Reducing Home Energy Costs

Cooking: OEP Quick Tips

• Use pots and pans with flat bottoms the same size as the burners. This reduces heat loss.
• Make sure reflector pans beneath the stove’s heating elements are bright and clean. They reflect heat onto the bottom of the cookware.
• Covered pots or pans will boil or steam faster, allowing lower temperature settings.
• In Summer, cook outdoors, use a microwave oven, or prepare cold meals to avoid heating up the kitchen and adding moisture to the air.
• Microwaves use less than half the power of a conventional oven and cook food in about one-fourth the time.
• Use small appliances like a toaster oven or electric skillet. On average, they use half the energy of a full-size oven.
• Turn off the surface element or oven a few minutes before cooking time is up. Electric stoves stay hot for a few minutes after they’re turned off.
• On a surface unit, start with high heat and lower the setting when the food starts to bubble or boil.
• Don’t line oven racks with foil. It blocks the heat flow and makes the oven work harder to cook food.
• Do your heavy summer cooking in the cooler early morning or evening hours. Try to use the range top more, the oven less.
• It takes energy to heat water so use as little as possible. Most frozen or fresh vegetables can be cooked in a quarter cup of water. Even eggs will cook in this reduced amount if the pan has a proper-sized lid.
• In the oven, cook as many dishes as possible at one time. Foods with cooking temperatures within 25 degrees can be cooked simultaneously at the same temperature.
• Preheat the oven only when necessary. Many foods don’t require it.
• Don’t peek into the oven. Each time the door is opened, the temperature drops 25 to 50 degrees.
• With stews, soups, and other foods that need long cooking times, cook in large quantities and freeze in meal-sized portions.
• Use a pressure cooker. It cuts cooking time to one-third that of conventional methods.