Energy Saving Tips for the Kitchen

How much time do you spend cooking per week? Per year? Well, according to Ideal Home, cooking is the most time-consuming chore in our lives, taking up a whopping 253 minutes per week or 439 days in a lifetime! That might sound like heaven to chefs and foodies but that’s also a lot of energy being used in the kitchen!

Simple actions like heating up last night’s leftovers or making a quick cup of tea in the advert break can use up a lot more energy than you think. We’ve got some top tips for saving energy in the kitchen:

1. Make sure the pan covers the entirety of the hob. Any space outside the edge of the pan is where wasted energy will escape.
   
2. Make sure you pick the right size pan for the job. A bigger pan takes longer to heat up and you will need more water to fill it. It takes more energy to heat a larger pan with only one fifth full with water in it than it does to heat a smaller pan that is full of water.
3. Try turning off the heat a couple of minutes before your food is fully cooked. This works particularly well with electric hobs as they can take a while to cool and will continue to cook the food.
4. Don’t use more water than you need. Boiling extra water takes more energy and time.
5. Use a kettle. It is better to heat water in a kettle, rather than on the stove then transfer it into a pan once boiled.
6. Reduce the number of pans you cook with. This will in turn lead to less washing up, saving water, cleaning products and time.
7. Try a steamer – it’s not only the best way to cook your vegetables because of the way it retains the nutrients in them but you can also cook several things are once on one heat source. ie boil your pasta in the pot and steam your vegetables in the steamer on top. Check out our Stainless Steel Multi Steamer here. Michelin-starred chef Paul Welburn loves using our Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Steamer to cook fish. Steamers are incredibly energy efficient, using the heat from boiling water below (which you can also use to cook pasta, vegetables, and much more at the same time!). It fits perfectly snugly on top of our saucepans which is great for cooking and storage.
8. Choose energy efficient products – our stainless steel tri-ply pans are made for induction not only very effective at heating up but the interior metal aluminium acts like a hot water bottle and keeps the pan hot and also helps product an even heat distribution. Also not all induction pans are made the same. We have tested lots of different pans on the market today and some of them even though they are induction compatible still take ages to heat up. We know our Stainless Steel Tri-ply pans are perfect for the job and heat up very quickly.
9. Try to avoid opening the oven too often. This lets out the hot air and wastes energy when the oven has to work it’s way back up to the set temperature wasting energy.
10. Have a lid? Use it! Water will boil faster and food will heat quicker when using a lid.

For more info, the Energy Saving Trust has great ideas here too.