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Last edited: 29 May 2023
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The Gengha Solar Oven has been designed and built by Davide Milani living in Italy. The oven has the capability to increase the inside cooking volume by adding layers to the perimeter walls. A small amount of food can be cooked more efficiently with lower outside walls. Its main feature is this ability is this modular wall height capability. Larger quantities of food can be cooked in larger pots by raising the wall height. The oven can be adjusted to provide space for pots from 4 cm (1.6 in) to 18 cm (7.1 in) in height. This feature allows for maintaining a minimum volume of air, to always have optimal performance.
The internal dimensions of the cooking chamber are 52 cm (20.5 in) x 42 cm (16.5 in), The oven is made of wood, and the inside is lined with AISI 304 steel sheets, On the bottom there is a black thermal mass that allows to maximum heat and the insertion of a wide variety of trays.
The reflectors also have modular capability, allowing the user to work with zero, two, three, four, or five mirrors depending on the power required by the food you want to cook and the conditions of the sky. The designer reports the maximum temperature recorded by the Gengha was 188 °C (370 °F) working with the maximum number of mirrors. It was reached in an hour and 10 minutes, which will allow cooking a wide variety of dishes.
The oven shown with only one wall layer
The oven shown with two wall layers
The oven shown with three wall layers
Pizza is on the menu for today- Photo credit: Davide Milani
News[]
The Gengha Solar Oven was able to reach 178 °C (352 °F) in 1 hr. and 30 min.
The exterior 8mm okoumé wood can be seen around the cooking chamber, along with the polished aluminum reflectors. Photo credits: Davide Milani
- October 2022: The Gengha Solar Oven was able to reach 178 °C (352 °F) in 1 hr. and 30 min., probably due to the added external coating of 8mm in okoumé wood for insulation, and the new polished aluminum reflectors.
- October 2022: Castelfranco Veneto, founded by Davide Milani, has built 143 solar ovens to date, of which 84 are in constant use. The courses continue to be offered, and there has been a large number of requests made to participate in the program. The students come from Veneto but also from nearby regions such as Trentino and Friuli.
- September 2022: Davide Milani has added an external coating of 8mm in okoumé wood to the Gengha Solar Oven. He has found the combination of two different types of wood significantly increases the retention of heat in the cooking chamber.
External links[]
- Davide also founded Castelfranco Veneto, which offers online theoretical courses on solar cooking, support, and advice at no expense. As of September 2022, they have helped build 61 ovens, 52 are in use, and 35 are in daily use. There are five permanent collaborators, two on-call, fielding requests from new people and groups, and hoping to reach 100 solar ovens assembled by the end of the year.
Contact[]
- See Davide Milani.