Cooking Changes to Save on Energy Costs

Making changes in the way you do things within the home can save money.  Sometimes, the amount of money is small but over the long-term, it adds up whereas other times, the amount saved is significant and enjoyed immediately.  The thing to remember is that no matter how much now or later when making changes within the home to cut down on energy consumption and save money, it boils down to savings over the long haul.

Of course, along with reducing energy usage and saving money, many changes made within the home also support a healthier planet by reducing gas emissions specific to the greenhouse effect and depleting the ozone layer.  Because more and more people are becoming aware of the importance in doing what they can to save on energy, the range of options for making this happen has grown.  Even deciding to cook without preheating the oven can have a positive impact on energy consumption and finances.

To understand the savings, it is important to understand the cost of cooking.  For instance, using an electric oven to cook a traditional casserole at 350 degrees for one hour would cost about $.16.  However, the same casserole in a gas oven would be just $.07.  For one thing, this shows that the cost of cooking is much less with gas than with electricity.  One reason is that gas is not as expensive but second, a gas oven does not need to be preheated as an electric oven does.  Therefore, heating space ultimately costs less body butter business names.

If your oven is electric, you can greatly reduce the cost of cooking by making a few simple choices.  For one thing, unless necessary, do not preheat.  If you do need to preheat, which is necessary for certain foods but in many cases, preheating is done only because instructions on a pizza or some other food items says to do so.  Along with this, by opening the door to check on food being cooked is just as bad, if not worse.  While preheating requires a lot more energy, each time the oven door is opened, even just a small amount drops the temperature by 25 degrees.

Some other tips on how to save on energy in the kitchen include the following:

•    About two minutes before the allotted cook time, turn burners off and about 10 minutes early, turn the oven off.  Food will continue cooking but without the need for electricity to be providing heat.

•    If your oven is older, check seals around the door.  Any gap, even small would allow heat to escape.

•    Replace old stovetop coils for better and more even cooking, but less energy consumption.

•    When purchasing a new oven, go with one that is Energy Star rated but also go with a self-cleaning oven.  The reason is that these ovens are better insulated than others are so they retain heat better, meaning they are more energy efficient.

•    When cooking more than one dish in the oven, stagger them on shelves and positioning to allow for better airflow.  This would allow heat to circulate freely, which means cooking time is reduced.

•    By cooking with ceramic or glass pans, oven temperature would be reduced 25 degrees.  In other words, if a casserole requires the oven temperature to be at 375 degrees with standard dishes, temperature would only need to be 350 for glass or ceramic in that food cooks faster.

•    Stovetop reflectors help catch messy spills but they also reflect heat.  As a result, less energy is used and money saved.  In fact, the newer type of reflectors now being sold can actually reduce energy use by 33%.

•    Always use the heating element on the stove to coordinate with the size of pan.  Placing a small saucer on the large element actually wastes as much as 40% energy.

•    For gas ovens/stoves, if the flame is yellow, not blue, it is an indicator that the unit is not working properly and needs to be fixed.

•    Rather than use full flame, keep stovetop flames on a gas unit to a medium setting to conserve energy.

•    Avoid covering oven racks with foil as a way of catching spills.  The reason is that this blocks flow of hot air, which means food takes longer to cook.

•    Finally, for single food items use a toaster oven or microwave rather than a full-size unit.