Solar Cosmoline Cooker - It Works

I’ve tried a lot of cosmoline removal tactics: chemical, hot dashboard, oven, even a kiln. And I’ve seen plans for some neat cookers, involving things like trash cans, light racks, pvc pipe, you name it. However, I’m always short on cash, the stuff’s hard to get off the dash, and my wife doesn’t like that hint of cosmo in the food. Then, I saw in today’s news an article about a whopping cash prize going to something called a Kyoto Box; a cheap solar oven capable of reaching 80 celsius. Eighty celsius? That’s around 170 real degrees, which is prime cosmo sweating territory.
So, here’s what I used: 1 corrugated carton with the top flaps cut off, spray painted black inside; 1 larger corrugated carton, with flaps still attached; 1 piece of plexiglass big enough to cover the first carton; aluminum foil, staples, and a liberal, gun-ban newspaper (the WaPo works well).
Here’s what I did: Place the smaller, black-painted carton inside the larger carton. Staple aluminum foil to the larger carton’s top flaps. Line the space between the interior and exterior cartons with the liberal newspaper (for insulation). Cover the interior carton with the plexi and set the whole thing out in the sun. Maybe diddle around with the aluminum foil-covered flaps to best focus the sun on the interior carton. Construction time: 15 minutes, including scrounging the materials. Cost: nothing.
Here are the readings for the interior box: 9:45 am-60 degrees; 10:15 am-65 degrees; 10:45 am-85 degrees; 11:15 am-120 degrees; 11:45 am-105 degrees (clouds); 12:15 pm-105 degrees; 12:30 pm-140 degrees.
Cosmoline melts around 130. The only thing I had lying around with any cosmo in it was an oiler can, and the stuff is liquifying in the seams. Anyway, try it if you’ve got a sunny day forecast. Size your materials to your needs. When you’re done, you can throw the boxes away, or stow them in the corner. And if it really does get to 170 (no real reason to doubt it, given enough sun), it could make a good SHTF oven, in a pinch.

Found an image:

something like this?...we have illiterate people like me here remember

good find, I was thinking of ways to get all the cosmoline out of the mosin I just bought. I cleaned the mechanicals of it, but not deep cleaned the wood yet.

still the best way i found was one of those power steamers...just steam-blast the cosmo off/out of the gun then throw some oil on it to displace the water and whallah

Mine looks pretty primitive - I wanted to throw it together as fast as possible to keep things as simple as possible - but I just checked and it's running around 150. I do like that flat one; it looks like it has a lot of duct tape. Everything is improved with duct tape.

You could slow cook a roast with that bad boy on a hot day :-P

Brake Clean works wonders

A little bulky if you dont have storage space, but I made one and it works like a charm.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/lowheatmethod2/index.asp

not bad, but painting the interior black is of marginal value. best would be to paint black the exterior! turn it into a genuine "black box" (sorry... physics nerd joke). tinfoil on the inside of the top flaps is not a bad idea. nice thinking!!