Cooking Tips to Save Energy
If
you modify your cooking habits according to these tips, you can save a
significant amount of energy:
- Full-size ovens
are not efficient when cooking small quantities of food. When
cooking small- to medium-sized meals, it generally pays to use smaller
microwave ovens, toaster ovens, or slow-cook crock pots.
- If you have two
ovens, use the smaller one whenever you can.
- For soups and
stews that require long cooking periods, using a crockpot will
save a significant amount of energy.
- For stove-top
cooking, consider using a pressure cooker. By building
up steam pressure, they cook at a higher temperature, reducing cooking
time and energy considerably.
- Use the
smallest pan possible when cooking. Smaller pans require less
energy.
- With electric
cook tops, match the pan size to the element size.
For example, a 6" pan on an 8" burner will waste over 40%
of the heat produced by the burner.
- Consider
copper-bottom pans. These heat up faster than regular pans.
- Keep the
burner pans (the metal pans under the burners that catch grease) clean
and shiny so they will be more effective at reflecting heat up to the
cookware. Blackened burner pans absorb a lot of heat, reducing
burner efficiency.
- When using
electric burners, solid disk elements, and radiant elements under ceramic
glass, use flat-bottomed cookware that rests evenly on the burner surface.
An electric element is significantly less efficient if the pan does
not have good contact with the element.
- With electric
burners, you can turn off the burner just before the cooking is complete.
The burner will continue to radiate heat for a short while.
- When using
gas burners, make sure that you are getting a bluish flame.
A yellow flame indicates that the gas may not be burning efficiently.
If this is the case in your home, have your gas company check it out.
- To reduce cooking
times, defrost frozen foods in the refrigerator before cooking.
- When using
conventional ovens, keep your preheating time to a minimum. Unless you
are baking pastries or breads, you may not need to preheat at all.
- Try to
avoid opening the oven door a lot as you cook. Each time the
door is opened, a significant amount of heat escapes. As a result, food
takes longer to cook and you waste energy. Instead, use your oven light
and inspect through the oven door window.
- Foods cook more
quickly and more efficiently in ovens when air can circulate freely. Do not lay foil on racks. If it is possible, stagger pans on
upper and lower racks to improve air flow if you are baking more than
one pan at a time.
- Cook double
portions when using your oven, and refrigerate or freeze half for another
meal. It does not take as much energy to reheat the food as
it does to cook it--not to mention the saved preparation time.
- Use glass
or ceramic pans in ovens. You can turn down the temperature about 25
degrees and cook foods just as quickly.
- Use meat
thermometers and timers to avoid overcooking. Overcooking not
only spoils the taste and reduces the nutritional value but also wastes
energy.
- If you
have a self-cleaning oven, use the feature just after you have cooked
a meal--that way, the oven will still be hot and the cleaning feature
will require less energy.
- With microwave
ovens, keep the inside surface clean to allow more efficient microwave
cooking. You can often cook foods right in their serving dishes,
thus saving time and reducing the amount of hot water needed for dishwashing.
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