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Whilst we all want to have a wonderful Christmas we also don't want to have high fuel bills in January. So I have jotted down a few tips that I have used to reduce the energy we use for cooking.

Using the oven. Electric and gas ovens use a lot of energy so using them for the shortest amount of time is of course the key.
Try to cook more than one item in the oven at a time.

Pre-heat the oven as required but start cooking as soon as the oven reaches temperature. For electric ovens this usually means when the thermostat/temperature light goes out and for gas the fame will reduce when the oven reaches temperature.
If you have two ovens use the smaller one if the food will fit in. However often the smaller oven is not a fan oven and cooking times are therefore sometimes longer Cooking times or temperatures can be reduced for electric fan ovens over conventional ovens. It's one or the other though so make sure your food is properly cooked! Take food out of the fridge or defrost the food before cooking to shorten cooking times if this is possible. This is true when you use the microwave too. Every little helps.
Turn off the oven a few minutes before you remove the food as the oven will keep hot and the food will continue to cook.
Use a timer together with visual checks to make sure your food is cooked to perfection.

The hob is also a big energy users and once again reducing its use can really help in managing energy bills. Try to use the right size ring for the size of the pan so that the heat is covered and does not escape around the edges. Put lids on saucepans especially when things are first heating. Some times they need to be removed to stop water boiling over with pasta for instance. Once the saucepan is boiling reduce the heat. Once the water is boiling it cannot get any hotter so using more heat will not cook the food faster if you are using water. If you are using fat or oil a higher temperature does cook the food faster. With electric rings re-use the ring that has already heated up if you have two consecutive items to cook. Turn off the ring a minute or so before the end of the cooking time with electric hobs as there is enough heat to keep things boiling. Cook more than one thing in each saucepan - like two vegetables. Don't fill the pan too full with water when cooking vegetables. The water only needs to cover the food as all the extra water needs to be heated too and it is more likely to boil over.
Use a timer together with visual checks to make sure your food is cooked to perfection.

Learn more about this author, Richard Jemmett.
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