Are you paying too much to cook your food? Can you save money and reduce your energy costs? These Top Energy Efficient Cooking Tips will help you cook smarter. Energy costs have increased and reducing energy usage helps lower our carbon footprint. So how do different cooking appliances compare? Which ones are most energy-efficient and cheapest to run? How can you get the most out of yours? Here's a quick review of all the main cooking appliances with top tips on how to use them to save money. You'll also find hacks on how to save energy when cooking. For more tips on saving money on food waste, check out my Tips on Reducing Food Waste at Home. For quick wins at home, you'll love this list of ideas of how to reduce your carbon footprint and How to reduce your foodprint tells you everything you need to know about reducing the carbon footprint of your food.
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How to Save Energy Costs when Cooking
Follow these simple tips to reduce your energy use when cooking.
- Putting lids on pans : Putting a lid on a pan of water will bring it to the boil in half the time.
- Batch Cooking: Maximise energy use by cooking multiple meals in one session.
- Cut Food into Smaller Pieces: This helps reduces cooking time and therefore energy use.
- Defrost Naturally: Thaw food ahead of time without using energy.
- Turn off the oven or hob a few minutes early and let the residual heat finish cooking.
- Use the oven's heat for warming plates or drying herbs.
- Avoid opening the oven door frequently.
- Match your pan size to the burner size on your hob or stovetop to minimise heat loss.
Which cooking appliance is most energy efficient for which task?
Before we look at the different types of cooking appliance, here's a quick summary of the most energy-efficient ways to cook with different appliances.
- Use a slow cooker or pressure cooker for longer cooking times.
- Cook small meals in an air fryer or countertop oven instead of a full oven.
- A microwave is more energy efficient than a conventional oven for reheating food.
- Steam vegetables instead of boiling them to reduce water usage and also the cooking time.
- Use the Eco mode on AGA ovens.
1. Microwave - Most Energy-Efficient for Small Meals
Microwaves are significantly more energy-efficient than electric ovens due to their method of heating. For small meals or reheating, a microwave uses about 80% less energy than an electric oven. Cooking or reheating a meal typically takes only 5-15 minutes in a microwave, making it highly efficient for small portions.
- Efficiency: Top-rated for quick cooking with minimal energy use.
- Usage Tips: Use microwave-safe covers to trap steam, cook in glass or ceramic for better heat retention.
2. Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot - Rapid and Energy-Saving
Pressure cookers and Instant Pots are among the most energy-efficient cooking appliances because they cook food quickly by trapping steam and raising internal pressure. Typically, Pressure cookers and Instant Pots use up to 70% less energy than electric ovens, making them ideal for cooking stews, soups and casseroles quickly and efficiently. Meals that take hours on a stove can be ready in 30 minutes or less, drastically cutting energy use.
- Efficiency: Cooks meals up to 70% faster, using far less energy.
- Usage Tips: Ideal for stews, soups and casseroles. Batch cook and freeze meals for future use, maximizing efficiency.
3. Induction Hob - Highly Efficient Heat Transfer
Induction hobs are the most energy-efficient choice for stovetop cooking. They directly heat cookware without wasting heat which means they can cook food faster. This reduces cooking times and energy use with around 85 -90% of the heat energy transferred to the food.
- Efficiency: Transfers 85 - 90% of the heat to cookware, minimising energy waste.
- Usage Tips: Use compatible flat-bottom cookware. Take advantage of residual heat by turning the hob off slightly before cooking time ends. Cook with lids on to reduce energy loss and speed up boiling times.
4. Air Fryer - Quick, Crispy Results with Less Energy
Air fryers are highly energy-efficient due to their compact size and rapid hot air circulation, which cooks food faster than conventional ovens. Most meals cook in 15-25 minutes, significantly reducing total energy use. They also don't have long pre-heating times which saves on energy.
- Efficiency: Cooks 25-50% faster than conventional ovens and uses up to 50% less energy for small to medium portions.
- Usage Tips: . Cook multiple items at once using rack inserts. Avoid unnecessary preheating for smaller dishes. Whilst Microwave ovens are more energy efficient for reheating food, you probably want to reheat food in the air fryer that needs to retain a crispiness.
5. Countertop, Mini or Toaster Oven - Compact and Efficient for Small Dishes
A toaster oven is a compact, countertop appliance that functions like a small oven, using heating elements to bake, toast, and roast food. It's more energy-efficient than a conventional oven, making it ideal for small portions or quick meals.
- Efficiency: Uses up to half the energy of a full-sized oven.
