Holiday Cooking Tips

While preparing holiday feasts for your family and guests, remember these tips for energy efficiency in the kitchen.

• If your food needs several hours to cook there is no need to preheat your oven.
• Don’t open the oven door to take a peek at what’s inside. Opening the oven door lowers the temperature inside by as much as 25 degrees.
• If you use glass or ceramic pans, you can turn your oven temperature down 25 degrees and foods will cook just as quickly.
• Keep the refrigerator door closed and get as many items out at one time as possible.
• Refrigerators often account for as much as 15% of your home’s total energy usage.
• Self-cleaning ovens use less energy for normal cooking because of the higher insulation levels built into them. Consider using this feature immediately after using the oven.
• Clean burners and reflectors provide better heating, while saving energy. Reflectors can save as much as one-third of the energy used when cooking on top of the stove.
• Efficient microwave ovens use around 50% less energy than conventional ovens.
• Dishwashers that feature air power or overnight dry settings can save up to 10% of your dishwasher energy costs.