Played some more with my solar oven today, after getting a stir-fry pan at K-Mart yesterday. Poured some water into the pan, placed the pan at the focal point, and in about 3 minutes there was steam rising off the surface. However, it took over 1.5 hours before it would boil, and by then the water was only about 3 or 4 mm deep. And the boiling was localized to the focal point itself, not the whole pan.
Switched to an egg. Took about 10 minutes to fry it, but there was still some watery liquid in the pan. Should have used some oil.
Also practiced with my new oxy-acetylene kit. Able to get a good neutral flame, and starting to get what looks to me like a decent weld with 1/8 inch steel. I get too close sometimes and it pops, and I sometimes forget to watch where my hose is going, which could be disastrous. But so far all is well.
Also got a serrated peeler at K-Mart, bought some red bell peppers, peeled and brine-pickled them with 1 tsp of kosher salt. It's starting to bubble today. Want to try it in my next batch of chorizo.
last updated 2010-07-21 21:40:00. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com