Home-cooked meals are a big part of celebrations – and all that cooking and baking may generate more energy use. However, you can take a few simple steps to save energy and money in the kitchen.
- Use a timer to ensure the oven or stove is turned on only as long as it needs to be.
- Keep the oven door closed – opening it just once can cause a 20-degree drop in your oven temperature, forcing the oven to work harder to return the set temperature.
- Bake multiple dishes at the same time to reduce the amount of time an oven is turned on.
- Use glass and ceramic baking dishes, which retain heat better than metal and enable you to reduce the oven temperature by 25°F.
- Use your oven’s convection setting (if it has one) – it will circulate hot air and cook foods faster.
- Turn off the oven a few minutes before the timer goes off, to use residual heat.
- On the stove, keep pots and pans covered to prevent heat loss.
- Use stovetop burners on the lowest possible setting for maximum energy efficiency.
- Allow hot leftovers to cool completely before storing them in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Use a slow cooker for a variety of dishes – it will save time, too!
- Turn down your home’s thermostat; ambient heat from the kitchen will help warm up your space.
Pro Choice: #CookingWithGas
Cooking with gas is the way to go, in homes and restaurants from coast to coast. For speed, control and reliability, the country’s top professional chefs prefer cooking with natural gas. Find out more about #CookingWithGas.
Fact: households that use natural gas for heating, cooking and clothes-drying save an average of $874 per year compared to homes using electricity for those applications, according to the American Gas Association.
Source: South Jersey Gas; Volunteer Energy.
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