best solar cooker to suit a rural family in africa.

by collin nyabadza
(montreal,canada)

Hie !

I was just browsing your website and it has much interesting stuff.I live in Canada in Montreal and I wish to buy a big,strong and durable solar cooker for my mom in Zimbabwe.Can you therefore advise me on which one to buy.I need something that she can use to cook family meals so as to refrain from cutting down trees.If it is a success i wish to use that as way to conscietise the community to try solar cookers in a bid to save the environment.Also let me know how much it costs.I need something easy and effective to use.thank you.




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Welcome Collin,

Thank you for the compliment on our site.

As to your question, there are a number of cookers that can work for your mother and her family, but it is more than likely they would need more than one solar cooker since not many solar cookers are very large.
The only large one that is designed to feed a village is the Villager Sun Oven and it is quite expensive, but it could provide solar cooked meals for many people over many years.

Usually religious, civic or private organizations help to fund the purchase of a Villager for use in the small villages and towns of Africa, Asia and South America where they are much needed.

If money is not a big problem for you, you might consider purchasing a solar oven such as the Global Sun Oven, along with a less expensive Hot Pot Solar Panel Cooker and in this way it would increase the capacity for your mother to solar cook larger quantities of food.
Both of these Solar Cookers are considered to be two of the best and are very high quality and should last for years if they are taken care of.

Shipping to Africa can be quite expensive, but if you travel to visit your mother you can take them with you as baggage like many people have done.

If money is a concern for you then you might look at building a homemade solar box or panel cooker using one of the many designs available on this page Solar Cooker Plans

The only problem with most home made solar cookers is that they wear out and fall apart more easily due to exposure and much use, thus you would have to constantly "re-make" your solar cooker.

For information on organizations already working in Zimbabwe, please visit Solar Cooking in Zimbabwe

I hope this information can help you some, and do continue looking through the site for more helpful information as we are always trying to add more to help people learn how to be more effective solar cooks.

Nathan Parry
Admin.