and try keeping the sun’s rays as close as possible by using small pieces of glass for your lid; If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

What temperature will the inside of my pizza box get to when used for solar heating?

The temperature inside of your solar oven will be about 235 degrees Fahrenheit when in full sun. The best comparison I can make is to electric stoves that usually cook at 350 degrees F, but with a solar oven — you’re using free sunlight instead of electricity!

Oh, one more thing! To avoid burning yourself or your pizza box, never touch anything inside while it’s cooking! Be patient, and it’ll all be worth it in the end… If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon.

Can I use my pizza box with any food?

Yes, you can, but make sure to place your food as close to the center where the sun shines in through the glass/plastic lids when using them. If there’s too much sunlight inside, then the pizza box will overheat and crack under pressure;

If there isn’t enough sunlight, then your food won’t be cooked fast enough! So find a balance between having good sunlight but not so much that it’ll cook your food too quickly. If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

What does plastic wrap do in a solar oven?

Plastic wrap helps trap moisture which makes your food cook faster! If you don’t have plastic wrap, try using aluminum foil to help speed up the cooking process by reflecting more sunlight into the box. If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

Do solar ovens work in the winter?

Yes, they do! All you have to do is use a blanket or thick, black garbage bag/shower cap over it like this:

Now the only thing you need to worry about is snow on top of your box (but that’s why you use plastic wrap instead of glass; If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!)

How long does it take to cook more in a solar oven?

It takes 40 to 50 minutes when in direct sunlight. If your food is frozen, add 20 more minutes; And if you want to bake something (like cookies), add 30 more minutes because they require a little more energy than everyday cooking!

If not, then try again until you get it right! This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

Where are solar ovens being used the most?

Africa! The sun shines bright all year round there, so that’s why they need it. Oh, one more thing! If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!

Final thoughts on how to make a solar oven with a pizza box

Solar ovens are very simple and easy to make. They can be used in any environment and for various purposes: cooking, deep-frying, baking, and more!

Just remember not to cook anything that produces flames inside your box, or else it’ll catch on fire. If you’re wondering if solar ovens work, look at the picture above because it does!

We hope this article taught you how to make a solar oven with a pizza box which is excellent if you want to save electricity or help other people in need of one by helping build them a new one. If not, then try again until you get it right!

This is a project for someone who has some time on their hands, so be careful during construction and remember: sunlight = power; energy; cooking… Good luck trying if you plan on making this solar oven soon!