Energy-saving cooking

Ben84

Can't say I try extremely hard to save energy when cooking, but I have a few discoveries.

Gas is cheaper and quicker to cook with, both on the hob and in the oven.

I usually try to use the space in the oven as much as possible rather than just one shelf. Waste heat from my gas oven does help heat the house this time of year however, so I worry less about using it when it's cold.

Boiling water with the lid on the pan saves some energy, but it also keeps a lot of damp out the house so is worth doing.

Microwaves can be very time and energy saving, but aren't suited to all food types. I use mine a lot to cook rice and to re-heat food.

Lizling

Some brilliant ideas here!

Unfortunately I'm in rented accommodation, so I'm stuck with my current old electric cooker, but there's loads for me to try here.

Got a veg stew/tagine thingy just starting to cook on the hob (lid on) at the moment and a pizza to take in cold for tomorrow's lunch in the oven, so I'm going to try taking the stew off the hob and keeping it warm with the residual heat from the oven while I go out for an hour or so. Hope it's done by the time I'm back. :j

I might invest in a steamer too, but I'll have to think about how often I'll use it. I might be better off just doing the veg in the microwave and space is precious in my kitchen! Definitely going to try to make better use of the microwave, especially for pasta. I only really use it to reheat leftovers at the moment.

Not sure I'm going to get far with taking things out of the fridge in advance. It's a great idea and one I'd never have thought of myself, but it'd be 9 or 10 at night before I got my dinner.