I have questions about the CKI and the Solar Flame Parabolic Cookers

by Rick Freitas
(WA)

Hi Nathan,

I'm trying to decide between the Solar Flame and the Steel (CKI). We live in WA State but plan to eventually winter in Tracy CA. We'll want to transport the cooker back and forth.

Which one would be the more durable in your opinion? (could be transported via van or camper)

Would breaking down of the Solar Flame in your opinion be a deal breaker for yearly transport?

I see that the CKI is about 1/3 less power than the Solar Flame. What does this mean for usability? We want to fry eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and sometimes use a pressure cooker.

Lastly, are you planning on any holiday sales on either of these cookers?

Thanks
Rick Freitas



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Greetings Rick,

Thank you for your email and for visiting our website.

I am sorry to say that for the moment the Solar Flame is not available due to some manufacturer issues that we
are trying to resolve. We hope to have it some time soon though.

As for the CKI(French made) we also have some slight issues with it as far as soundness and durability at this moment.
Some of the joints are not holding as tightly as they should and so it has been having a tendency to not retain
its form and function as it aught to.
The manufacturer of this one is also working to remedy this issue.

Now, the CK200, the sister cooker to the CKI and made by the same French Manufacturer, it does not have the same issues as the CKI and many customers are very satisfied with it .The CK200 is also the only parabolic on the market that actually works based upon the feature and functionality of a compact, portable and easy to assemble and disassemble design. In other words, it was made to be compact and easily transported.
CK200

Both the CKI and the CK200 are of the same size and dimensions and potency.
And you are right,the Solar Flame is more potent since it has a larger surface(capture) area.

The Solar Flame parabola (dish) though will not disassemble easilly like the CK200, so you would have to transport it as is, or take quite a bit of time to undo all of the small screws to take each individual petal off.
This would be the case with the American made SunPower Parabolic cooker as well.Sunpower

The Solar Burner is the only other large dish parabolic we have and that would have the potency to deep fry, pressure cook, pop popcorn etc.
It too is transportable only as a fully assembled parabola or it can be partially disassembled for such as well with some effort. (easier to do since it has only six panels)





I, personally, find no real issues with transporting any of the larger,less-easily-disassembled parabolic cookers. I just strap them onto the roof of my van using a ratchet strap and they travel quite well since they are aerodynamic. Of course the Solar Burner is better off traveling this way since its parabola is more rigid and thick.
You cans see a video of how I do this here on this page: Solar Burner


The smaller parabolic cookers (CKI, CK200 and SunPower Cooker) can cook very well.
They can fry, grill, cook pots of corn on the cob, potatoes, stews, chilis etc., but when it comes to deep frying or pressure cooking they are a bit slower and not quite as effective since they do not have the larger parabola surface area, Nevertheless they do cook quite well.


I hope this is helpful information, but I fear it might have caused you to have to reanalyze which cooker to go with, especially based on the unavailability of a couple of the cookers.


I hope I didn't complicate matters.


Nathan
Admin.