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What’s your cooking’s carbon footprint?

  Making small changes to how you cook can have a surprisingly big impact
  on your carbon footprint. Of course, emissions created by cooking
  depend partly on where your energy comes from – fossil fuels or clean
  energy. But whatever your energy source, here are simple, inexpensive
  tips to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from your cooking.
  Watch our 90-second animation for tips on how to reduce the carbon cost
  of cooking.

Simple tip for saving energy when boiling

  There are easy ways to save energy when boiling or simmering food. For
  example, the carbon cost of 200g boiled potatoes is about 106-216g CO2
  equivalent, of which 50-160g is from boiling, according to Mike
  Berners-Lee in his book How Bad are Bananas.

  Lots of variables affect the energy cost of boiling potatoes or other
  foods. Here are some notable factors you can easily change:
    * Excess water requires more energy to heat.
    * If the potatoes are in large pieces they’ll need longer to cook.
    * Boiling furiously uses a lot of energy, but the water temperature
      and therefore cooking speed will be exactly the same if the water
      is gently simmered because it never exceeds 100°C.
    * If your pan has no lid, the process will require more energy, as
      water will dissipate into the air – remember, you can use that
      steam to cook other foods, such as soft veg and fish, if you have a
      steamer and a lid.

  Once your potatoes are cooked, use the hot water to cook other things
  such as veg or eggs, rather than pouring it away. Anything you don’t
  want to eat straight away can go in the fridge or the freezer.
  Save energy when boiling veg by keeping a lid on the pan.

Ways to save energy when baking and roasting

  “Switching the oven on for 2 hours causes about 2.5kg of emissions”,
  according to SL Bridle in her book Food and Climate Change Without the
  Hot Air. That’s much more than the emissions caused by taking a
  generous bath (1.6kg if heated by electricity according to
  Berners-Lee), or drinking a pint of UK cow’s milk (1.1kg). One solution
  is to try to fill up your oven whenever you turn it on – it could save
  you time as well as reducing your carbon footprint. You can even
  [38]cook just once a week and eat well every day, putting anything
  you’re not eating in the fridge or freezer.

  Likewise, preheating the oven for longer than you need to wastes a lot
  of energy. Lots of dishes will cook perfectly well in the oven without
  preheating it.

  Reheating food in a microwave instead of the oven is an easy way to cut
  your carbon emissions. Baking a potato in the microwave uses a small
  percentage of the energy required to bake it in the oven.

  Consider whether you can use a more efficient cooking method than the
  oven for your ingredient. “GHGE [greenhouse gas emissions] can be
  reduced [by] between 40 percent and more than three-fold by avoiding
  cooking in the oven and choosing preparation methods that require less
  cooking time”, writes Dr Christian Reynolds, senior lecturer in the
  Centre for Food Policy at City University London, in a [39]2020 paper.
  He adds that when it comes to meat, “roasting or baking in the oven is
  the environmental worst cooking option since long cooking times are
  required, increasing emissions more than three-fold compared to frying
  on the stove”.

Energy-saving kitchen gadgets

  Kitchen appliances and gadgets have different carbon costs. Here are
  some tips:
    * Fan-assisted ovens are generally more efficient than conventional
      ones, as they do a better job of circulating heat.
    * An induction hob is usually more energy-efficient than a gas or
      standard electric hob, as it heats the pan directly using an
      electromagnetic field, so there is no heating element and therefore
      no wasted heat energy.
    * Kettles are usually the most efficient way of heating water, but
      they vary widely in efficiency, depending on how well insulated
      they are. If your kettle gets very hot, it’s likely you’re losing a
      lot of energy through its walls. Remember to only boil as much
      water as you need.
    * Another energy-efficient kitchen star is the pressure cooker – its
      pressurized environment allows for cooking at higher temperatures,
      which speeds up the process and so lowers the energy requirements.
    * Of course, microwaves are an energy-efficient way of cooking.

Elsewhere on BBC Food

What’s your cooking’s carbon footprint?

The Great British food quiz

Are there immunity benefits from eating a plant-based diet?

Eat more plants

Plant-based recipes

  Maximising your fruit and veg intake is good for the planet and your
  health.

Vegan barbecue

Vegetarian pasta

Summery vegan recipes

  For when it's hot... and for when it's not (but you can dream).

Veggie wraps

Vegetarian recipes and advice

Vegan recipes and advice

  [40]FAQs about BBC Food

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