As stewards of creation, conserving energy is one way to treat our Earth with care. (This also translates into lower bills, which stewards our budget at the same time, of course.) In the kitchen, the stove is a major energy drainer. Did you know that 26% of the energy used on “food” in America is used by the average person for home food preparation? (from The Way we Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason) When I read this statistic, I was quite shocked, considering the food industry and its processing plants, transportation costs, and grocery store utilities, not to mention restaurants and cafeterias. (Processing takes 29% and transport is only 11%, a challenge to “locavores” who believe eating locally saves money…) I didn’t think that many people even cooked at home anymore!
It strikes me as important, then, that we home cooks conserve energy as much as we can when we’re working in the kitchen. I canned some food for the first time this week, and I was appalled at the amount of water it took to first fill the jars with hot water to prep them and then fill the canning pot until the water was an inch over the tops of the jars. Seriously. I only made 5 jars of applesauce, but I bet I used 10 gallons of water. I let it cool and poured it on my garden the next day, but I’m still not happy about it!
We’ve talked energy before, and I encourage you to read my post on The Cost of Using your Kitchen’s Appliances. You’ll find out how to calculate how much energy and money it takes to run the major appliances in your kitchen. Back then I challenged you to examine the dishwasher for ways to conserve resources, because it’s the biggest drain on both bottom lines. Next week’s Monday Mission will tackle the stove, and I’ll share some practical tips on conserving energy in the oven and on the range. See also How to Clean your Stovetop and Oven the Simple, Safe, Frugal Way.
For now, consider this food for thought:
- Food production, processing, manufacturing, distribution, and preparation consumes 12-20% of the total US energy supply.
- Per capita, the United States uses more energy for food production, processing, and distribution than Asia and Africa use for all activities combined.
- Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) are a non-renewable source of energy. It takes 300 million years to make more…and I’m not waiting around for that!
- Over 85% of American energy is generated by fossil fuels.
- Every time you open the oven door, the oven temperature drops 25-30 degrees.
- Cooking dry beans for 8 hours may cost 20-40 cents in energy. How much are you going to really save if you just cook a can’s worth?
Source: 1, The Way we Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Wish you could conserve YOUR energy in the kitchen? Check out my 10 Easy Prep Foods You’ll Always Find in my Freezer for instructions for freezing basic recipe ingredients that you always need and summer’s garden bounty. Important preservation tips for this time of year!
I’m always pleased to participate in Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet and the All Things Eco blog carnival.
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Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
photo source from Flickr.com
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Really good food for thought. Really, who knew? I do typically make large batches of dinners in order to eat the leftovers for lunch and breakfast. I also really love the casserole cookbook, “The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever” by Beatrice Ojakangas. It’s a real food cookbook.
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I am always trying to find ways to conserve energy in the kitchen. I use my dishwasher only once a day, if that. I don’t know about that “cooking dry beans for 8 hours” -I usually soak my beans overnight and cook them for about an hour to an hour and a half at the most. This saves money and energy. I get your email every day and always find something useful in them.
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Katie Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 11:14 am
It’s always nice to hear when I’m useful!
In Nourishing Traditions, a 4-8 hour slow cook is recommended. ? Perhaps I’ll lean toward the 2-4 hour instead!
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Pennywise Platter Thursday 8/20 // Aug 20, 2009 at 12:17 pm
[...] @ Kitchen Stewardship Can cooking at home use so much energy that is is cost-prohibitive? Find out how much you pay to run your stove and some encouragement to conserve energy to be both frugal and [...]
I have been concerned for a while about the energy my stove uses.
I only use my oven now for Large dinners such as a turkey or roast, or when I make bread.
I invested in a countertop oven for the rest.
The heat that comes off of it helps me to heat my home in the winter and use it to heat all of our meals.
Next time you can, use a pressure cooker. I have an excellent one in which I just finished 10 pint jars of peaches. It uses 1 1/2 quarts of water. I was afraid of it at first, but now, I prefer it, for that reason.
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All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Sixty Four | Focus Organic.com // Aug 24, 2009 at 1:08 pm
[...] presents How Much Energy do we use in the Kitchen? posted at Kitchen Stewardship. Katie says, “Do you know how much energy it takes to cook from [...]
Pennywise Platter Thursday 8/26 // Aug 26, 2009 at 11:37 pm
[...] to highlight three of the great posts from last week. First, at Kitchen Stewerdship, Katie shares food for thought about the energy we use in the kitchen. And then there are two super easy recipes that are frugal [...]
Hey, 11% is 11% we don’t have to use if we’re buying local. And, eating local is about a lot more than that. It’s about supporting and being connected to your local community, pausing to think about our food system, and keeping regional food traditions going, just to name a few.
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Katie Reply:
August 27th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I was surprised to see Singer/Mason challenge the locavore philosophy in their book, too. I’m a HUGE supporter of local business, food or not, having grown up in a small town with a business owner for a father. I know keeping dollars in your community is important. I like a little controversy, though. Glad you picked on my statistic – It keeps things interesting!
Very good list of “buy local” reasons. Thanks for visiting!
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