Top 20 tips for a greener kitchen

thescouselander

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

We always leave the oven door open after we have finished cooking so that the heat escapes into the kitchen to help warm it rather than let it be wasted.

x

The heat will escape into the kitchen whether or not you leave the door open. If you leave the door closed the heat will escape slower which in some ways may be better.

A_fiend_for_life

blue_ashleigh wrote: »

Is cotton not environmentally friendly?
(A new trying-to-be-more-green MSE'r... be gentle!)

iirc cotton growing uses the lion's share of pesticides something like 25% of global use.

GM cotton is another controversial issue.

Organic fairtrade is an option for cotton as is hemp and possibly nettle for uk grown fibres.

InaPickle

dawn_rose wrote: »

i use white vinegar and water half half mix in an old spray bottle with a bit of essential oil in. its antibacterial, use on everything from kitchen surfaces to potties. very cheap. the chinese supermarkets sell great vats of it at very cheap prices, green and moneysaving. im astmatic and find lots of anti bac stuff ect kills ma lungs.

Oooh, I hadn't thought of going to the Chinese supermarket but I will now: thanks for the tip!

I have a similar recipie for a general cleaner, and I find it really nice smelling in the kitchen thanks to the essential oils. It smells much fresher than shop-bought chemicals.

frivolous_fay

Volcano wrote: »

You think a microwave oven is a 'gadget' ?

Yeah I do... I don't have one, I don't want one, I don't need one
It's just another huge box taking up valuable kitchen space!

Tamsin_Temrin

Re is the microwave a gadget - has anyone done a comparison of how much energy is used to bake a potato in a mike or a normal oven?

How about a slow cooker - that has got to be 'green' but is it a gadget?

(I lose my popcorn maker for no-one)

A_fiend_for_life

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

We always leave the oven door open after we have finished cooking so that the heat escapes into the kitchen to help warm it rather than let it be wasted.

x

I have an elongated kitchen with no dining space so it favours keeping the heating off in the kitchen and using the residual heat to heat water.

This can be used for the dishes, flasked for the kettle later or to soak one of those pyrex dishes from time to time.

Volcano

Tamsin_Temrin wrote: »

Re is the microwave a gadget - has anyone done a comparison of how much energy is used to bake a potato in a mike or a normal oven?

Baked potato: 10 mins at 900w in a microwave, or an hour at 2500w in a conventional oven (excluding preheating time). I don't know whether there are such dramatic savings with other foods, but nothing comes close to the efficiency of a microwave.

Most people have larger conventional ovens so if you had to cook a lot of potatoes (say 5 or 6 +), then it'd probably be more convenient the conventional way.

thescouselander

Volcano wrote: »

Baked potato: 10 mins at 900w in a microwave, or an hour at 2500w in a conventional oven (excluding preheating time). I don't know whether there are such dramatic savings with other foods, but nothing comes close to the efficiency of a microwave.

Most people have larger conventional ovens so if you had to cook a lot of potatoes (say 5 or 6 +), then it'd probably be more convenient the conventional way.

Dont forget the oven heating eliment doen't have a 100% duty cycle so its not as bad as you make out. I estimate our oven uses just over 1 KW on average.

Also, a 900w microwave will use more than 900w in electricity as it is not 100% efficient - you could actually be achieving around only 60% efficiency so you could be looking at 1500w input for the microwave.

Volcano

thescouselander wrote: »

Also, a 900w microwave will use more than 900w in electricity as it is not 100% efficient - you could actually be achieving around only 60% efficiency so you could be looking at 1500w input for the microwave.

Just checked the back of my microwave and you're right; 1500w input= 900w output. The ability for microwaves to concentrate their energy on the food rather than the food+its enclosure must be the reason for the difference in cooking times.

Tamsin_Temrin

Sometimes I don't think I know enough science to be green.

My oven is pants so probably mike is better for me. Of course the potatoes are nicer in the oven and if I was cooking a stew in there I would shove them in then.