DIY A Portable Solar Oven For Backyard Fun On A Budget

High summer temps and dry conditions may make campfires an absolute no-no during your weekend getaways or backyard hangouts, but the threat of wildfires doesn't have to keep you from s'more-ing on your next outdoor chill session — you just need a pizza box. While there are plenty of smart ways to repurpose cardboard boxes, pizza containers don't often make the cut for reuse. Some areas don't accept greasy boxes for recycling since they may contaminate other paper materials. So, if you have an empty box, especially one that's unsuitable for the recycling bin, a few cheap tweaks can morph its container into a portable solar oven. 

The account @ehow on Tiktok walks you through the process and upgrades their solar oven with a painting technique that mimics an enamel campware finish. In addition to a pizza box, you'll need some black construction paper, scissors, an upcycled chopstick or two, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. Pasted to the bottom of the inside of the box, the black paper absorbs the heat from the sunlight, a foil-covered lid positioned above it directs the sun toward the food you're cooking, and plastic wrap taped over the interior edges of the box traps the heat. This DIY not only keeps waste out of the trash or recycling bin, but your eco-friendly mini-oven can heat food to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit with nothing but full sunlight, too. Enjoy the fun of melty marshmallows and chocolate or a cheesy delight with this sun-powered upcycled contraption.

If you're just looking to experiment with solar cooking and don't want to take all the time to make a realistic solar oven from a pizza box that you'll use more than once, here's an option with fewer steps. Gather the supplies listed above, and make sure your pizza box is free of crumbs and melted-on cheese. Open the box and lay the lid flat. Set a piece of black construction paper in the bottom of the box, cutting it to size if necessary. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil that's big enough to cover the entire inside of the lid with an ample margin to wrap and crimp around the outside edges of the lid.

Set your s'more fixings on the paper, and cover the food with plastic wrap to seal in the heat. Use the chopstick(s) to prop open the foil-covered lid while the s'mores heat through. When you're done using your makeshift oven, you may still be able to recycle the pizza box. You can even further reduce your waste with these ways to repurpose the aluminum foil around the house.

After your first go at cooking with the sun's heat, you might find that it's worth turning it into a habit. For a fully upcycled version, ehow's method on TikTok is hard to beat. However, pizza boxes are shallow and limit what you can cook in there. You can apply their savvy method to larger boxes, even ones that can fit a pot of water. If you can DIY an effective solar water heater with the help of aluminum foil, there's no reason you can't harness that heat for cooking. While it may take several hours, and the water may not come to a rolling boil, your creation will keep your kitchen cool and earn you eco brownie points. 

If you're too short on time or just aren't fond of the idea of making a solar oven, but you love the idea of cooking with the sun, Amazon has a $36 portable option from Energy Wise that's earned positive reviews. It's small and safe enough to bring on picnics or camping trips, and its foldable design makes storing it a cinch.