Satellite Dish Solar Cooker

This instructor will be documenting a solar powered hot dog Grill constructed of a old satellite dish

You Will Need
-a old satellite dish ( preferably about 20 inches in diameter)
-coat hangers 
-sanitary metal skewer (I used copper plated welding rod)
- the sun 
-any reflective plastic ( Mylar is what I used it can be commonly sourced from hydroponics stores or balloons)


tools
-spray adhesive
- 1/8" drillbit

-it's important to begin by cleaning the dish thoroughly a wire brush or low grit sanding paper will do a nice job and roughen the surface for glue

Place the dish on a piece of the newspaper and trace out the circumference  
cut along this line to make the pattern 

carefully mark with a sharpie the fold lines and cut along these numbering the segments around the satellite clockwise

wearing cotton gloves transfer the newsprint pattern to the Mylar using a very sharp X-Acto knife.
-Be careful not to smudge your oily fingers on the plastic
-Be careful not to rip the plastic when cutting its durable but sometimes has a mind of its own

one at a time apply glue to the backside of mylar  be careful not to contaminate the reflective side!!
 tips
-work with two people
-you have a holding hand and a hand to smooth out the mylar
-try to work fast and pre-spray the dish

drill two holes on each side of the dish's rim
then using the coat hangers make to V-shaped supports with loop of wire in the point ( this will hold the skewer)

this wire support will adjust cooking speed by the proximity of the hot dog to the focal point of the dish

-REMEMBER all dishes have different focal points although they tend to be around 13-14 inches from the center of the dish!!

skewer your meal on a sanitary metal skewer placing it between the wire loops and cook away
be sure to wear protective eyewear when cooking as reflected light is very bright 

I find that by constantly adjusting my as azimuth and altitude I can achieve a pretty good cooking time 

I found that it works best to position with it leaning up against a table or something by just making minor adjustments to concentrate the focal point I got some serious heat out of it one measurement hit over 600° 

When cooking I suggest rotating a lot this way you get consistent temperature and don't have any burnt spots