Though we all regularly use ovens in our households, using them efficiently is not always so common. It can be easy to use more energy than necessary with your cooker without realising it, making it take a costly toll on your energy bills as a result. That's why we're here to help you cut costs with our energy-saving tips for your oven. With just a few tweaks to how you cook, you can use your appliance in a far more cost-effective and energy-efficient manner. Let's take a look!
Energy-saving tips for your oven
To learn how to save energy and money with your oven, simply watch our video or read our many helpful energy-saving tips below.
Consider other appliances
One way to save energy with your oven is to simply not use it at all. Other appliances, such as microwaves and slow cookers, may cook your food more efficiently depending on what you're cooking. Because of this, it's always worth checking your other cooking appliances first to see if one may be more efficient for the task at hand.
Slow cookers
Slow cookers are a very energy-efficient way to cook meals for the whole family with a single small appliance. You can slow-cook a range of meats, stews and casseroles with less energy than an oven typically uses, so it's always worth investing in a slow cooker if you don't already own one.
Microwaves
Microwaves are also an energy-efficient alternative to ovens as they direct heat straight to food while it's cooking. This allows you to cook a range of foods and meals in a few minutes that would otherwise take much longer in an oven, such as jacket potatoes, soups and more. Therefore, you should always consider the possibility of using your microwave when cooking before jumping straight to the oven.
Tips for using your hob
Use a food steamer
When cooking on top of the hob, a tiered steamer is a great accessory for helping you cook food more efficiently. For example, you can boil potatoes in the bottom pan of a tiered steamer on the hob, then place vegetables in the upper layer to cook in the steam that rises from below. This will prevent you from unnecessarily using multiple hobs to cook multiple items, saving you money on your hob's energy usage.
Boil water in the kettle
When cooking with boiling water on a hob, the most efficient course of action is to fill up your kettle with only the amount of water you need, and then boil the water in the kettle first. Not only is this quicker than bringing water to boil on the hob, but your kettle also uses less energy to heat up water too, so this will allow you to get your water boiling for cooking in a faster, more efficient way.
Use the correct size hob ring
When using pans on the hob, it's important to use a hob that's the same size as the pan you're heating. If you use a hob that's too large, excess energy will be wasted on heating an area larger than necessary for your cooking, as pictured below. You could also end up damaging your pan or hurting yourself by heating up the handles from below.
However, if you use a hob that's too small for your pan, it will take longer than necessary to heat the pan and waste energy as a result. Instead, use a hob that's the same size as the base of the pan, or as close to the same size as possible.
Once the food you're cooking has reached the desired temperature and you want to leave it simmering in the pan, you should also make sure you turn down the temperature straight away. This will prevent energy from being wasted on heating the hob more than needed.
Choose the right type of pan
When trying to use your oven and hob in an energy-efficient manner, it's important to make sure you're using the most suitable pans. If you own a flat-top electric hob, make sure the pans you're using have flat bottoms as this will ensure they're making full contact with the hob and heating efficiently. If you own an induction hob, this will also affect which pans are compatible so you should make sure you buy pans most suitable for induction hobs. And, in general, stainless steel isn't the most energy-efficient material for pans, so instead prioritise using/buying cast iron pans or pans with copper bottoms, as these are more efficient.
Keep your hob clean
When cooking, it can be easy for food to fall onto the hob. That's why you should make sure you thoroughly clean your hob and wipe away any food whenever you've finished cooking. Otherwise, food will stick to the hob circles when they heat up and absorb some of the heat, making your hob less efficient than if it was clean. For more advice on how to thoroughly clean your entire oven, head over to our oven cleaning article here.
Tips for using your oven
Don't open the door during cooking
While it can be tempting to keep checking food as it cooks inside your oven, opening the door allows heat to escape. This results in your oven cooling down and taking longer to cook, reducing efficiency. Instead, keep your oven door glass clean so you can see your food inside clearly without needing to open the door and waste heat.
Check the door seal
If you find that heat is escaping from your oven during cooking, check the door seal. Make sure it's secure at the corners, then check for any rips or tears that might be allowing heat to escape. If you find that your door seal is damaged and not retaining heat properly as a result, you'll need to replace the door seal to get it working properly again.
Position the racks correctly
When it comes to the racks inside your oven, their positions can have a significant effect on how efficiently your oven cooks food. For example, the top rack is the hottest part of the oven, so this is the best place for cooking foods at higher temperatures and for browning foods like casseroles or gratins.
The middle rack is where temperatures are most moderate, making this the best place for even cooking. Therefore, if you're cooking just one tray of food, it's best to have it on the middle rack. However, if you're cooking multiple things at once, it's best to cook one on the top rack and one on the bottom rack, then switch halfway through for even cooking.
The bottom rack is best for slow-cooking and browning the bottom of food. So, if you're roasting potatoes and vegetables, baking bread or want to make the underside of a pizza crusty, the bottom shelf is the best place to cook.
Preparing large meals
If you have a lot of food to prepare, try to put it all inside your oven at once. This will allow you to bulk cook efficiently whilst using as little energy as possible. If you find that you don't have enough racks to utilise all the space in your oven, you can always buy new racks, whether they're universal or made specifically for your model of oven.
Use a non-stick oven base liner
While some people like to use foil at the bottom of their oven to catch drips and spillages, this isn't the best idea as it can interrupt the heat distribution inside your oven and even block the fan at the back. Instead, we recommend using an oven liner, which you can place at the bottom of your oven to catch any spillages more efficiently. However, this product won't be suitable for ovens which heat with an element underneath the base, so make sure this isn't the case with your cooker before purchasing an oven liner.
Turn your oven off early
Another handy hack to save energy is turning your oven off shortly before your food has finished cooking. Your oven will stay hot for a while and the residual heat will continue cooking your food to completion. By doing this, you will save energy by not having your oven switched on and heating for the final stretch of cooking.
Prepare food efficiently
Finally, here are a few tips for preparing food before you place it in the oven:
- When defrosting meat or leftovers, the best way to do this is to place them in the fridge to defrost thoroughly overnight before cooking them the next day. Otherwise, food may take longer to cook or not cook evenly, so you won't have the most efficient cooking results.
- The smaller the food is, the faster it will cook inside your oven, as a general rule. So, if you're cooking food such as roast potatoes, cut them into small pieces so that they cook more quickly and efficiently with less energy used.
There you have it! Our top energy-saving tips for your oven, your hob and other smaller cooking appliances around your kitchen. With these, you'll be able to cut down your energy bills in no time.
While you're here, make sure you're using your other appliances efficiently too! Our article on energy-saving tips for your fridge freezer will help you save plenty of money and energy when storing and preserving your food as well as cooking it. You can also check out our playlist of energy-saving videos for all of your other appliances, so you can save money and energy all throughout your household.
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