User Comments

1. 

   7/04/09

   dbowles1017

   Pass.
   
   I will make sure to recycle all the cans and bottles though... 30-40 people all drinking cans = $$$

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   1. 

      7/04/09

      hippygourmet

      recycling is a good start!
2. 

   7/04/09

   Sam1982

   You just cant get the taste of semi burnt meat in a solar oven though

   [reply]
   1. 

      7/04/09

      SweetViolet

      My thoughts exactly!
      
      I can imagine the Afrikaners around here trading in their braais for solar ovens...yah, right, suuuure! This is a country where people add rooms onto their houses with braais (BBQs) built into one wall. They have elevated BBQing to an art form hereabouts!
      
      Ain't gonna happen in MY lifetime!
   2. 

      7/04/09

      hippygourmet

      You have to try the flavor of slow-cooked meat in the solar oven - it's true you won't have the bbq taste, but no charcoal or lighter fluid!
   3. 

      7/04/09

      dbowles1017

      I would use a regular oven if I didn't want the BBQ taste.
   4. 

      7/04/09

      Sam1982

      Always wanted to know what the term Braais meant - I often buy the Robinsons spices and the word posted all over the box. Thanks for clearing that up haha
   5. 

      7/04/09

      SweetViolet

      uh, Hippy, the charcoal taste is a good thing...it's the whole point of throwing meat on an open flame. And there are plenty of us who can do a great fire without lighter fluid. And some of us use gas, which doesn't put smoke into the air.
      
      As far as slow-cooked meat goes, I have an oven in my kitchen that will do a great job of slow cooking meat...and it actually warms up my house without having to light the fireplace or turn on the electric space heater, thereby doing double duty. My stove is gas and I use about 1 litre of bottled gas per month. Cheap, efficient, and clean.
      
      It's tough to do a rare steak in a slow oven, though, regardless of what kind of fuel it uses.
   6. 

      7/04/09

      SweetViolet

      Sam, braai (pronounced "bry" to rhyme with "fry") is one of those truly versatile words:
      
      Noun: "Come over Saturday...we're having a braai!" (definition #1)
      Noun: "Boet, time to light the braai." (definition #2)
      Adjective: "When you buy the meat, see if you can find a braai pack."
      Verb: "Kobus is braaing the chicken first, then the viennas."
   7. 

      7/04/09

      hippygourmet

      SweetViolet,
      We know very well the brilliant art form that South Africans have perfected cooking on the Braais. Being that it is winter for you now, and summer for us - it's great not to use the indoor oven on the hot day. We also don't have to turn our AC on to compensate for the hot kitchen. Nothing against charred meat for those people who enjoy that flavor and texture, but as good hippies we celebrate alternatives!
   8. 

      7/04/09

      SweetViolet

      I only have a/c in my bedroom. We have a shortage of electricity right now, which the power company is trying to correct by doing mass builds of new power stations, so we try not to use electricity excessively.
      
      I can use the oven in summer by the simple expedient of opening all the French doors and turning on the standing fan to circulate the air. There a door beside the stove and a fan on the other side of it...I am in Cape Town where the climate is like the San Francisco Bay Area, just with longer summers and shorter winters.
      
      We braai in the winter, too...and I could tell by the tell-tale tang in the air that at least one of the neighbours braaied their dinner this evening!
3. 

   7/04/09

   hippygourmet

   anyone else used the solar oven today?

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