Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You know it's coming. Those zombies will be all over the place and after a long day of shooting and surviving, what's the one thing that can make it all better? Fresh-baked cookies out of your solar oven. I've done ginger snaps and oatmeal and they're both delicious and easy. If you're serious about survivalism, this should be in your arsenal. Sure you can risk going out and getting bitten by zombies as you collect firewood, but why not use something that doesn't require fuel nor electricity? And before the zombie apocalypse, this little gem of an oven will brighten your life. Want cookies but don't want to heat up the house during the scorching summer? Try the solar oven. I've also boiled pasta, baked bread, and baked delicious garlic knot rolls. For cookies, you can stack the racks 3 high, but they just don't cook as well underneath. For the heat loss that can occur when you open the door, I recommend one rack at a time. It gets done much faster. For me the time different was maybe 5 minutes more than a conventional oven at most. Pasta took a long time, but I didn't let the water boil before dumping it in. On baking bread, you may have to wipe the glass door free of moisture occasionally, as the steam will cause a temperature drop. I also recommend you use the darkest bread pans you've got. On the oven itself, if you're baking anything complex, like bread, you've got to watch the sky for clouds. Anything blocking the sun for too long and you'll have a drop in temperature. It's rated to reach 360-400 degrees in ideal conditions. So far I've only seen it up to 350, but I usually baked in the afternoon. I've heard it works very well in the winter too, but I've yet to be able to try it. I'll certainly update when I do. I recommend the accessories package because it comes with everything you need to get your cooking done. I baked the cookies and rolls on parchment paper, as the oven is a bit small for traditional pans. Also, when adjusting the oven for the sun, I recommend turning it just a little ahead of ideal so as the sun moves you get maximum heat before you have to readjust. It's very compact and would be an easy item to take camping. I just like the idea of knowing that if there was ever a disaster-type situation in my area (seeing the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the east is what convinced me to prepare) I'll have an oven to get some baking done. And since you can boil water, those no-water-heater baths you might have to take in a disaster situation could at least be a bit warmer. Also you can sterilize water for drinking (the kit comes with a WAPI). The reason I prefer this solar oven to others is it's actually an oven. Many others I researched were big mirror dishes, which means you can cook things like you would on a stove top, but not bread and cookies, not really. This thing can basically do anything your conventional oven can do except deep-frying. I can save the deep fry for the non-solar days. Sure, the oven isn't as useful on rainy days, but if you couple it with wood-burning or propane cooking you can make supplies last longer. Okay, are you convinced? Go pick one up. Save on power or save yourself in a disaster.