Hi guys! 👋
With the holidays coming up - a lot of us will be spending more time in the kitchen than we usually do! 🎄👨🍳🥘
The holiday season costs can really start to add up. The costs of making even a bite to eat extend beyond getting your ingredients from your local supermarket – your oven, microwave, slow cooker and any other kitchen gadget can be a drain on your energy spend. 🤑
We’ve put together these top tips to make sure you’re not wasting money when cooking up your culinary creations this festive season and beyond.
Cook in batches
Bulk cooking is a great way to save energy and convenient for families. Cooking a large portion of your favourite meal(s) utilises the energy you use on cooking, instead of cooking normal sized portions repeatedly. It will also put your freezer to work – having a full freezer means it will retain the cold in, and in effect use less energy.
Putting your freezer to work saves time and money during the busy cold weather months (especially as we head toward the frenetic holiday season). If you can find a couple days to devote to doing some big-batch cooking, jump on it — you’ll have healthy, prepared meals at the ready which will help reduce the number of take-out dinners you rely on in a pinch.
Boil the kettle to help speed up cooking on the hob
Got some broccoli to boil? A great time and energy saver is boiling the right amount of water in the kettle first, then pour it into your pan on your hob, it will kick off the boiling process, and in turn use less energy than heating it from scratch on the hob or gas cooker. Psst, don’t forget to put a lid on the pan to retain the heat, it’ll also make it cook faster!
Defrost the natural way
Pop your frozen item for defrosting in the fridge the night before, or first thing in the morning of cooking. It can half the cooking time and save energy costs on your cooking.
Keep your oven as clean as possible
Any excess burnt food, or greasy overspills lurking in your oven will absorb the heat, this can be particularly bad with electric cookers, making them work less efficiently.
Steam away
Using a steamer uses less energy and is a quicker and better way to cook your veg! Which? Have reviewed and shortlisted nine on the market to suit an array of budgets, click here to see more. If you don’t have one, simply pop a colander over the top of a pan that’s already on the boil (just make sure you pop a lid on top) and you have a DIY steamer!
Keep your oven door closed
This may seem an obvious one, but it’s surprising what a difference it can make. Every time you open the oven door it loses 25 degrees, so it has to work harder to get back up to the right temperature again. Instead stick to your trusty timer, and the oven light!
Use the right sized cooking pans
Using a massive pan to fry a small amount of food will just waste energy and time trying to heat up excess water. Also, make sure your pan is on the correct sized hob/gas ring. If you can see excess gas or hob ring appearing around the sides, you’ll be losing energy and it won’t be cooking as efficiently.
Cooking methods
One of the most energy efficient & cheapest ways to cook is with a microwave. Another low-cost way to cook is by using a slow cooker. And lastly, an electric hob proves to be the third least expensive way to cook!
With the holidays coming up - a lot of us will be spending more time in the kitchen than we usually do! 🎄👨🍳🥘
The holiday season costs can really start to add up. The costs of making even a bite to eat extend beyond getting your ingredients from your local supermarket – your oven, microwave, slow cooker and any other kitchen gadget can be a drain on your energy spend. 🤑
We’ve put together these top tips to make sure you’re not wasting money when cooking up your culinary creations this festive season and beyond.
Cook in batches
Bulk cooking is a great way to save energy and convenient for families. Cooking a large portion of your favourite meal(s) utilises the energy you use on cooking, instead of cooking normal sized portions repeatedly. It will also put your freezer to work – having a full freezer means it will retain the cold in, and in effect use less energy.
Putting your freezer to work saves time and money during the busy cold weather months (especially as we head toward the frenetic holiday season). If you can find a couple days to devote to doing some big-batch cooking, jump on it — you’ll have healthy, prepared meals at the ready which will help reduce the number of take-out dinners you rely on in a pinch.
Boil the kettle to help speed up cooking on the hob
Got some broccoli to boil? A great time and energy saver is boiling the right amount of water in the kettle first, then pour it into your pan on your hob, it will kick off the boiling process, and in turn use less energy than heating it from scratch on the hob or gas cooker. Psst, don’t forget to put a lid on the pan to retain the heat, it’ll also make it cook faster!
Defrost the natural way
Pop your frozen item for defrosting in the fridge the night before, or first thing in the morning of cooking. It can half the cooking time and save energy costs on your cooking.
Keep your oven as clean as possible
Any excess burnt food, or greasy overspills lurking in your oven will absorb the heat, this can be particularly bad with electric cookers, making them work less efficiently.
Steam away
Using a steamer uses less energy and is a quicker and better way to cook your veg! Which? Have reviewed and shortlisted nine on the market to suit an array of budgets, click here to see more. If you don’t have one, simply pop a colander over the top of a pan that’s already on the boil (just make sure you pop a lid on top) and you have a DIY steamer!
Keep your oven door closed
This may seem an obvious one, but it’s surprising what a difference it can make. Every time you open the oven door it loses 25 degrees, so it has to work harder to get back up to the right temperature again. Instead stick to your trusty timer, and the oven light!
Use the right sized cooking pans
Using a massive pan to fry a small amount of food will just waste energy and time trying to heat up excess water. Also, make sure your pan is on the correct sized hob/gas ring. If you can see excess gas or hob ring appearing around the sides, you’ll be losing energy and it won’t be cooking as efficiently.
Cooking methods
One of the most energy efficient & cheapest ways to cook is with a microwave. Another low-cost way to cook is by using a slow cooker. And lastly, an electric hob proves to be the third least expensive way to cook!
Last edited by Rebecca; 12-12-23 at 12:40.
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