Every penny saved is another penny earned.
Try this for size...the way you cook a meal can make all the difference too. I know this because I'm medieval about my meter readings and owning an electric cooker and hob, and as part of my energy monitoring routine (manual meter readings and an Excel spreadsheet) I often take a meter reading before and after cooking a dinner.
Especially if my missus is cooking, as she's not as unit conscious as I am. Well, she would be if the 'leccy bills came out of her pocket!
Take two identical meals, one cooked by herself a few weeks ago and one cooked by me on Sunday just gone. Times being hard, we usually just graze on stale bread, dry cornflakes or the smell of an oily rag most days, but once or twice a month, we decide we'll spoil ourselves and cook a dinner of sorts.
Peas and carrots all from the freezer, but originally from our garden, so that's the veg. A small/med Morrisons chicken,£3-£4 or so. A slack handful of spuds. Gravy granules because it's quick and they're already in the pantry.
Assume same size portions, same size chicken, give or take, and same cooking time. We're going for roast chicken, roast taters, boiled peas and carrots and a splash of gravy, right? Nothing too outrageous or fancy, just plain old fashioned grub. And yet for us, in these tough times, a veritable banquet.
Assume same rules apply for cooking time for the bird, parboiling time for the potatoes and that preparation is irrelevant. We're just focussing on energy.
Ladies and gentlemen (or rather, the wife and I), start your engines and get those dinners cooked!
Herself scored almost exactly 11 kWh or about £3.85. Me? I'll tell you in a sec, but here's how we cook dinner.
Her: Put oven on to preheat to 200°C.
Me: You don't need to preheat. It's a fan oven!
Her: Fill big saucepan from tap, add potatoes and a pinch of salt. Put on large ring and turn to 6
Me: Boil just enough water in the kettle to cover the potatos in a medium pan. No salt. Cover with lid and put on small ring. Turn to 2
Her: Lightly grease roasting tin, whop in the bird and sling in the preheated oven.
Me: As above, only turning fan oven on as I put the bird in. At same time, put a little oil in a small roasting tin and put that in the oven.
Her: Spuds are just starting to come to the boil, so turn down to 3. Wait 20 minutes.
Me: Spuds are not far off ready and can be turned down to 1 to just keep hot.
Her: Fill medium saucepan with water from the cold tap, add peas and carrots, pinch of salt. On small ring, set to 6.
Me: Pop out into the garden for a quick puff on my pipe, let the dogs out for a wee, then come back in and wash my hands.
Her: Taters are ready so drain them into sink then throw them in a small roasting dish with some oil and put 'em in the oven with the bird.
Me: Grab colander and drain spuds, but draining the water into a smaller pan and putting that back on the hob ring, still set to 1. Add drained spuds to pan of hot oil that's already up to temp in the oven.
Her: Fill kettle and set to boil. Put gravy granules in small pan. When boiled, add water to pan, stir until right, then put on hob. Simmer on 2.
Me: Add peas and carrots to small pan with the still hot potato water, cover with lid. Leave on 1.
Her: Check bird and spuds. Another 5 minutes.
Me: Yep, another five minutes, perhaps. I don't need to open the oven to check. Turn oven off.
Her: Chicken and taters done. Turn oven off. Leave bird on side to rest. Drain veg into sink. Hobs off. Job done.
Me: Yep, all good. Drain veg water into a small pan. Put back on the still hot hob that the veg were on. Add gravy granules, stir for a bit. Everything off.
Dinner is served folks. I'd love to offer you a small glass of wine to go with it, but you know how it is at the moment...times hard, and all that?
Oh, hang on a minute. I'd better just read the meter....
A nadger's under 7kWh.
Or about £2.45 in energy. Saving.... £1.40 or so. For exactly the same meal cooked on exactly the same oven.
Tell you what, good people. I'll cook the next couple of meals as well and maybe I can save up for a cheeky glass of Lidl's finest budget white after all. Cheers!
But, speaking seriously.
1. Boiling water in the kettle is about three times as economical, or a third of the energy, as heating up cold water in a pan on the hob. And you only need to boil it once.
2. If you have a modern electric fan oven it DOES NOT need preheating. Honest guv, it doesn't. No matter what Nigella Lawson says.
3. Likewise a modern oven can be turned off a few mins before the end of cooking. They're insulated. Unless you open the door, it won't cool very much.
4. Retain all the valuable heat you have used in your cooking water, rather than heating another cold pan up. Use a lid!
5. Not only will your dinner be cheaper to cook, it probably tastes better too and will be better for you.
Why? Because the potato water you have retained will have a little starch in it. It won't affect your veg, but when it ends up in the gravy....mmm.
Not only that, when you cook your veg, some of the vitamins and nutrients (and a bit of flavour) leach out into the water. Make your gravy with the same water...everything ends up in the gravy. You're not making your gravy with plain old water, but in essence you are making it with a veg boullion.
And no wasted heat poured down the sink at any point, or bringing any water up to the boil from cold, except the once in the kettle.
I'm probably teaching Granny to suck eggs here with many of you, and I apologise for the long winded post, but if there are a few of you who can pick up one or two energy saving cooking tips...and a few people can save a few pence here and there....
Over time, it all adds up. Cheers 🥂
We cook with Gas. I've never really thought about cooking costs. We have a Thermal solar panel that heats our hot water and my summer gas consumption is really very low. The sun doesn't shine strongly every day, so the boiler still cuts in occasionally. So, the summer gas consumption is cooking and some water heating.
It comes out @ 9.5 kWh per day for May- Sep. and the other months? 68.7 kWh per day. The contrast is really stark with the winter weather and water heating becoming significant factors.
But your analysis of cooking costs is interesting - it puts convenience meals cooked in a microwave back into contention. Usually decried as being an expensive way to feed the family, in energy terms it might actually be cheap.
