Saving electricity when cooking

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

0

Posted by: Emily

My best money saving eco tip is that when I cook pasta, I bring the pasta to the boil with the pan lid tightly on and then turn the gas off, setting the timer for the number of minutes specified on the pack, letting the pasta cook in the already hot water. Not only saving me energy costs but keeping the kitchen a bit cooler and calmer too! Just thinking about the amount I must save annually by doing this in my pasta-crazed household puts a great big grin on my face! Happy cooking!

Listed In: money saving eco tips , food , tips

Created on: 03/04/2009
Last edited on: 05/04/2009

The Ooffoo Latest:
If you like the above then you'll love being kept up to date with 'The Ooffoo Latest' email newsletter. Keep on top of the latest news, tips, articles, recipes, listings, competition info, debates, special offers and much more all happening on ooffoo.com - It's 100% FREE and you can unsubscribe at any time of course Signup here!

Comments about this listing

Hi Emily, well you're a woman after my own heart! We do this too; I discovered it by accident during a power cut when I had just bought some rice to the boil. Have you tried it with other things?

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Rachelle Strauss
Date Posted: 06/04/2009 07:28

Dear Rachelle,
In answer to your question: yes! As the pasta was so successful, I've been trying it out with most things. Small frozen vegetables, canned beans, jars of pasta sauce, canned soup, rice, noodles, etc, all seem to work really well if you put the lid tightly on the pan and keep the pan sitting on the residual heat of the hob. Some of the 'wetter' things (like soup) have needed an extra boost of heat nearer the end of their time but I'm experimenting with everything! It's led me on to trying with turning the oven off too, so pizzas and garlic bread only get half their time with me paying for the heat and then sit in the hot oven for the rest. If the oven's on for long, I shove in a couple of potatoes to scoop out later and make in to mash later in the week. I'm really enjoying it to be honest! Have you got any other success stories?

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 06/04/2009 13:14

Hi Emily, i'm loving your list of successes! On the hob I have cooked potatoes, pasta and veg in this way. I want to try red lentils, but I'm a bit concerned about that and brown rice didn't work - it was more than al dente!

DH managed to cook the Sunday veg ontop of the woodburner one week; that was pretty neat. It took 3 hours, but still - 3 hours for free.

I too turn off the oven before cooking time has ended. (apart from chicken or cakes!) and I don't bother pre heating either. I have a fan oven and that seems to make a big difference. The thing I need to get better at is filling the oven when I put it on. I only plan ahead enough to manage that 50% of the time :)

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Rachelle Strauss
Date Posted: 07/04/2009 09:20

I find the planning ahead tricky too but I do try to make a plan for the week's meals and think about how I can best use the oven that week. Being real life though it doesn't always work out the way I want it to and I'm often left with a half empty oven too! However, I watched my partner cook at the weekend and he was so wasteful with the gas and with water too that it made me realise just how much I have learnt about being economical at home. I was frantically running around behind him turning everything off while he was still cooking - cue a very sulky fry-up!

I'm not sure red lentils would work either. If you cook them a lot, maybe you could just cut the cooking time by a few extra minutes each week until they start becoming a little too al dente!

The wood burning stove vegetables sounds like a good result though - I bet they tasted really good cooked that way.

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 07/04/2009 10:17

:D :D my husband has a habit of leaving the hob on long after he has eaten. His eyesight isn't brilliant, so he finds it hard to see that the rings are still on (ceramic hob, that when on low doesn't light up much).
My plans this year are to build a solar oven. A woodburner is fab, but of course, doesn't get used in the summer.
It sounds like you are doing great. I agree; sometimes you just do things without even realising. Then, when you watch someone else in the kitchen you realise you are doing so much already.
A steamer and slow cooker are great too for reducing electricity usage. I'm yet to pluck up the courage of a pressure cooker; but friends love them.
I would like to meal plan, but am too disorganised! With a daughter who eats for England one day and like a sparrow the next, it's impossible!

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Rachelle Strauss
Date Posted: 08/04/2009 08:01

We used to have a pressure cooker when I was growing up but I wouldn't know where to start with one now. Is it just for stews, casseroles, soups, etc?

