Jim LaJoie: A Cooker for All Seasons

Jim LaJoie presents his All Season Solar Cooker and his philiosophy of cooker design and promotion. AllSeasonSolarCooker.com

[@DavidD6969]

I made one if the cardboard cooker from the plans on line and loved it ..I couldn't get the plactic board here in the Philippines. So then made the 60 40 global box cooker its been great we have been using it for 4 years now .It saves me . Before every three months we use one bottle LPG gas now about every 11 months using the solar cooker 👍 So a very Big thanks to Mr Jim for getting me started..

[@SolarCookingMuseum]

Thanks I forwarded your comment to Jim!

[@lethaleefox6017]

Instead of strings to add stability...grommeted holes with bamboo camping weiner sticks... and a set of rubber stops made from garden hose, innertube rubber or something similar...like fiberglass reflector rods, but lighter and cheaper for lengths 2-3 feet....

[@francostacy7675]

Will it boil water on a sunny day? Are there any tests that show the temp this cooker can reach? Temp of using no bag, verses a bag, verses the two glass bowls? I have no doubt this will cook but for clean water it must boil the water so I am seeking WILL is boil water and IF will boil water, using the same method, what outside temp will it no longer boil water

[@SolarCookingMuseum]

Yes, it will boil water, ideally the pot you boil the water in will be enclosed with a heat trap such as he uses the oven bag for, or glass bowls as you suggest. BTW, water does not need to come to a full boil to be pasteurized, it only needs to reach 162oF, or 72oC. Most may recall directions in scout manuals that require boiling for a set time--greater if at higher altitudes, but that isn't necessary if you have a thermometer or a WAPI (water pasteurization indicator) which will show when water has reached those temps and is then safe to drink. Boiling is fine as it will show the water has exceeded pasteurization temps, if no other means of measuring the temps are available.

[@francostacy7675]

If that is true about water then why does the CDC recommend a hard boil for 1 minute and 3 minutes above 6500 elevation? Our town always recommends boiling if a water line breaks. Canning food usda requires boiling bath for high acid food and pressure canning for low acid and pressure canning takes it above boiling temp. Medical devices are often sanitized by steam which is from water that is vaporizing, so why all this emphasis on boiling and steam of bacteria can be killed much lower temps @@SolarCookingMuseum

[@SolarCookingMuseum]

You will have to ask the CDC, buy my guess is, they emphasize boiling because it is the simplest way to know that the water has reached *at least* the proper temperature for pasteurizing water. Likewise scout manuals and other literature direct people to boil water so there is no need for a thermometer which might not be reliably calibrated, or a WAPI which many people are not familiar with.

[@francostacy7675]

@@SolarCookingMuseum I’m not familiar with a wapi either. Please explain

[@SolarCookingMuseum]

I recommend the Solar Cookers International Wiki, solarcooking.org, for researching all this. Here's their article on the WAPI - solarcooking.fandom.com/wiki/Water_Pasteurization_Indicator