Boneless Chicken Thighs – GoSun Sport Solar Cooker Review

Boneless Chicken Thighs – GoSun Sport Solar Cooker Review

This recipe is one of a series that features the GoSun Sport Solar Cooker. The Challenge – from a room temperature GoSun Sport to cooked boneless and skinless chicken thighs that reach an internal temperature of 185F in under 60 minutes.
Print Recipe
CourseMain Course
CuisineAmerican
Keywordchicken thighs, solar cooking
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Servings2
Calories160kcal
AuthorWiley

Instructions

  • We first start off with 3.3 pounds of boneless and skinless chicken thighs. The GoSun Sport manual says that it can handle up to 3 pounds of food so this should be a good test.
  • The cooking tray is made out of stainless steel so it is best to spray the inside of the tray with a cooking oil.
  • When loading the chicken thighs it is best to start from the other end away from the handle. Now, this is important and differs from what you would do in a conventional oven. Pack the chicken in as tight as you can. Because you are cooking with radiant heat and not hot air there is no need have any air spaces. Also because I had to make room for the ambient temperature probe I could only put 2.5 pounds of chicken in the tray. Without that probe, it would have held a full 3pounds of chicken. Enough chicken for 3 to 4 people if served with a salad.
  • I learned a long time ago the best way to cook food is by temperature and not time. So we will be monitoring both the chicken temperature and also the ambient or air temperature inside the cooker. Our target temperature will be 175F for the chicken.
  • When placing the meat temperature probe make sure it is in the middle of the thickest part of the thigh. Also, make sure you are in the middle of the tray and stay away from the space by the handle.
  • Another very important part of using the GoSun Sport is do not preheat the cooker. The cooker gets real hot, real quick in the sun but the cooker can actually get too hot if it lacks food in the chamber. You have been warned.
  • With food loaded it is time to put the cooker in the sun. Just point the cooker as direct as you can by looking at the cooker shadow. You do not need to be perfectly aligned and don’t worry it is going to get hot. REAL HOT.
  • Here is the temperature chart of both the chicken temperature and the ambient temperature. A note is the ambient temperature was actually not correct. Because it was near the opening and as the food got above 212F or boiling it produces steam. A lot of steam. That steam is water evaporating and evaporating water has a cooling effect on the probe so the real temperature was much higher.
  • Ambient temperature or air temperature in the cooker started at 82F. The chicken that had come out of the refrigerator started at 49.7F
  • Now here is where I made a mistake but also found out the cooker is extremely forgiving. I lost track of time and cooked the chicken to 187F or 12 degrees hotter than my target. Now in a regular oven that could end up drying the chicken out or makes it mushy. The total cooking time to get to 187F was only 55 minutes. Remember this was without any preheating.
  • So when the cook was complete here is what the chart recorded. Ambient temperature was 232.7F but we know that was not correct due to cooling affect from the water evaporating. Final chicken temperature was 187.4F or 12.4F hotter than our target. Total cooking time 55 minutes.
  • What we found out is because the chicken is being cooked using radiant heat and not hot air the chicken never dries out. That is why the cooker is so forgiving.
  • In this picture, you can actually see the steam. Also, please note the outside of the tube NEVER gets hot but where the steam comes out gets really hot so please use heat resistant gloves when removing the food.
  • Here is what the chicken looks like when removed from the tray. It is very moist and extremely tender. I could and did easily cut it with the side of a fork. Check out the video below to see that section. It also tasted great for the seasoning, due to the steaming effect the seasoning, especially the salt permeates the meat.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 160kcal

Quarter Pound Hot Dogs – GoSun Sport Solar Cooker Review

Quarter Pound Hot Dogs – GoSun Sport Solar Cooker Review

This recipe is one of a series that features the GoSun Sport Solar Cooker. The Challenge – from a room temperature GoSun Sport to cooked quarter-pound hot dogs that reach an internal temperature of 155F in under 30 minutes.
Print Recipe
CourseMain Course
CuisineAmerican
Keywordhot dogs, quarter pound, solar cooking
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Servings1
Calories360kcal
AuthorWiley

Ingredients

Instructions

  • We start off with a pack of Hebrew National Quater Pound Beef Hot Dogs. These hot dogs are twice the size of regular hot dogs so they will have a hard time fitting into a regular hot dog bun.
  • Take two out of the package for these hotdogs are large and the GoSun Sport can only handle two.
  • So we can monitor the internal temperature of the hot dog we insert a needle temperature probe right into the middle of the hot dog.
  • We then insert the cooking tray with both hot dogs into the GoSun Sport solar cooker.
  • Position GoSun Sport facing towards the sun. The cooker does not require and GoSun also would you rather not preheat the cooker. The tube can get extremely hot inside without the food and tray.
  • Here is the chart from our Fireboard Thermometer. As you can see the internal temperature of the cooker heated quickly. Also, the hot dogs were right behind.
  • The ambient or internal temperature started it off at 71.3F and the hot dogs that had just come from the refrigerator started at 53.5F.
  • Our cooking objective and temperature target were to get the hotdogs up to 155F. We find that is the perfect serving temperature for the hot dogs are hot but they are not overcooked where they might split.
  • Total cooking time was 25 minutes.
  • For those that wonder if the cooker gets hot. The picture is showing steam that is coming out of a cooker that is at 350F. Highly recommend you use heat resistant gloves when removing the food.
  • Here is a picture when I took the hot dogs out. They were perfectly cooked.
  • When cutting the hot dogs they were not only hot but extremely juicy. The GoSun Sport might be the best way to cook hot dogs and you cannot beat the fact that the only fuel I used was the sun.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 360kcal