Energy-saving cooking

Lizling

Hi all,

I expect this has been covered before, but I'm afraid I can't find it.

Now that I'm doing a lot of cooking from scratch and also have a new housemate who likes to cook, I'm beginning to think more about how to keep the electricity bills down.

I already know about slow cookers (but unfortunately don't think I'd get much use out of one) and I batch cook as much as freezer space will allow. Has anyone got any other tips?

How does using the hob compare to using the oven? How about the microwave and kettle?

My first step is going to be to always use lids on saucepans, instead of just when I've got the lid to hand.

McKneff

Get a 3 teir electric steamer, a whole meal can be cooked in one of these rather than having 3 or 4 rings on the cooker.

I dont have a hob at all in my kitchen, the only thing I would use it for is to fry an egg, so I dont fry eggs,
Put your whole meal in the steamer and stick a couple of eggs to boil in one end, you have tomorrows sandwiches for lunch then too.

System

Ive got a 3 tier steamer too but it goes on the gas cooker. I put the potatoes in the pan the veggies in the steamer that sits on top.

Fruball

Turn off the oven 15 mins before something is ready - residual heat keeps cooking the food - just might need to give it a couple of extra mins. Turn of electric rings before food is fully cooked for same reason. With rice, you can bring it to the boil for 1 minute, then turn it off for perfect fluffy rice.

If you are using the big oven, try to fill it with other things too - ie if you are doing jacket potatoes - cook loads of them and freeze the unused ones for microwaving later, or put a pie in with them or quiche for the next day lunch, roasted veg to make soup with, whatever else needs cooking.

Take things out of the fridge a good hour before you need them... then you are cooking from room temp, not from really cold

Same for kettle - fill kettle now for later on - mains water is freezing in winter so the kettle has to work really hard to bring it up to room temp before it even thinks about boiling it!

Hope that helps

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

just posetd an energy saving tip on another thread so apologies for repeating but it may help.

I have a cardboard box lined with polystyrene that I recycled from somewhere or another and one of my pans fit perfectly in it. I make a stew or curry etc and when at boiling pint, put the pan into the box and leave all day. It is ready at tea time and very tender. Beef especially is good in it as it make it tender.

rinabean

The microwave is much, much more energy-efficient than using the oven, and faster, too. Obviously it's only good for things that are more wet than dry, things you are not looking to brown. You can do things like cooking root vegetables for half the time in the microwave (look up the time for different things online) and then half in the oven - it's so much faster and they end up with the right texture and taste still (I would assume this isn't safe to do with meat, though). Most things you want to steam will be fine in the microwave, either as they are if frozen or with a few tablespoons of water underneath if not - but if you could steam them on top of a pot of something else that's boiling on the hob, that would be more efficient. And I always use the microwave for anything you'd want a double boiler for, especially melting chocolate. Just be aware that anything with a lot of fat, water or sugar tends to go from quite cool to nearly boiling very suddenly in the microwave, so check very often at least the first time you do it.

I know kettles are more efficient for boiling water than electric hobs! And definitely make use of their residual heat. I have an induction hob now and I don't know any more where I should boil water for cooking - I suppose I ought to just measure and time it one day. And induction hobs themselves are very energy-efficient, and as responsive as gas - I got a plug-in one and it's the best money I've ever spent in my life. If you can afford it and you have the space, I really recommend it! Although I miss watching things simmering away when the hobs are technically off, I don't miss waiting 5 minutes for the stupid things to heat up!

Don't boil pasta for the whole time, you can turn it off when it's half done if you've got a lid on it. (I've tried to do it with just leaving them in boiling water but they come out all gummy! Don't bother.) But I cook my pasta in the microwave now. No chance of them sticking or the pot boiling over. I also microwave rice, it can never stick to the bottom this way (and it's less tempting to stir it).

If you cook a lot of rice and/or pulses, I recommend a pressure cooker. They are very useful, and if you buy a modern one it won't explode, I promise!

VJsmum

How do you cook pasta in the microwave?

rinabean

VJsmum wrote: »

How do you cook pasta in the microwave?

Pretty much exactly the same as the hob! Big pyrex bowl, add pasta, boiling water from the kettle, salt, put it on on full power. In an ordinary 700-800W microwave, it takes the same time as it would on the hob. If you have one with a higher output (my MIL's is 1000W and also an oven), reduce the time by about 20-25%, or they'll be too soft! The only thing is to make sure that every piece of pasta is covered by the water. It's not such a big deal on the hob but anything poking out of the water will go hard in the microwave. I don't bother putting a lid on or anything else, though I doubt it would hurt.

pineapple

Forget the slow cooker and all the other things.
You can either invest in a thermal cooker or go diy like me. Cook up a stew for 20 minutes then leave for a few hours insulated in blankets and an old quilt. The food will cook itself.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/2511/Standard-Remoska-Electric-Cooker I use my remoska all the time and it saves me loads on energy prices. I bake my bread in it too and it has paid for itself in this alone.

HelenYorkshire

I just got a plug-in induction hob for about £45 off amazon, I have heard it's very efficient but I'm just amazed at how quickly it heats things up! Especially compared to "normal" electric hobs.