The Sun Cook uses ideal, non-imaging optics (also known as compound parabolic concentrator, or CPC-type optics) inside the box, concentrating incoming solar radiation by a factor of 1.46x onto a black, Teflon®-coated aluminum absorber plate, upon which the pot sits. The internal box walls are shaped as two identical asymmetric CPCs in one direction and two distinct, asymmetric CPCs in the other. If needed, cooking times can be controlled by a unique solar “clock” that works in conjunction with the side reflector to cast a shadow across the cooker after a specified period of time.