Actual engineered appliance and not just some hole in ground  

Unlike the solar dryer which, as we all know, is really a euphemism for hanging your clothes out on a line, the solar Sun Oven is a real, scientifically engineered apparatus. An impressive and potentially world-changing one at that.

Believe it or not, most of the world's population still cooks meals outside over an open flame (and it's not because they all enjoy picnics so much). In countries where resources like wood or gas are scarce, the Sun Oven offers a cooking option that relies solely on sunlight (strangely, the one element most developing countries have in surplus). In some places it also saves lives. Angola, for example, is so littered with land mines from generations of conflict, that searching for firewood has become a deadly prospect.

On a lighter note, these days the solar oven has been embraced by food enthusiasts all over the world. It is completely safe and portable, reaches cooking temperatures of 400 degrees, will never burn a meal, and is a lifesaver in a power outage. Some people even say food tastes better in a Sun Oven. Believe it!

So don't dally. Be the first one on your block to pick one up for your backyard. After all, the barbecue is sooooo 2005.