How to Have an Eco-Friendly Kitchen

Image via Wikipedia

Green is in. This is the newest trend for people who strive to preserve Mother Earth. In fact, a number of Eco-friendly alternatives have been introduced in various industries. And now, it started to invade our kitchens.

If we want to have an Eco-friendly kitchen, we should start by patronizing organic food products. These are food grown without the use of harmful chemicals like pesticides or artificial fertilizers and are processed without the use of irradiation or food additives.

Image via Wikipedia

But being Eco-friendly does not stop there, it also includes the way we cook and prepare our dishes. To be an Eco-Friendly chef, one must learn to cut down their energy consumption while cooking. It will not only save you money on electric bills but you are also helping the environment by reducing the demand for energy which will help in the reduction of its production and later result to less carbon by-products in our surroundings.

Below are cooking tips that will help you lower your energy consumption while cooking.

• Maximize your microwave ovens. Microwave ovens are energy efficient since it cook food rather quickly. Although, some recipes may not look good when cooked this way, but try to experiment on recipes that will taste and will look good even when placed in the microwave. Also remember to unplug your microwave after use, microwave clocks and digital settings actually consume electricity even in idle mode.

  

  Image by jmv via Flickr

• Pressure cooker is a great option. Like microwave, some recipe may not be advisable for pressure cookers. But if your dish calls for hard meat, pressure cooker will tenderize it at half the time. Pressure cooker can reduce your energy consumption by 70%.

  

  Read more in Cooking

  « How to Make Homemade French Fries: A Favorite Fast Food Made From Potatoes

  Find a Place for Some Herbs in Your Garden »

  Image via Wikipedia

• Eco-Baking. When baking, turn off the oven a few minutes before the end of the cooking time. For delicate cake recipes that require precise heat regulation, try to maximize the remaining heat in the oven by using it in warming left-over dishes. Try to stack other dishes when baking not-so delicate pastries. This is what we call  “multi-baking”, meaning you maximize the space in your oven by cooking more than one dish at a time.

  

  Image via Wikipedia

• Lids that fit. Always cover your pan when cooking in order to preserve the heat. This way, food will cook faster. But also make sure that the lid of the pan fits well and avoid using lids of other pans.

  

  Image via Wikipedia

By incorporating these tips in our daily cooking routine, you are actually helping our environment.