cold and windy days similar to those possible on hot days. Below is the basic science for solar panel cookers and solar box cookers. Another style of solar cooker is a parabolic solar cooker. They typically require more frequent reorientation to the Sun, but will cook more quickly at higher temperatures, and can fry foods. Evacuated tube solar cookers use a highly insulated double-wall glass tube for the cooking chamber, and do not require large reflectors Operation Different kinds of solar cookers use somewhat different methods of cooking, but most follow the same basic principles. Food is prepared as if for an oven or stove top. However, because food cooks faster when it is in smaller pieces, food placed inside a solar cooker is usually cut into smaller pieces than it might otherwise be. For example, potatoes are usually cut into bite-sized pieces rather than roasted whole. For very simple cooking, such as melting butter or cheese, a lid may not be needed and the food may be placed on an uncovered tray or in a bowl. If several foods are to be cooked separately, then they are placed in different containers. The container of food is placed inside the solar cooker, which may be elevated on a brick, rock, metal trivet, or other heat sink, and the solar cooker is placed in direct sunlight. Foods that cook quickly may be added to the solar cooker later. Rice for a mid-day meal might be started early in the morning, with vegetables, cheese, or soup added to the solar cooker in the middle of the morning. Depending on the size of the solar cooker and the number and quantity of cooked foods, a family may use one or more solar cookers. A solar oven is turned towards the Sun and left until the food is cooked. Unlike cooking on a stove or over a fire, which may require more than an hour of constant supervision, food in a solar oven is generally not stirred or turned over, both because it is unnecessary and because opening the solar oven allows the trapped heat to escape and thereby slows the cooking process. If wanted, the solar oven may be checked every one to two hours, to turn the oven to face the Sun more precisely and to ensure that shadows from nearby buildings or plants have not blocked the sunlight. If the food