Cooking Cuts

So let's face one of the energy hogs of our household. The kitchen (ahh - insert jaws music here). In a kitchen we keep things cool and cold, so we can then heat them up and turn liquids into solids. Compounding this energy drain, this is all within the temperature controlled environment of one's house. So since we are not all going to start eating all our food raw - here are some tips.

1. Fridge/Freezer- when it comes time to replace - get the most efficient one you can. This also means evaluating whether your family needs the biggest, baddest one on the block. When you think about it, it doesn't make sense to pay to cool space in the house you pay to heat - if you aren't going to use all of it. Perhaps the 18-22 cubic foot model will do instead of the 24.5 cubic model. Side note - a full freezer cools more efficiently. If you have empty space fill it with an water filled jug. This will keep your freezer costs down.

2. Stoves - they are energy drains - use them judiciously. Preheat as little as possible. Don't wait around with the oven on. Consider cooking bigger meals less often and eating leftovers certain nights. When purchasing an oven consider that some newer stoves have double ovens in conventional frames - one smaller single tray oven and one regular oven. The smaller one will preheat faster and operate with less energy. This concept applies to a counter top toaster oven etc.

3. Use lids - covering the water when heating saves $$ and time.

4. Use only the amount of necessary water in prep - Using less will mean, less time, less money for the water and the gas to heat it. If we did this with pasta alone we would save staggering amounts of energy just in the US.

5. Use crock pots - Crock pots use a whole lot less energy when compared to a range or stove, even though the cook time is longer. The last stat I heard was 2 cents per hour.

6. Self clean your oven after cooking to reduce energy consumption. That oven has got to get to 900 degrees or so to self clean- it might as well already be at 400.

7. Keep your microwave clean - Microwaves are more efficient when they are clean. Best way to clean a microwave without unnecessary cleaners. 2 cups of water and several slices of lemon. Nuke it for 2 minutes and the crusties wipe away oh so easily.

8. Match your pan size to the heating element or turn down the flame on a gas stove. Element space or flame outside of the bottom of your pan isn't doing you any good - especially if it is in the summer when your air is on.

9. Fill the dishwasher - fill it up to the max and then run it.

10. Although scraping and loading is best, if you must rinse your dishes prior to loading them in the dishwasher, use cold water and skip the dish soap. This will save energy in heating the water and you will use less soap, less impact etc.