Energy Saving Tips for the Kitchen this Summer
By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD and Energy Upgrade California
Serve up energy savings with a few of these simple tips– because it all adds up! By utilizing even one of these tips or recipes:
- Utilize your slow cooker.Save time and energy by using a slow cooker to cook your food throughout the day, so it is ready for you when you return home. Slow cooking a protein (such as pork or chicken) provides you with a base for different recipes throughout the week.
- Make sure to use the right pots and pans.Using a 6-inch pot on an 8-inch burner can waste 40% of the heat generated by the burner! Plus, if you’re boiling water for something like pasta, make sure to cover the pot when bringing the water to a boil. It will come to a boil much faster, while also saving energy.
- Cool down with cool food.Choose dishes that require very little heat to make so that you can avoid using a lot of energy and warming up your kitchen and household. If you need heat to cook, save energy and time by heating your food on a stove or on a grill outside versus in the oven.
- Keep your freezer full.By keeping your freezer well stocked, you can reduce your energy usage – and with summer having started, this is a great time to make sure you have frozen fruits and veggies for smoothies or popsicles!
** Fill the dishwasher all the way before running it – you’ll use less water and energy per dish. Also scrape remaining food off plates instead of rinsing them before loading them into the dishwasher.
** Adjust your refrigerator’s temperature. The colder the temperature, the more energy used, so set your fridge to between 35 and 38 F.
** Consider using an outdoor grill instead of your stove or oven on hotter days. And since you have your grill all fired up, you might as well grill up your protein for a couple meals at the same time.
** Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator. Running hot water over frozen foods to thaw them wastes a lot of water. You are better off defrosting them in the refrigerator overnight.
