There’s no getting around it, electric kitchen appliances can be costly. But what can you do? It’s not likely you’ll want to go back to living without a refrigerator, freezer or cooker. Not to worry – there are many ways you can save on these food-related apparatuses.
Electric cookers in particular can run up your electricity bill but making some simple changes in the way you cook can lower it significantly. Since we started using rice cooker, our electricity bill surely has come down by a bit.
Here are some tips on effective use of electric cookers.
Cook in bulk
First, plan a few meals at a time and cook them all, if possible, at once. You won’t have to preheat a cold oven or stove each night and you’ll have the added bonus of having dinner prepared in advance. This can be especially beneficial to those of you with kids! Dinner will be ready quick, without the nightly cooking challenge.
Chop, chop, chop
Take care to chop all your meat and veggies into small pieces. Smaller food will cook faster, requiring less time on the hob or in the oven. You can find inspiration from ‘MasterChef,’ or simply invest in a set of quality knives.
Pick a pan
Choose the best pan for what you’re cooking. There’s no need to fill a giant soup pot with water if you’re only cooking a small bit of pasta, for example. Invest in a good set of copper-bottomed pans, if you have can, as they heat up quicker than stainless steel. They may be more expensive to buy but you’ll save money in the long run
Putting lids on your pots can also help use less electricity. Once you have the liquid boiling, pop a lid on top to keep the heat in and turn down the hob. An added bonus? You’ll have less condensation in the kitchen.
Choose an appropriate ring
When cooking on the hob, use the smaller rings for small pots and larger rings for large pots. There’s no need to heat up a large ring if you’re only boiling a potato or two.
Reheat with the microwave
Finally, when it comes to reheating, it’s actually more efficient to use the microwave. There’s no need to heat up the hob, and certainly not the oven, when 30 seconds in the microwave will do the job.
So, using an electric cooker doesn’t have to mean a massive electricity bill. With some small changes in your cooking habits, you can lower your bill from today!
Using an electric appliances will surely increase our electric bills. When we cook meat, we usually chop it to a smaller size so that it will only take a few minutes for it to be tender. We also didn’t use air-condition but only electric fans. 🙂