Outdoors

GoSun solar stove serves up summer hot dogs

GoSun solar stove serves up summer hot dogs
Slide your food in and let the sun take care of the cooking
Slide your food in and let the sun take care of the cooking
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The $599 GoSun Grill is a larger cooker good for groups
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The $599 GoSun Grill is a larger cooker good for groups
It's not actually a grill, but the GoSun Grill does look like an interesting means of cooking meals outdoors
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It's not actually a grill, but the GoSun Grill does look like an interesting means of cooking meals outdoors
The new GoSun Solar Dogger is a compact, portable way of cooking up hot dogs and other small foods
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The new GoSun Solar Dogger is a compact, portable way of cooking up hot dogs and other small foods
The Solar Dogger holds two hot dogs
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The Solar Dogger holds two hot dogs 
The compact clamshell design of the Solar Dogger makes it easy to carry
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The compact clamshell design of the Solar Dogger makes it easy to carry
GoSun says those two dogs cook up in about 10 minutes
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GoSun says those two dogs cook up in about 10 minutes
The reflectors focus sunlight onto the cooking tube, bringing heat up as high as 550 F
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The reflectors focus sunlight onto the cooking tube, bringing heat up as high as 550 F
GoSun is running an Indiegogo campaign for the Solar Dogger now
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GoSun is running an Indiegogo campaign for the Solar Dogger now 
The Solar Dogger can be repositioned to track the sun
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The Solar Dogger can be repositioned to track the sun
A new alternative for camping, picnicking, backyard cooking and more
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A new alternative for camping, picnicking, backyard cooking and more
Slide your food in and let the sun take care of the cooking
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Slide your food in and let the sun take care of the cooking
The Solar Dogger adds a more compact, portable cooker to GoSun's line
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The Solar Dogger adds a more compact, portable cooker to GoSun's line
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Two things that scream "American summer!" are the bright, hot sun and hot dogs cooking under it. The new GoSun Solar Dogger ties those two even closer. A slimmer, more portable GoSun cooker, the Solar Dogger harnesses the power of the sun to cook hot dogs, sausages and other compact, tubular foods.

Since we last looked at GoSun's solar-cooking hardware in 2013, the company has introduced the bigger, burlier GoSun Grill with the help of crowd funders. Not exactly a "grill," the GoSun Grill is simply a larger solar cooker designed to solar-roast, steam and bake up everything from chickens and fresh veggies, to loaves of bread. It was a CES Innovation Awards honoree earlier this year.

The $599 GoSun Grill is a larger cooker good for groups
The $599 GoSun Grill is a larger cooker good for groups

GoSun is now directing the attention of the crowd toward the slimmer, more portable GoSun Dogger. The new travel oven appears to be a replacement for the GoSun Mini, a compact, non-folding oven that GoSun revealed back in 2013.

While it's a new product, the Solar Dogger is based on some of GoSun's earliest work. As the company tells it, the first food founder Patrick Sherwin cooked in his solar vacuum-tube cooker design was a hot dog.

By building the new model around two hot dogs, GoSun keeps things down to 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) and 14 x 7 x 3 in (35.5 x 18 x 8 cm) when closed. That compares to 7 lb (3.2 kg) and 24 x 5 x 8 in (61 x 20 x 13 cm) for the GoSun Sport. It's heavier than the 1.5-lb (.7-kg) Mini, but sleeker and more portable thanks to the folding clamshell chassis.

The compact clamshell design of the Solar Dogger makes it easy to carry
The compact clamshell design of the Solar Dogger makes it easy to carry

When it comes time to cook, the Dogger pops open and its parabolic reflectors focus sunlight on the borosilicate glass vacuum cooking tube. The insulated tube and lid trap the heat inside, dispersing it evenly around the food. GoSun says it'll reach temperatures of 550° F (288° C) , cooking two hot dogs in as little as 10 minutes. It also says cooking can take as long as two hours, depending on the meal and conditions.

The Solar Dogger's tilting base and kickstand help position it for more efficient capture or the sun's rays. It's designed to work in virtually any outside temperature you could expect to encounter, with a listed range of -40° F (-40° C) to 140° F (60° C). The food tray slides out for easy loading and removal.

The Solar Dogger adds a more compact, portable cooker to GoSun's line
The Solar Dogger adds a more compact, portable cooker to GoSun's line

Hot dogs are GoSun's primary, all-American focus, but the Solar Dogger can also accommodate sausages, taquitos and other compact, tubular foods.

GoSun is hosting an Indiegogo campaign to get the Solar Dogger off the ground and is offering the basic model, with cleaning brush and user manual, for US$59, a $20 discount off the estimated retail price. The $79 Solar Dogger Plus kit includes additional items like a temperature probe, sun dial, educational booklet, experimental reflector and padded carry case.

Source: GoSun

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1 comment
1 comment
Tommo
This wont do well here in the UK, it may possibly work in one of our Summers however the term 'Dogger' means something completely different over here......