Posted on 08/29/2022 7:24:26 AM PDT by dennisw
Could ditching the oven this winter help bring your energy bill down? How the much-maligned microwave cooks food at a fraction of the price - with a jacket potato costing 24p less to bake
Research has suggested it is far cheaper to cook essential food in microwaves
Microwaving a jacket potato costs 24p less than baking it in a traditional oven
Cooking your food in a microwave could be a way to save on energy bills as the cost of living crisis soars in Britain's colder months.
UK energy customers are set for a tight few months, if not longer, as price caps rise.
Ofgem confirmed on Friday that there will be an 80 per cent rise in the price cap - sending the average household's yearly bill from £1,971 to £3,549 from October 1st, with further adjustments on December 31st.
Research has suggested that it is far cheaper to cook essential food in microwaves than traditionally in an oven.
Research by energy supplier Utilita found that using a microwave only costs £30 a year, while an electric cooker costs £316 for the same time period.
Meanwhile, uSwitch said it would cost you roughly 27p to cook a baked potato in the oven but just 3p in the microwave.
Microwaving broccoli costs 1p as opposed to 6p on a hob and poaching an egg is a third of the price.
Even Michelin-starred celebrity chef Tom Brown has revealed he sometimes opts to use the microwave to cook certain dishes.
'There's a lot of food that is great when done in the microwave,' Brown told The Times.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yes, when it’s cold out, there is nothing like an oven with the door cracked slightly to give you that magnificent heat after a loaf of bread has been baked.
I knew a guy that wrapped potatoes in tinfoil, put them under the hood of his car, and when he arrived, they were thoroughly cooked.
Exactly what I was thinking. The oven helps makes residual heat which could actually result in using less heating in your house. This trade off isn’t taken into consideration.
Microwave ovens are little more than a tongue burning rubber food generating device.
“Baked” potatoes are a good example where they save time, but it is a much inferior result.
They are not bad for boiling water, and (sometimes) reheating leftovers. The supposed energy savings are largely illusory anyway. Watch the lights dim when it cycles on and off, they draw some amperes, too.
The price of wholesale electricity has a “futures” market. Companies are paying now to lock in their energy costs next winter. In the UK the cost for electricity in December 22 has risen to 1,000 British pounds per megawatt hour which is about $1.20 per kilowatt hour. This is 6 times the average price in the US.
The Greenies climate change lunacies are killing Great Britain. They are still producing oil and gas in the North Sea. But there are no storage facilities for this natural gas. The Greenies pressure got rid of them. #2--- There are many frackable lands for natural gas in GB, especially in the greater Yorkshire region. But fracking is banned in Great Britain. #3 --- Thatcher shut down the coal mines. I am sure there is plenty of easily minable coal left to mine.
If its a cold winter with the sky high energy bills predicted, then hopefully the entire UK turns on the Greenies. And decimates them ideologically. Freezing can bring a clearer head and some sanity to this situation.
Depending on where I am in the process of cooking dinner for the wife and I, I may partially microwave a couple of baked potatoes...then finish them off in the oven.
I do like our air fryer, though.
Freezing AND food shortages (no natural gas —> no urea based fertilizers —> crappy yields —> high food prices).
I keep waiting for people to correlate high priced, unreliable, and unavailable power plus high prices for everything to “green” energy. But people are dense and they cannot draw a line between energy prices and standard of living.
Maybe the 18 states that are “leading” the way banning the sale of gasoline cars will finally get people to wake up.
Yep, SOP.
It seems the AGA stove will run on heating oil. At least as on option for some models. There must be gas models and coal fired ones. Wood too.
I would go for the oil fired model. Oil tank in the basement, then the oil gets piped up, drawn up to the stove.
We keep bread in the freezer and warm up in toaster.
Does the microwave cook food or ruin it?
Amen.
We have a woodstove that I can use to cooking to a degree.
I start something on the stovetop and then transfer it to simmer on top of the wood stove. It’s also great for the tea kettle to boil water for tea.
BTW, an Instant pot is fantastic for cooking.
They are very well insulated and do not radiate a lot of heat and since the food is pressure cooked, cooking time is very much reduced.
I'd say it's like any other tool, it needs to be used properly for good results.
Fresh vegetables cooked in the microwave are the best. They are steamed, not boiled. Retain more vitamins.
Also the microwave is great for melting and thawing foods fast.
If you want a nice, browned anything forget it. I want most, if not all, of my foods to crunch: burgers, desserts, breads, etc.
Microwave ovens are for reheating
“In my opinion, microwave ovens are only good for warming stuff up. They do not “cook” anything satisfactorily.”
We cook baked potatoes in the microwave before finishing them in the air fryer.
Broccoli in the microwave works.
I do my corn on the cob in my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Comes out great.
Agree never saw anyone cook a pot roast in one.
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