Are you a mindful cook? Sure, sourcing locally and sustainably produced foods can make a world of difference in your health and can also help to reduce the environmental costs of long-transported foods, but how you choose to prepare your foods also makes a difference
We hear a lot of talk about energy consumption as it relates to how far our food travels to our plates. Indeed, local, sustainably produced foods make up about 80 - 90% of the foods on my family's table. Yet, how far your food travels before it hits your plate tells only part of the story. On average, the energy you use to prepare your food in your home constitutes about 25% of your food's total energy footprint. Essentially, that you can make a bigger difference in greening your plate by cooking efficiently and mindfully than by eating locally alone. As an added benefit, cooking more efficiently will translate into some real savings for your family's budget.
Cook Less and Eat More Raw and Fermented Foods to Save Energy
If you're not turning on your oven, range, slow cooker or other kitchen appliance, you're not using any energy save your own elbow grease. By making an effort to cook less and consume more raw foods, you'll not only consume less energy in your kitchen but you will also reap nutritional benefits as well. Many micronutrients are damaged or destroyed by heat, so raw foods and fermented foods like sauerkraut, preserved lemons, probiotic apple and beetroot relish are rich in vitamins and food enzymes which are essential to a wholesome diet.
Mind Your Pots, Pans and Lids
If cooking on your range, take great care to match your pots and pans to the appropriate burner size. Using too small a pan for a burner will result in significant heat loss while using too large a pan for a burner will result in uneven cooking. Similarly, lidding your pots and pans reduces heat loss while cooking foods more quickly and more evenly than cooking in pots and pans without lids.
Prepare More One-pot Meals
By preparing one-pot meals such as casseroles, soups, stews, and stirfries, you can help to minimize energy consumption in your kitchen. Consider this simple meal of roast chicken, steamed vegetables, and mashed potatoes. At a minimum, you'd need to use your oven and two burners on your range and you'd probably use at least three different cooking pots and, possibly more if you use your mixer to mash the potatoes. By contrast, a chicken soup with vegetables and potatoes would only require a single burner on your slow cooker. By using multiple, energy-consuming appliances to prepare a single meal you could easily double or triple the energy consumption of a one-pot meal.
Save Your Baking and Roasting for One Day a Week
An oven burns an awful lot of energy. A gas oven will cost about a nickel or a dime to run for an hour, but an electric oven will cost about $0.30 to $0.60 to run for an hour. If you're baking or using your oven for an hour 5 times a week, you're looking at a cost of up to $12 each month, which may seem minor, but minimizing its use not only will save you that $12, but also reduce your consumption of energy. Instead of eliminating baking (I mean, really now, would you want to miss out on goodies like Sprouted Wheat Bread, Easy Roast Chicken, and Pumpkin Custard), simply take one day a week to bake, roast, and use your oven. By scheduling a baking day and preparing all your baked and oven-cooked foods that single day you can maximize the space in your oven by baking different items together at the same temperature, and you'll also be able to take advantage of the residual heat in the oven, thus reducing energy loss caused by preheating.
Use Kitchen Appliances Wisely
In discussing energy-efficient cooking, you'll hear a lot about slow cookers. A slow cooker will generally reduce your energy consumption and costs by comparison to an electric range or oven and is comparable in energy cost to a gas range or oven. For example, when I prepare roast chicken stock in a slow cooker I'll generally simmer it for 24 to 36 hours depending on when I have time to strain it. The slow cooker method costs me less than a dollar; however, simmering it stove-top for 12 - 14 hours costs over $4. If you have an electric range or oven, a slow cooker will generally save you both energy and money.
Comparable Energy Cost of Cooking Appliances
| appliance | Energy Cost Per Hour1 |
| Electric Oven | $0.30 -$0.60 Per Hour |
| Electric Range | $0.07 - $0.30 Per Hour |
| Gas Oven | $0.05 - $0.11 Per Hour |
| Gas Range | $0.04 - $0.08 Per Hour |
| Slowcooker | $0.01 - $0.03 Per Hour |
| Your Own Two Hands | FREE! |
Energy Cost of Preparing Chicken Stock
| Appliance | Cooking Time | Approximate Total Energy Cost |
| Electric Range | 12 - 14 hours | $0.84 - $4.20 |
| Gas Range | 12 - 14 hours | $0.60 - $1.12 |
| Slowcooker / Crockpot | 24 - 36 hours | $0.24 - $1.08 |
Energy Cost of Preparing a Pot Roast
| Appliance | Cooking Time | Approximate Total Energy Cost |
| Electric Oven | 3 - 4 hours | $0.90 - $2.40 |
| Gas Oven | 3 - 4 hours | $0.15 - $0.44 |
| Slowcooker / Crockpot | 10 - 14 hours | $0.10 - $0.42 |
1. Data sourced from Flex Your Power, except Slowcooker Data which was calculated at Nourished Kitchen.
