You may be a good cook but is your cooking energy-efficient? In many households in the United States, approximately 10 percent of the costs spent on energy consumption are from using wall ovens for cooking and baking purposes. Hence, we have collated some practical energy saving tips for wall ovens that will help you save money on your energy bills next month!
DO NOT PEEK INTO YOUR OVEN!
Every time the oven doors open, some heat will escape from it. This will result in the oven having to work harder, thereby consuming more energy than required. When it comes to ovens, just opening it once will result in a loss of about 20 percent of energy. Peeking into the oven often will also result in the food taking a longer time to cook. If you want to check the food, you should use the oven light and look through the window in the oven door instead.
COOK MULTIPLE DISHES TOGETHER
To reduce running time, be strategic with your oven racks and place several dishes in at the same time. For example, if you are warming up your Mac & Cheese and cooking a chicken dish – don’t separate them for their time in the oven. Usually ovens have several drawer levels and you can take advantage of this feature. This way, you can save both time and energy.
REDUCE COOKING TIME
Defrost the frozen foods in the refrigerator before you start cooking so that your wall oven can save energy on bringing your frozen foods to room temperature. Unless you are baking pastries or bread, it may not be necessary to preheat the oven. Additionally, you can switch off the oven 10 to 15 minutes before your cooking is completed. As there will still be residual heat left inside the oven, simply ensure the oven doors are shut and your food will continue cooking at the temperature you set earlier.
USE THE SELF-CLEANING FEATURE WISELY
If your wall oven has a self-cleaning function, the most ideal time to use it is right after you have just finished cooking a meal. This way, the oven is still hot, and it will take less energy to operate the self-cleaning function. Even so, try to limit the use of the self-cleaning option, and make sure to turn on the ventilation fan as well.
INCREASE CIRCULATION
When air in the oven can circulate freely, food will cook faster and more efficiently. Try to avoid laying foil on the racks. Whenever possible, stagger pans on the top and bottom racks to promote better airflow if you are baking multiple pans at the same time.
USE CORRECT COOKWARE
This may be surprising to some, but using the right cookware can actually help you save a significant amount of energy. In the oven, using ceramic or glass pans instead of metal will allow you to reduce the temperature by around 25 degrees and you can cook foods just as quickly. Cookware with straight sides, flat bottoms, and tight-fitting lids will also allow food to heat up faster and more efficiently.
PROPER MAINTENANCE
When your oven is well maintained and kept clean, it will function more effectively. Hence, it is important to clean it regularly and make sure that food particles do not accumulate on the inside surfaces of the oven.
Whether the unit you have at home is a double wall oven or a combination wall oven, we hope you now have all the knowledge you need to save energy while using it!
