A one meter square fresnel lense rests above the cooking surface.

The engineering type people all gather around for the grill calibration ceremony. (Fortunately the Star-B-Cue* comes equiped with a (set angles by date/time) calculator and compass to ease initial set-up difficulties.)

The calibration toasts having been said and the angles having been set, It is now time to set in motion the first pendulum. (Another toast is required for this in order to assure the trueness of its motion.)

This first pendulum will rotate the grill slowly using a gear at the bottom of the grill.

The second pendulum must now be set in motion. (You know that there is another toast involved! - It's me, Zimmy!)

The second pendulum oscillates the fresnel lense causing it to move back and forth within the diameter of the grill. care must be taken to follow the calculator (which also has a dictionary of Irish & otherwise decent toasts) so as not to allow the focus of the lense to travel outside the diameter of the grill.

The Star-B-Cue* also has quick release levers that will expose a frowny faced sun picture and allow you to detach the standard grill pieces for you to use on cloudy days when the weather is incooperative with your party and are forced to use combustible fuels to cook the ingestibles.

*(footnote- I got the Star-B-Cue name from a UnaBubba anno on one of my old ideas.)
-- Zimmy, Jun 11 2006

Solar cooker http://www.treehugg...llager_sun_ov_1.php
a really big solar cooker. [compatta, Jun 12 2006]

I totally do not understand the point of this. Why are we oscillating the lens or rotating the grill?

Is this being used in the daytime to focus the light of OUR star on the cooking surface?

If so, is the oscillating being done to spread the heat around? And why not just reduce the focus to cover the area?
-- James Newton, Jun 11 2006


Yes, It could be done without the grilled items being at the focus. I just think it would be much less fun that way. (You lose a toast or two that way, for one thing).

The items on the grill would hiss and pop as if on a gas or charcoal grill if in the focus. (I think).

The connection to the first human to ever grill something over a fire remains with the way I have set it up. It was my thought that a connection would be made to the people who are smarter than me at the same time
There is a small element of danger in getting your hand too close to the fire. (I take it from your comment you have a good idea what a fresnel lense that size can do).
Socially, I would think such a grill as I describe would awe people & be a part of the conversation in a way that a de-focused lense grill would not.
Zimmy stops the pendulums and grabs the lense. "I kid you not. Take that fork and stick it in the circle of light" ......"I told you it would deform it within 15 seconds & see why I insisted on the sunglasses!" Zimmy starts the pendulums back up.
-- Zimmy, Jun 11 2006


I like the concept, Cheers, but you should have the focused light heat lava rock or some such under the food rather than on the food itself.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 11 2006


Isn't this called a "solar fresnel cooker?"

for some reason i thought this idea had something to do with attaching celebrities to a barbeque and cooking them....guess not.
-- compatta, Jun 12 2006


Thanks for crediting UnaBubba for the only good thing about this idea. Otherwise, it sounds like a solar cooker designed by a drunk.

A meter square isn't going to collect enough solar power to cook more than a single hamburger at a time. A fresnel lens is going to focus the sunlight into a small enough area to burn holes. A pendulum can't power a spit or oscillator; it's just a regulator.

The engineering type people all gather around for the grill-designer kicking ceremony.
-- baconbrain, Jun 12 2006



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