Taste Test Tuesday: Alternative Cooking Cookie Cook-Off

For the alternative cooking class I taught last month, I tried 3 different ways of baking cookies without the electric oven.

I used these methods:  the sun oven, a homemade reflector screen solar oven, a camp stove oven.  In the past I have also used a cardboard box oven (also known as applebox oven), and they have turned out great that way too, but today I will be highlighting the 3 methods I used for the class.

I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the red checkered BHG cookbook, but instead of chocolate chips I used M&M’s.  All three methods used the same cookie dough.  For the sun ovens I used Wilton brownie pans, for the camp stove oven I used a small cookie sheet.

Here are the results:

Sun oven:   Took about 40 minutes to cook 2 batches at the same time(2 pans of cookies)

Solar oven:  Took about 60 minutes to cook 1 batch (1 pan of cookies)

Camp Stove oven:  Took about 8-10 minutes to cook 1 batch (1 pan of cookies)  (I used this on a butane stove rather than a regular camp oven stove)

Conclusion:  All three methods worked.  I am glad I was able to test these methods during a non-stressful situation.  That is the benefit of practicing.  You get to see what works and what doesn’t without the added stress of an emergency.

The cookie bottoms browned more on the camp stove oven than the solar ovens, but they all got done and were delicious.  It is nice to know that during an emergency, with these methods as well as an applebox oven, cookies and other baked goods can be made!

My homemade solar oven was made with a cheap car window screen, see this post for directions on how to make one.