Daily Tip : September 26, 2007

Reheating that leftover Chinese food from last night? You probably have several appliances available in your kitchen that you can use, but which one you choose -- and how you use it -- can have a significant impact on your energy consumption.

To reduce your kitchen energy consumption you can:

• Think small
  Ovens: In general, the smaller the oven, the less energy used in cooking, so choose the smallest appliance suited to the task.
  Stovetops: With an electric stovetop, make sure your pan completely covers the heating element. With gas burners, make sure the flame is fully below the pan; otherwise, you’re paying to heat the air around the pan, not just the pan itself. Also, use the appropriate size pan for your meal.
• Take advantage of residual heat. Turn off the oven or electric stovetop several minutes before the recipe indicates. Both will stay hot enough to complete the cooking process.
  
• Don't preheat the oven unless a recipe requires it.
• Use the right cookware. Glass and ceramic cookware conducts and retains heat better than metal. If a recipe calls for a metal baking pan, switching to glass or ceramic allows you to lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
  
• Don't peek. Opening the oven door can lower the internal temperature as much as 25 degrees. Use a timer to set the cooking time, and be sure your oven window is clean enough for you to see how your dish is progressing.
  

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Comments

[Leslie]

I would be curious to see a comparison of energy consumption using microwave ovens vs. gas/electric stoves and ovens for a given task.

[Marianne]

I use my stove at most once per day.... I eat my leftovers cold!

[Marianne]

I use my stove at most once per day. I eat my leftovers cold.

[Jeff]

It is important to remember, when you are using air conditioning you pay for cooking energy twice because you are getting rid of that excess heat. On the other hand, in the winter time cooking can allow you to turn down the thermostat for the rest of the house while you enjoy the cozy comfort of the warm kitchen and a hot meal!

[masterzen18]

i love toaster ovens when cooking for myself only. theyre real small, but large enough to get a single meal in, warm up real quick (usually in 1 minute) and require a minimal amount of energy to use (yes, all appliances with heating elements draw ALOT of energy, but because of the small area, its relatively little energy needed)

[PJ]

The microwave is most commonly used to reheat things in my house (except for pizza, which I would rather eat cold than soggy from microwaving.) Is this more efficient than reheating on the stove or in the oven?

[steve limbach]

Don't use the oven or stove for reheating. Use the microwave, more energy, but for a much, much shorter time ! Zero or no, "waste" heat !

[Jason English]

Microwave ovens use far less energy than a convection oven (1500 watts versus 7500 watts), plus it only takes 3 minutes to re-heat food rather than 20 minutes. So, a convection oven uses 35 times as much energy. A toaster oven still uses far more energy than a microwave. Plus, contrary to some propaganda out there, microwaves pose no more danger to the health of food than a convection oven. Just avoid plastic wraps and containers, if possible, in any oven!

[slywlf]

Microwaves may not pose a health risk simply by proximity, but after reading this article I have been using mine a lot less
http://www.newstarget.com/022015.html
Basically it says to use the lowest possible setting to get the heating needed to avoid destroying almost all the nutritional value in the food. I know, this site is sometimes a bit out there, but I remember enough basic science that it makes sense.

[sharon Pinsey]

I totally agree with the information presented about the micro-wave for reheating and even for a lot of primary "cooking". I'm devoting a whole section to micro-wave usage in the cookbook I'm writing. ;o>

[Tracy]

Plastic wraps and plastic containers potentially dangerous when, as they heat up, they they leach chemicals into your food. In addition, even the best quality plastic has a limited period of usefulness. Conversely, glass (and properly conditioned ceramic--double check) are completely food-safe AND will last a lifetime. So you get less unsafe chemicals and create less waste.

[sharon Pinsey]

I need to qualify my enthusiastic post in re nuking food. slywlf sent me scurrying to Google and now I am AGAIN cunfused about the issue. There are still a lot of ??? concerning this device and so I guess the best thing to do is keep reading, listening a learning...sorry! RAW is best, steamed is second-best. THAT hasn't changed.

[Jason English]

Yup, I agree with what Tracy/slywlf just said. I'm a *very* health conscious eater, and have read up on a lot of studies on microwaves, and they don't destroy any more nutrients than a convectional oven; in fact less, because microwaves heat food more evenly. To avoid destroying nutrients, eat raw, and steaming is second best.

[Aaron Matrone]

Raw is best in some cases, but in many instances, cooking releases more nutrients than leaving it raw, potatoes and tomatoes being some examples. Steaming is the best way to cook almost anything short of bread products and can be quite efficient if a dedicated steamer is used instead of the stovetop. Microwaves eliminate as much as 80% of the flavanoids in broccoli and boiling is even worse. I imagine it's similar with baking. In the end, it's about energy intensity and time that make the most difference regarding nutrient content in cooked food.

[carol]

I use my rice cooker for reheating. I can cook rice and, using a bowl on a long legged trivit, warm or cook the rest of the meal at the same time. If I'm cooking brown rice, I have to set the timer so I can add the quicker cooking items part way through. Also, if the air in the house becomes dry (in the winter) this can add humidity.

[Stephen Nickels]

I've never seen a recipe that did not call for the oven to be pre-heated. That said we have two ovens and I almost always use the small top oven.

[Robert A. Vanderkamp]

Use the microwave! Dah!

[Mark Burwinkel]

Hear is some important info about Microwave ovens from newstarget and why to avoid them.

Health: Microwave ovens destroy the nutritional value of your food
The rise of widespread nutritional deficiencies in the western world correlate almost perfectly with the introduction of the microwave oven. This is no coincidence. Microwave ovens heat food through a process of creating molecular friction, but this same...

http://www.newstarget.com/021966.html

[June]

Microwaves save time and money but do they really save our health?? Probably not so what are we to do?

[Carlisle]

Another tip is to use a toaster oven or a microwave since they are small and take much less energy than an oven.

[Greg]

Well, I read the article and the experiment with the CD is all wrong. The heat is enough to exceed the glass transition temperature of the plastic when it then softens and distorts. You can do this with any medium. The author starts out ok , but hten continues past the practical application of microwaves. Most microwaves are tuned to reasonable tight frequencies to excite hydroxyl bonds (waters and fats) and kept at a energy level that is low enough to let one effectively cook. The extrapolation to radioactivity steps way outside the energy spectrum being used.

The author is a good writer, but not a good scientist.

[Celia Burns]

We finally replaced our old Kenmore fridge, PURCHASED IN 1967!!! It bit the dust in 2003. Of course, we bought another Kenmore, but one that is energy efficient!!!