- Cover your pots and pans with tightly fitting lids while cooking so the steam stays trapped.Â This helps decrease cooking time and your food cooks faster (win/win!).
- Use pots and pans with flat bottoms and match pan size to the size of the electric surface unit. If a pan is too big or has a warped bottom, food won’t cook evenly. If the pan is too small for the surface unit, energy will be wasted.
- Turn off your electric stove 2 to 3 minutes before the food is finished cooking. This way, the food will cook from the energy stored in the electric coil and will help you save money.
- Use portable appliances for specialized cooking tasks. Appliances such as toaster ovens and slow cookers use less energy. If you plan to have a large gathering that requires you to cook a large quantity of food, you may want to consider using a portable stove in the garage rather than using the stove range in your home.Â This will prevent your home from overheating and, therefore, your air conditioning unit from working harder to cool your home.
- Use a microwave or convection oven instead of a conventional oven whenever possible. Microwave ovens use about one-third and convection ovens about two-thirds of the energy used by conventional ovens to cook the same amount of food.
- Do not preheat the oven if you are cooking a dish with a slow cook time. Preheating is only recommended for dishes which will cook in just a few minutes and require the oven to get a head start.
- Don’t open the oven door to peek at cooking food. The temperature drops 25Â° F to 30Â° F each time the oven door is opened.
- Watch the clock while you cook. Do not overcook your food as it not only loses its texture, taste and consistency but also uses more energy. When foods are cooked with perfect timing and heat, they taste better and are healthier for you.
- Make use of the oven’s leftover heat. Your oven retains heat for 15 to 30 minutes after it is turned off. Use that free heat to warm up desserts, rolls, and more.
About Glacial Energy: Glacial Energy is one of the fastest growing national retail energy suppliers selling electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional customers in deregulated markets across the country. Glacial Energy has the resources and market knowledge to provide customized quotes for your business or cost-saving opportunities for your home. Learn more about Glacial Energy by visiting:Â www.GlacialEnergy.com.