The price of electricity continues to skyrocket in Europe with two months in which all-time highs have been reached. There is little more we consumers can do than try make the most of our resources at home, especially in the kitchen. Since you have to eat every day and it is one of the rooms where more electrical appliances and appliances constantly consume energy, optimizing its use can lead to great savings at the end of the month.
The kitchen is not only one of the spaces where we usually spend the most time, we also accumulate many electrical appliances that we use almost daily, concentrating some of the largest appliances such as the oven, the dishwasher or the washing machine, without forgetting that the refrigerator is in operation 24 hours. Without making an apology for energy poverty, there are certain habits with which we can reduce our consumption.
How to save energy in the kitchen
Beyond going crazy with discriminatory schedules that have also stopped serving as a guide, rates and the ups and downs of the price of electricity in the wholesale market, applying some of the following tricks can make our kitchen more efficient and sustainable.
1. Cook dishes without cooking (or almost)
If you don’t cook, you don’t waste energy. This truism does not mean that you eat away from home or order to go – we would not save much -, but that you include dishes that can be prepared without turning on any appliance on your menus, or reducing them to the minimum.
We speak mostly of salads of all kinds but also of dishes that are enjoyable warm or at room temperature, which go beyond lettuce and tomato. Here the good processed such as cooked legumes, seafood cans or canned vegetables will be of great help, also saving us a lot of time.
2. Use energy-efficient appliances and small appliances
For instance, the microwave consumes much less energy than the oven or the kitchen hob, and there are many preparations that we can make with it in record time, from cooking potatoes or rice and quinoa to roasting almonds, improvising an espresso bread or roasting aubergines, sweet potatoes and peppers.
Other devices that consume very little are slow cookers or Crock-Pot type, since they barely get hot and cook slowly. The most efficient oil-free fryers also cost less than the oven and programmable pots or instant potsLike the pressure cooker or pressure cooker, they can also save energy by significantly reducing cooking time.
3. Multiply the amounts and plan (a little)
The typical fashion tip of the batch cooking it is nothing more than what so many generations have applied in their kitchen: overcooking to refrigerate or freeze leftovers. You don’t have to go crazy organizing all the meals of the week in one day in detail, but yes it helps to have some idea of what we can take advantage of for a few days.
After all, we will spend practically the same time and energy cooking twice of white rice or chickpeas, triple the tomato sauce or stew, or by boiling five eggs instead of a couple. If we also have a vacuum sealer, we will preserve more and better food.
4. Cook with the lid on and don’t open the oven (too much)
Put a pot to heat water completely uncovered or open and close incessantly The oven door – or the lid of the casserole itself – is a waste of valuable energy that only uses heat and light, also interrupting the homogeneous cooking or ruining a cake or souffle.
Avoid this loss to the maximum by controlling the times and checking the food through transparent doors and lids, and open them just a little when you have to keep an eye on the inside, to also avoid spoiling the cooking itself, creating those sudden temperature contrasts. The same can be applied to the refrigerator: do not constantly open it wide.
5. Soak everything soachable (and apply marinades or brines)
Although it is not essential to soak legumes before cooking, it is an advisable practice to make them more digestive and, above all, reduce cooking time. So don’t forget to hydrate the chickpeas or beans the night before, even 24 hours in the case of harder or larger legumes. Lentils, usually without the need for soaking, will also benefit from that time saving.
But it is a practice that works equally with other foods, such as whole grains and cereals (rice, quinoa, bulgur, millet, barley, spelled …), seeds and nuts, dried or dehydrated vegetables, fruits and mushrooms (such as ñoras, chili peppers and chorizo peppers), etc. In meat and fish, a brine or marinade also reduces cooking time.
6. Know when to preheat and when not to
Unless your oven is very old, it will most likely heat up quickly as soon as you turn it on. You don’t always have to wait to mark the indicated temperature before introducing the food, except in very specific cases such as cakes, bread, homemade pizza or cookies.
Vegetables, especially, can be grilled without problems without preheating, as well as egg-based dishes, pasta, stews or even meat and fish.
7. Use residual heat
This habit is very useful combined with the previous one, but we should apply it whenever possible to optimize the oven. If you have not caused the loss of heat when you open it, when you turn off the appliance it will remain very hot for several minutes. Depending on the power and what you are cooking, you can leave the last 5-10 minutes of baking after turning it off.
