| Cookers and Microwave Ovens |
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Choosing the right heating method for the job is the key when cooking your food. If you want to reheat a meal for one, then opt for the microwave oven, and if you are toasting just a single slice of bread, don't use the grill (broiler), go for the toaster instead - both will use less energy. Although microwave ovens are more energy efficient than conventional ovens, don't be fooled into thinking that by surviving on a diet of pre-prepared and heavily packaged microwave meals you are helping the environment. The environmental costs involved in processing the food, packaging it and shipping it to your local supermarket, which you will probably have driven to, far outweigh the benefits of one cooking method over another. When choosing a cooker or a microwave oven, ask the supplier for as much information as possible regarding energy efficiency and environmental policies. Go for a gas cooker rather than an electric one if you have a choice - gas is more energy efficient - and look out for cookers with options such as electric grills that allow you to switch on just half of the element for smaller jobs, or double ovens, so that you can use the smaller one for everything except the family roast. Glass doors allow you to check if your food is ready without wasting heat by opening the door, and fan-assisted ovens use less energy to cook your food. The way in which you cook is also important; don't waste a hot oven - try to cook several things at once. The same goes for using the hob - try steaming some vegetables in a colander over your saucepan of simmering rice or use a tiered steamer for steaming several vegetables at once. Choose the right size pan for the job and make sure it has a tight-fitting lid. Use only as much heat as is necessary - if you have your gas flame licking up the sides of the pan then you are wasting energy. And don't use your microwave oven to defrost frozen food; think ahead and put it in the fridge the night before you need to use it. Best of all are pressure cookers and, for the really green, haybox or solar cookers. Haybox cookery, or retained heat cooking, has been particularly valuable in regions, such as rural South Africa, where firewood is scarce. All you need to do is boil your food in a cooking pot with a well-fitting lid then put it in an insulated box - hay is commonly used, but you can use other natural substances such as cotton, wool, feathers or crumpled newspapers. The food will continue to cook at a little below simmering point. Soups, stews, sauces, stewed fruits, milk puddings, brown rice and stock can all be made this way. The box can also keep food warm or cold for short periods. Obviously it will take longer to cook this way - stews will take three to five hours, milk pudding around an hour - but you will be using a fraction of the energy. Another green way in which to cook is to use solar energy. It is thought that over 100,000 solar cookers are used in India and China and there are solar cooking projects in most countries. There are three basic kinds of solar cookers: Box cookers: These are well-insulated boxes, usually fitted with one large window in the top and an adjustable reflector in the lid. Solar cookers with slanted glass windows and multiple reflectors are another form of solar box. Both can be used for retained heat cookery on cloudy days. Panel cookers: Four or five flat panels covered in a reflective surface, such as foil, concentrate the sun's rays onto a pot inside a plastic bag or under a glass bowl - food may need to be stirred or rotated to provide even cooking. Parabolic cookers: These concave disks focus the light directly onto the bottom of a cooking pot. However, they can be dangerous, particularly to the cook's eyes if not used with care. Food in a single-reflector box cooker will take about twice as long to cook as in a conventional oven, but the advantage is that you can't really burn your food, so you don't have to keep watching it or stir food continuously while it cooks. Panel cookers are better for smaller portions and often cook slightly faster, whereas a parabolic cooker is similar to cooking on one burner of a conventional stove and there is the same risk of food being burnt. |
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