Cooking Tips

Save when cleaning your oven.  In the self-cleaning mode your oven reaches temperatures approaching 850° F.  You can minimize the energy consumption by starting the self-cleaning cycle while the oven is still warm from prior cooking.

Preheat only when necessary.  Do not preheat oven or broiler except when baked goods require a precise starting temperature.  If you must preheat, keep in mind that most ovens will preheat in 10 minutes or less.

Arrange oven racks before preheating.  You don't want to spend time with the oven door open while you fumble with hot metal racks.

Don't peek in the oven!  Each time you open the oven door the temperature drops 25 to 50 degrees.  Avoid lifting pot lids for the same reason.

Turn the oven off sooner.  Turn off the oven or range a few minutes before cooking time has elapsed.  It will still retain enough heat to finish the cooking.

Cook dishes together.  Cook multiple dished in the oven at one time.  When doing so, you should leave at least one inch on all sides of cookware surfaces, and avoid placing cookware on racks directly on top of each other.

Place aluminum foil properly.  If you use aluminum foil to catch drips in the oven, do not place the foil on the rack with the cookware.  This reflects heat away from the cooking surface.  Place foil on the rack below the cookware.

Don't over-boil.  Once water reaches a state of boiling, it doesn't get any hotter.  You can turn down the burner and still maintain a boiling temperature.

Keep oven and range clean.  A clean oven and range cooks more efficiently.  Keep drip-pans and oven surfaces bright and shining.

Thaw foods completely before cooking.  If you have time, thaw foods in the refrigerator.  It takes longer, but you are also saving energy in your refrigerator.  If you are really pressed for time, it is more efficient to thaw foods in the microwave than in the oven.

Use toaster oven or microwave.  Full size ovens are not very efficient when cooking smaller quantities of food.  Cooking a potato in an electric oven will cost about $0.10 as compared to at $0.05 in a toaster oven or $0.02 in a microwave.

Use a smaller pan.  Bigger isn't always better.  Use the smallest pan that will do the job.  It takes less time to heat a smaller volume.

Use the right pan for the burner.  With electric cooktops, use flat bottomed pots and pans that completely cover the burner.  Any burner surface that is not touching the cookware is wasting energy. 

Use copper bottom pans.  Cooper bottom pans heat up faster than regular pans.

Save with glass or ceramic pans.  Glass or ceramic pans in ovens are more efficient that metal.  You can lower the temperature approximately 25° F and cook in the same time.

Time your cooking.  Use meat timers to avoid overcooking.