8. Appliances always clean and tidy (including gaskets)
Maintaining a good cleaning and maintenance of the fridge, freezer or the oven itself not only results in better food preservation, avoiding health risks, but also optimize your efficiency. And yes, you have to clean them from behind too, at least once a year.
The refrigerator and freezer are the appliances that benefit the most from this, since the ice buildup, frost or condensation can damage the motor or force the machine to expend more energy to maintain temperature by acting as an insulator. If we have it ordered and without overloading, the cooling will circulate more fluidly and will cool better.
Invest in a device no frost and check also the boards of the doors, and especially the rubber bands, since they are responsible for not losing heat or cold, in the case of the oven or pots.
9. Refresh old appliances
Although it is not a trick as such, do not forget that sometimes it is time to renew very old appliances that no longer work so well and that could be wasting too much energy. Take the opportunity to invest in an appliance with high energy rating, which will use less energy, last longer, and also pollute less.
If you have to renew the fridge, opt for a model with separate refrigeration and freezing circuits; In the case of the oven, the convection ones that have a fan / air and steam will be better, and the induction is always much more efficient than the glass ceramic. In addition, many models include eco or saving function.
10. Choose quick-cooking ingredients
If you can choose between different types of legumes, cereals, pasta or vegetables, opt for those varieties that are cooked before. For example, lentils take less time than chickpeas, and they are even faster. those without skin, like coral or red.
A rice vaporized it will be ready before a more generic or more glutinous one, and the couscous hardly needs to be hydrated with a hot liquid, without the need to boil; smaller pasta formats also tend to require less cooking time, and take even less time to cook. fresh pasta.
Consider the vegetables to cook according to their necessary cooking times, and remember that the fish are done before the meats, which will also take less time to cook. cuts or smaller pieces, something that we can apply to all the ingredients, if the recipe allows it.
11. Use the right fire for each pot or pan
When cooking on the hob, always choose the fire depending on the size from the pot, casserole or skillet. Too large a pan on a small heat source will take much longer to heat up and the food will not cook well; otherwise, a small container on a large fire, we would only be wasting energy.
It also makes no sense to use a huge casserole or pan to cook something small, again we would waste energy. Eye, rush too much overfilling the container or with a very large food can be counterproductive, spoiling the result of the dish.
12. Kitchen al dente whenever possible
Cooked pasta al dente it is tastier and healthier, and of course also faster. The same concept can be applied to grains such as rice or quinoa, which are also quite tough if overcooked, as well as vegetables.
Many vegetables gain in texture, flavor and nutrients when we cook them just enough, leaving them slightly crispy, either in a stir fry, baked or steamed. Notorious vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower are much better when you avoid overcooking blandurria.
In meat and fish you have to be careful because this idea it cannot be applied to all the products; poultry, for example, should always be fully cooked, and also fish with risk of anisakis -if they have not been previously frozen for at least five days-. But an overcooked salmon or a well-done fillet of veal not only uses more energy, it also loses flavor.
13. Try more raw foods
Some foods should never be eaten raw without risking health, but others are perfectly edible without the need for any cooking or heat source. In addition to having certain nutritional benefits (nutrient conservation, greater chewing and satiety …), they offer flavors and textures different from when they are cooked.
You can try it with the great majority of vegetables, such as carrots, red cabbage and other leaf sprouts, Brussels sprouts, broccoli or cauliflower, endives, kohlrabi and radishes, zucchini, peppers … If you find them too tough or aggressive, you can Laminate them, grate them finely or chop them into very small pieces, and leave them to marinate with a seasoning.
There are meats that should never be eaten without cooking them completely for sanitary precaution, like chicken, turkey or pork, but beef or beef carpaccio is a classic that we can buy ready-to-eat or use in dishes such as toasts, without forgetting the classic steak tartare.
In fish, sushi and sashimi are good options, also a marine tartare, a poke or a ceviche, remembering that the fish must have been in the freezer for at least five days, unless we use aquaculture 100% safe, to avoid anisakis, as we have already commented.
Photos | iStock – Unsplash – Marco Verch
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