How can I reduce my cooking energy costs?
Cooking costs are always a concern, and an energy efficient kitchen is a great way to help keep your bills down. Here are some of the best tips to keep down your bills and help save energy.
Top tips for energy-efficient cooking
- If using a twin cook flex product, use either the upper or lower half with the divider in place, rather than the whole oven for smaller dishes.
- Microwaves are generally more efficient for heating food. Their compact size means heat is more focused, and energy saving.
- When boiling food, only use as much water as needed to cover the food you want to cook. Heating water uses lots of energy and boiling more than you need is one of the most common forms of domestic energy wastage.
- When using the oven, cook as much as possible in one go, and make sure all the space and heat is being used. You don’t have to eat everything at once, just pop it in the fridge or freezer until needed.
- Make sure the oven door is always closed while cooking. Every time you open the door, your oven loses heat that uses energy to reheat. A clean oven door is a simple way to let you see how your food is progressing without losing heat.
- Defrosting frozen food in the fridge overnight not only reduces cooking time, but saves on microwave defrosting energy.
- Knowing how long it takes to pre-heat your oven means less waiting around, and you can be ready to start cooking just as soon as the correct temperature is reached.
- When roasting potatoes, boil them in a saucepan first before roasting to reduce the amount of time they need in the oven.
- Use glass or ceramic dishes for baking or roasting. They retain heat better than metal dishes, making them more energy efficient.
- When cooking large pieces of food, like a joint of meat, cutting it into smaller pieces will make it cook quicker, and help avoid overcooking.
- Always opt for a fan assisted or convection oven. They are more energy efficient as heat is circulated around the food as it cooks, allowing you to cook at lower heats than conventional ovens.
- When using an electric oven, turn it off ten minutes before your food has finished cooking, the oven temperature will stay the same, cooking your food to completion without using extra oven energy.
- Always use a pan that is the correct size for the amount of food you want to cook. You will use less energy by not heating a bigger surface area than you need to.
- After choosing the right pan, make sure to use the right size hob. Bigger burners will use more energy, and too large a pan will take longer to get to the right temperature.
- Whenever you can, use a lid when cooking to retain as much heat as possible.
- Use a double steamer to cook vegetables, so you can cook twice as much with the same energy.
- Turn down the ring level or burner once the correct cooking temperature or state is reached; most dishes need only simmer, not boil.
- Pressure cookers are a great way to cook beans, meats, or stews. Its sealed lid traps steam allowing food to cook more quickly and efficiently than in a pan, saving you energy.
- For electric hobs, choose a flat bottomed pan that is in full contact with the ring, so heat can spread as evenly as possible.
- Different pan materials are better at conducting and retaining heat. Copper bottomed pans heat up quicker than stainless steel, and cast iron pans retain heat more efficiently, so you can save by turning the heat down.
- Keep your heating rings as clean as possible, any food sticking to the ring will absorb heat, reducing efficiency.
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