What You Need To Make A uiTzi

Materials

Standard steel, galvanized sheet metal, wood, 6mm glass, 3mm mirror, silicon, insulation (wood chips, scrunched newspaper, raw wool, corn husks etc.).

Equipment

A simple metal workshop with spot welding capabilities.

Time

Once you have the materials, it takes a skilled craftsman approximately 9 days to build a uiTzi.

Plans

The uiTzi is a solid, handsome oven that functions spectacularly. It can sit out during a gale without getting damaged. And on sunny days it creates magnificent heat, like having your gas oven on all day long without costing a thing (or heating your house so much you have to turn on the air-conditioning). Unlike commercial solar ovens it's all natural, it doesn't make your food taste of plastic, and it doesn't end up boxed away in your garage after a few tries because while it might seem useful on a trip to Mars, it's not very good at actually cooking.

Best of all anyone with basic metal working skills can build one. Click here to download a pdf file containing all the plans you'll need to build a uiTzi (coming soon, for now just email us). And send us a photograph when you're finished.

Where To Put It

A uiTzi needs as much sun as possible. And you'll want it as close to your kitchen as possible.

In the northern hemisphere a southish-facing terrace, deck or lawn with easy access to your kitchen is your best bet. If you have to choose between losing the sun early in the day or late in the day (for instance, due to a tree or adjacent building that shades your deck), opt for late day sun unless you're an extremely early riser (on average there's simply more heat later in the day than earlier). Take account of trees or bushes that might grow up over time and steal sunlight from your uiTzi. While solar ovens can handle clouds coming and going, solid shade for any extended period reduces your ability to generate long-lasting cooking heat.

A climate with clear blue skies is preferable to one with sultry heat. And being between the tropics and approximately 45 degrees of latitude is better than being near the equator (a uiTzi's mirrors reflect more sunlight into the oven when the sun is lower in the sky than if it's directly overhead). This makes the entire sun-belt of the north America ideal for solar cooking, particularly in western States such as California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico, with Mediterranean or high altitudes desert climates.

Installations for Offices & Restaurants

You walk into a restaurant and dotted amid its outside tables are four or five solar ovens, their mirrored wings open to the skies. In one, large chunks of bittersweet chocolate are melting in two huge copper pots, filling the space with a delicious aroma. Another has stacked baking trays full of beets and carrots and onions caramelizing in the sun. Over there, a stockpot full of beef bones is simmering gently in the sunlight. What better way to communicate to your customers a passion for cooking fresh, locally produced food in the most natural way possible?

Down an escalator, beyond a mezzanine of glazed offices, doors open on a sweeping terrace beyond which are lawns and herb gardens intersected by campus pathways. Here, spread around, students laze on the grass, reading or chatting, as their lunches cook or reheat in scattered uiTzis anchored in the ground like armed warriors praying to an ancient sun god.

If you want to transform your outside space with a solar oven installation, please contact us. We'll gladly come up with a proposal that will launch your restaurant, office or campus into the solar age.