I'm an proponent for Solar Cookers: especially the thermal box ones. Disasters come with clear sunny days. Having a 3x4 ft (8 inch deep) cardboard box inside another with insulation and turkey cooking bag film taped as the 'glass' will sanitize your dishes, water and cook some foods without extra fuel.
I'm always yabbering on about specific temps for 'denaturing protein' vs Pasteurization vs carmelizing sugars. And so encourage https://solarcooking.fandom.com/wiki/Integrated_Cooking_Method with "thermal boxes" since we don't use the term "hot boxing" any more.
Then Battlefield Radio responded:
" Solar cooking deserves a place in the emergency kitchen conversation because fuel is often the hidden constraint. People stock rice, beans, canned goods, and dehydrated meals, but forget that heat has to come from somewhere. On clear days, a solar box cooker gives you another layer, especially for heating water, cooking slower foods, and reducing propane or butane use.
The one caution I would add is the same one from the article: temperature still matters. A solar cooker is useful, but it should not become another “looks hot enough” tool. If we are talking about food safety, water treatment, or sanitizing dishes, I’d still want a thermometer involved and I’d want people to understand the limits of their specific setup. Sun angle, cloud cover, wind, outside temperature, box design, and cook time all matter.
But your larger point is exactly right. Emergency cooking should not depend on one fuel source. Stove, grill, rocket stove, stored fuel, and solar all have a place. Solar cookers are especially valuable because they are quiet, renewable, low-tech, and do not burn through stored fuel on the days when the weather cooperates."
Perhaps it is time for changing, and make Passive Solar Aggressive again.
The worst El Nino year I remember was 1993. Maryland has over a month of temps above 90 degrees, and zero rain. Also that year, Iowa was so inundated with rain it practically was a new Great Lake.
El Nino is what we hope for in the Colorado River drainage-- above average snowpack on the Western Slope of the Rockies is likely to bring great runoff to fill the River and the reservoirs and keep Glen Canyon Dam/ Lake Powell and Hoover/ Lake Mead above dead pool.
I was present in 1983 and working on the river when the above average snowpack melted off fast in hot weather and rushed into the Colorado system - the Lake goes up fast. We were calculating how many minutes we would have to get out of Lee's Ferry (road access to the Colorado River and boat launch for Grand Canyon River Trips) if the lake did go over the top of the dam. It was an exciting year.
A couple good El Nino years like that and the Colorado system would be in good shape again. C'mon Mom Nature
Cheers team. A super el nino would be a relief to the drenched la nina north of NZ. Goodbye easterlies hello cleansing westerlies. Down here we love el nino for its brilliant clear skies and prevailing souwesters. Already prepped more than texas during the last dirty la nina season that flooded our cities and farmland, and tipped over our rural trees.
No panic required, and sure, keep stocks topped in case.
Wow and I thought the only thing affecting weather was humans and cows!
I'm an proponent for Solar Cookers: especially the thermal box ones. Disasters come with clear sunny days. Having a 3x4 ft (8 inch deep) cardboard box inside another with insulation and turkey cooking bag film taped as the 'glass' will sanitize your dishes, water and cook some foods without extra fuel.
https://www.solarcookers.org/resources/download
I'm always yabbering on about specific temps for 'denaturing protein' vs Pasteurization vs carmelizing sugars. And so encourage https://solarcooking.fandom.com/wiki/Integrated_Cooking_Method with "thermal boxes" since we don't use the term "hot boxing" any more.
Then Battlefield Radio responded:
" Solar cooking deserves a place in the emergency kitchen conversation because fuel is often the hidden constraint. People stock rice, beans, canned goods, and dehydrated meals, but forget that heat has to come from somewhere. On clear days, a solar box cooker gives you another layer, especially for heating water, cooking slower foods, and reducing propane or butane use.
The one caution I would add is the same one from the article: temperature still matters. A solar cooker is useful, but it should not become another “looks hot enough” tool. If we are talking about food safety, water treatment, or sanitizing dishes, I’d still want a thermometer involved and I’d want people to understand the limits of their specific setup. Sun angle, cloud cover, wind, outside temperature, box design, and cook time all matter.
But your larger point is exactly right. Emergency cooking should not depend on one fuel source. Stove, grill, rocket stove, stored fuel, and solar all have a place. Solar cookers are especially valuable because they are quiet, renewable, low-tech, and do not burn through stored fuel on the days when the weather cooperates."
Perhaps it is time for changing, and make Passive Solar Aggressive again.
The worst El Nino year I remember was 1993. Maryland has over a month of temps above 90 degrees, and zero rain. Also that year, Iowa was so inundated with rain it practically was a new Great Lake.
I remember the last two El Nino's
That is to say I remember the hype in the media, I don't remember anything else of consequence about them
El Nino is what we hope for in the Colorado River drainage-- above average snowpack on the Western Slope of the Rockies is likely to bring great runoff to fill the River and the reservoirs and keep Glen Canyon Dam/ Lake Powell and Hoover/ Lake Mead above dead pool.
I was present in 1983 and working on the river when the above average snowpack melted off fast in hot weather and rushed into the Colorado system - the Lake goes up fast. We were calculating how many minutes we would have to get out of Lee's Ferry (road access to the Colorado River and boat launch for Grand Canyon River Trips) if the lake did go over the top of the dam. It was an exciting year.
A couple good El Nino years like that and the Colorado system would be in good shape again. C'mon Mom Nature
Cheers team. A super el nino would be a relief to the drenched la nina north of NZ. Goodbye easterlies hello cleansing westerlies. Down here we love el nino for its brilliant clear skies and prevailing souwesters. Already prepped more than texas during the last dirty la nina season that flooded our cities and farmland, and tipped over our rural trees.
No panic required, and sure, keep stocks topped in case.