Haines 2.0 SunUp Solar Cooker and Dutch Oven Kit

Great starter set for those wanting to try out solar cooking without paying too much. This set has everything you need except food and sun. Works a lot like a crock pot, I even use crock pot liners in my 'Dutch oven' so I don't have any clean up. The included 'Dutch oven' isn't a true cast iron Dutch oven- that would take too long to heat, but this dish is the right one for the job. Holds up well. I live near Phoenix and our sun is brutal yet all the components have held up well. The plastic that goes under the pot finally got brittle and died (cause my dog stepped on it). It's held up to numerous dust devils and wind up to about 20mph no problem. Easy to use, easy set up. I love this thing! Oh, never had problems with dogs, ants or critters getting into it...

The media could not be loaded. I’m super happy. This oven works exactly as advertised. I bought it for emergency preparedness and to be able to cook in summer without adding heat to our non-conditioned house.Assemble it in the shade and/or wear sunglasses, because you WILL blast your eyes with reflections if you try to assemble it in the sun.They have added alignment arrows for matching up the 2 panels which helps a lot. The Velcro attachment of the cover has been updated to a slotted fit with binder clips to secure it, which works well. The instructions make it super easy to line up the oven with the sun & know which snaps to use.The instructions say not to heat it with an empty pot, but we weren’t sure if it needed any preheating. So we set it up and babysat it to see how quickly it got hot. Within 5 minutes the pot was too hot to handle so we took it out to prep the food. So I’m gonna say no preheating is required with this model for water-based cooking. Maybe if you are pan frying something, which I have not tried yet.Started simple for the first dish, chicken & rice casserole. Food went in at 2:30pm on a sunny 80F day (approx 45 degrees latitude) using the “low sun” setting as per the instructions based on the length of our shadows. Made a 4-person batch and set it to cook while I ran errands. When I returned at 6pm it was definitely done. Maybe it doesn’t need that long but that’s what it got. We got a delightful burst of steam when we opened it. I thought I might’ve burned the food a little because of the brown crust on the edge but turns out it was only surface deep and the food was *perfect* when we started scooping.The snaps are very strong, in fact they are hard enough to undo that we wonder if it might eventually damage the plastic panels, however I think with a little practice we can figure out how to undo them without stressing the material. Also, the written instructions don’t say what to do on a windy day. But the video tutorial is excellent and says to put rocks on the side flaps which we did and it held down perfectly.I’m delighted to be able to cook without heating up my house and to be able to cook in an emergency situation. I’m gonna tell all my friends about this.

We camp off grid in Northern Michigan and since it’s been so dry, starting a fire can be a high risk. Purchased this solar cooker with not very high expectations, but needed an alternative cooking method for larger meals. To maximize the sun, I threw together a cobbler and put the solar unit on the dock at 11:00 am in 55 degree weather. When I checked it an hour later, the cherries were bubbling and there were two burn marks on the crust where the sunlight was focused through the vent hole in the lid! I actually burned my finger in my haste to get the pot out of the unit. Needless to say, we had an early lunch of piping hot cherry cobbler. Since then, I have made chili and soup. This thing is legit!UPDATE: it’s now been almost 2 years and the solar cooker is holding up well! We’ve been able to try out different recipes and learned a couple of things. Since we live in a cooler climate, I want to reiterate that this cooker works the same whether it’s cool outside or hot as long as you’re facing the sun. In the last 2 pictures recently added (similar to my chicken and rice recipe), I placed raw chicken cubed, Alessia gluten-free stuffing mix (prepared) and a can of drained diced tomatoes with a few spices like basil and garlic. I set the cooker on the picnic table at noon when it was 50 degrees (Northern Michigan in April) and it was clearly done at 2 pm; the temp outside had risen to 55 degrees F and the cooking bowl was very hot. To complete the chicken bruschetta, I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the top which promptly melted. Everything was cooked to perfection. Because the solar cooker essentially steams food, the amount of liquid added may need to be reduced so the dish doesn’t become soggy. I reduced the broth added to the stuffing mixture by half. Don’t open the lid/cover during cooking or you set your time back by a half hour. Still feel this was one of my best camping purchases; highly recommend this cooker!

I can only get it to simmer water, which is fine for making hot drinks and anything else I can think of. Easily cooks eggs, vegetables etc. Most of the day it seems to work better using the red clips on the sides and rear with the blue clips allowing the front to sit more open. It is probably stronger than it feels but I treat it with respect. I had to wrestle with the large cooking cover, forcing it together and in so doing broke it in its centre before first use but sticky tape is holding it together - not game to unfold it again. This cover is far from airtight and probably lets the hottest air rise to escape but overall the cooker works well.

Received my solar oven today. Even though I live in an urban environment, I like to pretend I'm off grid when I can.I cooked my son chicken nuggets in it and it only took an hr (maybe less but that's when I checked on it.) The pan gets hot so don't grab it with bare hands!! I am excited to make other things in it and save electricity (especially in the AZ summers).The only complaint I have is the instructions were not clear to me so I found the owners YouTube video and watched that. Also, the circle you put the pan on is not very easy to get together. Other than it, it's easy to put together and to clean.