Designer Matt Gillespie Discusses Practicality & The Unique Taste That This Form Of Cooking Provides
One of the popular aspects of traveling by RV is getting away from it all, living off the grid on the base of a mountain or by a lake, away from the sound of traffic, the lights of a big city... Unfortunately, for many adventurers, there comes a time when a fuel hook up is needed, especially for those looking to cook some decent meals or microwave up something quick between hikes.
A great solution is the GoSun Sport, which cooks meals using only the sun. Reaching temperatures up to 550 degrees (even under cloudy skies) the GoSun Sport can cook a meal in 20 minutes, including baking, boiling, steaming and frying. In fact, in cooks everything except popcorn, said designer Matt Gillespie.
“Wherever adventure takes you,” he explains, “you want hot meals waiting for you. With the GoSun Sport you can go days or weeks just using the sun or a small amount of electricity. You don't have to go and find fuel [or] worry about it. It won't overheat cabins or an RV. It's cool to the touch. [With GoSun] we are really hoping to power people's adventures.”
The GoSun Sport is essentially a giant thermos with unique insulating properties. Using a vacuum insulated solar tube, the GoSun Sport uses sunlight to cook entire meals in under a half an hour without having to leave the great outdoors.
At 7 pounds and 2.7 feet in diameter, the GoSun Sport takes up very little room and is even portable, able to be strapped to a backpack and carried on a hike or excursion. The two foot long oven allows enough room for two meals to be cooked at once, including everything from chicken, rice and vegetables to hotdogs, omelets and fish filets.
“You can put in some chicken, throw seasonings in, and go for a hike or take care of the laundry and not worry about stirring it or burning,” continues Gillespie. “There's a lot of moisture [and] the flavor is pretty unique. A lot of people comment that it tastes more flavorful.”
The GoSun Sport, first introduced in 2013, launched on Kickstarter. The concept caught like wildfire and has found huge traction since then, selling thousands of units in 40 different countries in just threeshort years. It's been a huge success in the RV industry and was even included in an off-grid RV model in Canada.
GoSun Sport, founded by CEO Patrick Sherwin in 2013, was created to engage in products and partnerships that help feed the world, bolster energy independence and enhance social equality. Sherwin first started working with solar energy in 2001, serving first as Product Developer at ProtekPark Solar – involved in developing new and improved solar structures for commercial applications. From there, he co-founded Brightfield Transportation Solutions, which focused on electric vehicle charging infrastructures that have recently become a mainstay in urban centers.
According to Gillespie, GoSun was “founded on a rooftop.” While taking down a solar hot water system – which uses the same tube technology as the GoSun grills – Sherwin realized the panels were getting hot enough that he could probably cook a hotdog.
“[So] he threw a hotdog on it,” laughs Gillespie with a serious tone, “and it cooked unbelievably fast. He [just] realized there was something there.”
GoSun, having also been featured on Top Chef on Bravo, is hoping to go from a “zany” product to something that is in every American household and RV in an effort to bring solar to the mainstream.
As is integral to his work at GoSun but also as a industrial designer and futurist, Gillespie is always looking for practical places where culture and technology overlap. “This job, this company,” he explains, “gets me energized every morning. We are at a cultural turning point. I see all types of folks from all types of lives all enjoying the product. [They’re] connecting over the self-sufficiency of cooking with the sun. It's [very] special [and I think] we’re doing something very unique.”