It's November and the holidays are upon us! Many of you will be cooking more and consequently using more electricity, so it's a good time to use energy-efficient cooking techniques.
Hot hints for your cooktop:
- Keep reflective drip pans clean so they will reflect heat better and reduce cooking time.
- Match the size of the cookware to the surface unit, using the smallest pan necessary.
- Use cookware with a flat bottom for efficient heat transfer.
- Keep the lid on. Foods will cook faster, using the steam created inside.
- Turn the heat down when food reaches the proper cooking temperature, so as to use a minimum amount of heat.
- Turn the surface unit off a few minutes before the food is completely cooked and let the residual heat finish the cooking.
- Use a pressure cooker when preparing an item that takes a long time. It will reduce cooking time significantly.
Timely tips for your oven:
- Avoid preheating your oven, unless you are baking products like breads, cakes, cookies, and pastries. And when you do preheat the oven, it should only take 10 minutes.
- Use glass or ceramic pans when possible, as you will be able to reduce your cooking temperature by about 25° F, and foods will cook just as quickly.
- Don't cover your oven racks with aluminum foil because it blocks the flow of hot air.
- Use the oven to capacity whenever possible, preparing foods that bake at the same temperature.
- Keep pans in the oven separated from each other, not touching the oven walls, to maintain proper heat circulation.
- Avoid opening the oven door while baking to keep from wasting heat. Use the oven window to check on food or use a timer to monitor cooking time.
- Set the self-cleaning cycle immediately after baking, if you must clean the oven. When the oven is hot less energy is required to heat the oven to the cleaning temperature.
