Best material to make solar heating ( not cooking )bag for food

[Westycamper]

Hi

I would like to sew up a bag to heat up food ,
I do not really want to cook food but thats OK if it works for that too,

But the main thing is to heat up pre cooked food, canned food ( soup, chili , veggies etc) , or precooked rice packs etc ,

the bag would often lay on the dashboard or maybe the picnic table

So I guess Black is best , but what material ???
plastic , vinyl , leather , wet suit material , or cloth ?

I was thinking the cheap way is an old purse or laptop computer bag.
Does it need to be sealed up to keep the solar heat in ?

Any ideas of what works or even better what DOES NOT work

thanks for your ideas

 

[Lucky mike]

a tractor trailer inner tube ,,,wash it cut it to length....several clothspins to roll the ends closed.......a small glass tray with cover to put your food in...slide it inside the tube and close the ends,

put it on the dash or out in the hot sun and away you go!!!

 

[akrvbob]

Some people take a mason jar and put a strip of tape up one side then paint it black. Peel off the tape and you can see inside the jar to know what it is doing. Wrap some refectix around it to reflect the sunlight back to it and it should get very hot. Easy to clean and no odd tastes.
Bob

 

[Westycamper]

Hi

I might try the inner tube idea but use a wet suit leg instead, I can find them easier at yard sales around here.....

does it matter if I use a glass mason jar or a plastic jar ?
will plastic get hot enough without melting ?

 

[wagoneer]

I bought about 18 tickets at the last RTR to win the solar oven but as luck would have it it went to SOMEONE else. I like the glass option I did eat a rubber band when I was a kid ,,,,,,, never saw it again and I felt fine.

 

[Lucky mike]

Be careful...the next time you poop it will snap back!!!!!!.....

 

[kyonu]

will plastic get hot enough without melting ?

Glass is recommended not just for the heat, but because of the chemicals. You don't want particles of plastic getting in your food; that's very toxic.

 

[Westycamper]

thanks for your ideas

I am not trying to COOK with this bag , I am just trying to HEAT already cooked canned food or packaged food like Uncle Bens Ready rice.

I have a black leather purse out in the front yard now as a test, it is warm inside but not hot , I was almost thinking of putting a chunk of steel in it that will get hot and retain the heat.......

Tommorow I might find something to measure how hot it gets...

 

[WheelEstate USA]

A piece of black construction plastic (Visqueen) should get something hot. I wouldn't worry about the plastic if the food is wrapped.
I'd think it a good idea to vent whatever you're heating.
Heating time and temp would vary dependent on the sun's intensity. In the southwest anything black creates heat.

 

[Ken in Anaheim]

Westy, here's a link to a solar cooker/heater made from a car-window-heat sheild thingy : http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm

Hope it helps.........
KinA

 

[highdesertranger]

hey bob I gotta try that mason jar thingy. that sounds like a great idea. highdesertranger

 

[Lucky mike]

mason jar in a black PVC pipe would be one hell of a cooker!!!........I used 6" black for my solar hotwater system and it required a pressure relief valve because it gets so hot on the roof !!

 

[Varmint]

Kyono wrote, in part:
"Glass is recommended not just for the heat, but because of the chemicals. You don't want particles of plastic getting in your food; that's very toxic."


My comments:
Absolutely correct. When heated or burnt, plastic gives off nerve gas. Not certain of what quantity, but this is the reason you're advised to open doors/window and vent these gasses from the interior of your vehicle on hot days. It may also play a significant role in killing children and pets locked in hot vehicles.

A great way to heat something is a baking dish with a baking dish or metal container with a glass lid. I've used a piece of plexiglass to cover a black 5-gal bucket filled with water. It heats up really well when left outside in the sun. I used this for wash water. No reason similar things wouldn't work for food items. Glass or ceramic is safer for foods, though.

A nice thing about using your dash is that you can set foil backing behind it to concentrate the sun on an already hot dashboard. I've used my dash as a food dehydrator, and it takes a few hours.