- Usage Tips: Preheat briefly, use for small bakes or roasts, and combine with batch cooking for best results.
6. Slow Cookers or Crockpots - Low-Energy for Long Cooking Times
A slow cooker, also known as a crockpot, is a countertop appliance that cooks food at a low, consistent temperature over an extended period. It is one of the most energy-efficient ways to prepare meals, making it perfect for stews, soups, and casseroles and uses around just 25% of the energy that a conventional oven would need for the same meal.
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- Efficiency: Uses only 25% of the energy needed for an oven.
- Usage Tips: Ideal for soups, stews, and batch cooking. Minimise lid removal to maintain heat. Cook in large batches and freeze portions for later. Use the correct size cooker for your meal to avoid wasted energy.
7. Steamer - Healthy and Energy-Saving
A steamer is designed to cook food using steam, which preserves nutrients and requires minimal energy. It can be an electric standalone unit or a stovetop basket insert. The best foods to cook in a steamer include vegetables, rice and grains, fish and seafood
- Efficiency: Uses minimal water and energy.
- Usage Tips: Use tiered steamers for cooking multiple items at once. Cover the steamer tightly to reduce steam loss and cook faster. Avoid overfilling with water-just enough to produce steam is sufficient. Batch-cook and store for later use.
8. Electric Oven - Use Carefully
An electric oven is one of the most common kitchen appliances. It's suitable for baking, roasting, and broiling, but typically consumes more energy than other appliances. If we compare an electric oven to a slow cooker for example, an electric oven typically uses 2000 to 5000 watts of energy per hour, compared to a slow cooker that uses 150 to 300 watts. However, there are some instances when using an electric oven may be the most energy efficient and best choice for your food.
- Batch Cooking: Use your oven to cook several dishes at the same time, maximising the space.
- Large Roasts or Baked Goods: An oven can be more efficient for large cuts of meat or baking multiple trays, which all have longer cooking times.
- Efficiency: Retains heat well but uses more energy overall.
- Usage Tips: Bake multiple dishes at the same time. Avoid frequent door opening, and switch it off just before the cooking time is finished to cook with residual heat.
9. Gas Oven - Quick Heat, Less Efficient for Baking
When looking at gas ovens, there are a couple of things to consider. Firstly, if your gas oven has an electric ignition rather than a continuously burning pilot light, it can use up to 40% less gas. Secondly, when comparing a gas oven to an electric oven, in terms of carbon footprint, it depends where the electricity comes from. For electricity produced from renewables, the carbon footprint is almost nothing. For electric ovens where the electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, then the carbon footprint of the electric oven is higher than that of a gas oven. This is mainly because a gas oven will heat up very quickly whilst an electric oven takes longer.
However, one important factor you should be aware of in your home, is that gas is more polluting. A gas oven (and gas hob) will leak tiny amounts of gas, even when not in use. This can pose health and safety risks, particularly in homes with poor ventilation and can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and respiratory problems. Install a Carbon Monoxide Detector to help detect dangerous gas buildup.
- Efficiency: Heats up faster than an electric oven, making it more efficient for short baking or roasting tasks.
- Usage Tips: Turn the oven off just before the end of the cooking time to use the residual heat to finish cooking..
10. AGA Cooker - Traditional but Energy-Intensive
An AGA oven is a cast-iron, heat-storage cooker that remains on continuously, radiating heat for cooking. Agas can use either gas, electricity, or oil so the energy costs will depend on the type of fuel. On average, AGA ovens can use around 1.5 to 3kWh of energy per hour when actively cooking. This compares to 150 to 300 watts per hour for a slow cooker, 0.7 to 1.5 kWh per hour for a gas oven and 2 to 5 kWh per hour for an electric oven. However, many AGA's are used continually and an older AGA can consume 35 to 45 kWh per day. For comparison, a Gas Boiler (for heating) typically uses 20 to 30 kWh per day during colder months. An electric AGA can have a lower carbon footprint, if powered by renewable energy.
- Efficiency: Designed for multi-purpose use but energy-heavy if on continuously. When it's in use, try and get the most out of it by using it to help dry clothes for example rather than using a tumble dryer.
- Usage Tips: Use the hotplates, ovens, and warming compartments together and try and cook several dishes at the same time. Turn it off when it's not needed. Modern AGAs have programmable modes (Eco Mode) to reduce energy waste.
Final Thoughts
By choosing the most efficient cooking appliance for your needs and making small adjustments, you can reduce your energy consumption, save money, and cook more sustainably. Don't forget to check out all my sustainable recipes for more tips on saving energy and money.
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