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Make a Solar Hot Dog Cooker

SAFETY FIRST: Ask an adult to help with tools you haven't used before.

If you curve some aluminum foil just right, you can cook hot dogs with the sun’s heat.

hotdog-640-1

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

  • Utility knife
  • Tape
  • Saw
  • Drill
  • Roofing nails
  • Glue
  • 2 sheets of corrugated cardboard, 7 1/2 inches by 30 inches
  • 2 2-by-2-by-12-inch connector boards
  • Piece of poster board large enough to cover the bottom of the cooker
  • 12-inch-wide aluminum foil
  • 2 1-by-1-by-13 1/2-inch wood uprights
  • Small wooden dowl, sharpened at one end

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Step 1. Using the utility knife, cut a curve from the two pieces of cardboard.

Step 2. Connect the curves together using the 12-inch connecting boards, glue and roofing nails.

Step 3. Bend the poster board over the curves, mark with a pencil and cut to size. Glue and tape in place.

Step 4. Spread glue evenly onto the poster board. Carefully glue down the aluminum foil. Make it as smooth as possible.

Step 5. Drill a hole in one upright, cut a notch on the other and glue in place.

Step 6. Aim the cooker at the sun, skewer your hot dogs, and get the rolls and mustard.

HOW IT WORKS

The sun reflects heat off the parabolic curve and concentrates it at a single point.


PHOTOS OF COMPLETED PROJECT

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64 Comments on Make a Solar Hot Dog Cooker

  1. lol im doing this for school not the best thing ever GRRRR 🙁

  2. dead man // May 4, 2011 at 2:37 pm // Reply

    i have to do this for science and its not optional

  3. awesome

  4. i love this i will try to do this

  5. I’ve got to try this!!! Hot dogs cooked by solar power, that sounds awesome. I wonder if it tastes better than a hot dog cooked over an open fire. My mom won’t let me have those in my yard so the could make a nice substitute.

  6. i like it man its kool

  7. i WILL TRI IT

  8. This is really cool!!! I didn’t know it was possible unless it was really hot!!

  9. Im doin this wright now so yah this kind of easy

  10. Does it really work???? I guess I’ll find out in science class this week…

  11. does it work?????. . . . . .

  12. ferdinand123123 // February 7, 2011 at 6:54 am // Reply

    does dis really work?? if it does its awesome

  13. AWESOME I AM DOING IT FOR MY SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

  14. i did it and it did not work

  15. ill try it

  16. It works great!!!

  17. I made one out of a plaastic bowl and aluminum foil today. I want to do thisone.

    PS: I found this website because of this. 😀

  18. this LOOKS AWSOME I WILL TRY IT TONIGHT

  19. this is making me hungry

  20. i think this is a very cool project. i will try it

  21. Ill try this

  22. i should do that sometime, besides i make very good hot dogs

  23. it looks cool gata try it

  24. nate reflow // August 27, 2010 at 9:14 am // Reply

    hii there

  25. kaedawg246 // July 28, 2010 at 12:58 pm // Reply

    It sounds like it would b a good project to do! 🙂

  26. I can’t wait to try it!

  27. It’s huge!!!!!!

  28. slicendice // June 25, 2010 at 9:18 am // Reply

    sounds like fun! I’ll use it this weekend while campin’!! 😛

  29. How hot will it get??? I’m doing this 4 a science project and it needs 2 get 2 at least 70 degres!

  30. hoe long does it take, and will it work?

  31. qqekqwjbre // May 21, 2010 at 1:16 pm // Reply

    I wonder if this thing works

  32. Can’t I just cook my hotdog in my house?

  33. hot dog lover // May 11, 2010 at 9:09 am // Reply

    I agree with hot dog. hot dogs are yummy

  34. outdoor man // March 5, 2010 at 8:30 pm // Reply

    I agree with Camper99.Can’t you make a smaller one?And can you find something on solar ovens?

  35. I LUV HOtDoGs!

  36. all i did was look at the supplies you needed and it looks like a lot of work for a hot dog

  37. seems like a good project for the summer

  38. it was so funny!

  39. ILOVEYOU WHO EVER CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA FIRST I JUST WOUNDER

  40. I HOPE IT WORKS OUT GREAT SO THAT I WIN !ST PRIZE
    THANKS FOR THE INFO

  41. this project totally work is cool.

  42. This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.

  43. YEAH!!!!

  44. How long does it take?

  45. This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.

  46. im doing this in my science fair this year. this is my first science fair and i hope this project works!

  47. im doing this in my science fair this year for the first time i sure hope it works!

  48. does work, me and my friend used it for a science project…was pretty easy too

  49. it totally works!!!

  50. my project better work

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