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 08/04/2009 11:03

I don't think so; I think you can do most things in them, but I'm too scared to use one! I remember having the fear of God put into me during home economics lessons at school.

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Rachelle Strauss
Date Posted: 10/04/2009 08:54

I don't think I'll be getting one for myself just yet then!

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 10/04/2009 12:42

I'm not sure about pressure cookers but slow cookers are supposed to be great and eco friendly. I keep toying with the idea then doing nothing about it - where to keep it is a problem.

Re your pasta idea, I've started boiling the water in the kettle then adding it to the potatoes/pasta to leave it sitting for a while with the lid on so that they are partially cooked. You need to turn the hob on for a while at the end though.

Posted By: Andi R
Date Posted: 16/04/2009 11:14

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

I have storage problems in my kitchen too so am always wary of buying new gadgets without knowing how much I'll use them.

Thanks for your idea, Andi. I tend to do that too, although I bring it up to the boil at the beginning and then leave it, rather than turning the hob on at the end.

There's an advert for uswitch at the moment where there is a saucepan of baked beans bubbling on the stove without a lid on and it winds me up so much as cutting fuel bills is the point of the campaign yet there is an uncovered pan of clearly hot enough beans still bubbling away and still using electricity! If only all the people who heat beans in that way could use be shown ways to cook more economically then they could really save themselves some electricity or gas!

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 16/04/2009 15:57

Slow cookers are brilliant and definitely at the top of my 'must have' gadgets. Even in a small kitchen I would find space for one as you can do so much in there with the minimum of fuss.

I even do porrage and rice pudding in there for breakfast - it's great coming down to warm food in the winter!

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Rachelle Strauss
Date Posted: 17/04/2009 07:52

Congratulations Emily, not only for a great article, but for encouraging all the brilliant replies that followed. I adopted this idea and it is so simple and effective.

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Clara
Date Posted: 03/07/2009 10:27

Please overcome your fear of a pressure cooker. They save an enormous amount of energy when you cook the right foods. Dried beans, lentils etc pre-soaked will generally cook in 3-5 minutes on the hob, followed by standing time while the pressure's still up - the contents are still boiling then because so much more of the heat energy is retained. They're also good for steamed puddings etc and for long-cooking vegetables like old beetroot. I'm less keen on using it for vegetables like greens, fresh beans etc because it's so easy to overcook them, and similarly with rice. However I regard a pressure cooker as a routine piece of kitchen kit, like a microwave - anyone who thinks of themself as green shouldn't be without them because used for the right things they're so much more efficient.

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Paul H
Date Posted: 28/10/2009 09:28

Dear Paul,

Thanks for the advice. I've decided to put a pressure cooker/ slow cooker on my Christmas list this year as I'm sure I'd like it once I got used to it. I love to make stews and soups and things like that, so I'm sure it would save loads more energy.

Can anyone clarify the difference between a pressure cooker and a slow cooker for me? I'm not sure which would be more useful.

And thank you, Clara, for your kind words. I'm glad the tip was useful for you and inspired all the replies too!

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Emily
Date Posted: 28/10/2009 15:42

I've always assumed that slow cookers were primarily for meat dishes, and not much use in a vegetarian household. Am I wrong? Can you give me some examples of what dishes you can do in one?

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: Nick
Date Posted: 05/11/2009 09:17

Perhaps this article written by Clare Josa might be of some use?

http://blog.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/2008/03/01/pressure-cookers-or-slow-cookers/

CLOSE

Please login or register before reporting abusive content.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Posted By: VegBox Recipes
Date Posted: 05/11/2009 14:54

Please login or register before adding comments.

Click here to log in

Click here to register

Preview of Comment ( )

This was printed from www.ooffoo.com

The tags listed below are a great place to start browsing or why not click the 'View All' button to see the Top 500 tags.

CLOSE

What are tags? Tags are essentially categories and are the key words that people use to describe their listings or articles. Any word can be used as a tag except for ones that are naughty and would probably not be repeatable in polite company.