8 Eco-tips to save energy in the kitchen

We're no stranger to kitchens here at Jow, and that means we also realize how big of a carbon footprint they can have. It's time to reflect on how to cook our delicious recipes while limiting our energy consumption as much as possible! It's possible and easy thanks to a few simple tricks.
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Making sumptuous recipes is great, but cooking AND reducing energy is even better, and everyone can take part! :-)

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Check out these 8 simple ways to reduce energy consumption in the kitchen:

1. Cover your pots and pans while cooking to speed up cooking time and reduce gas or electricity usage by up to 25%. Less heat being released out into the air (and cooking your food instead) means it cooks faster and wastes less energy!
2. Turn off the over a few minutes before your food is supposed to be done, and let it cook the rest of the way in the closed oven. You can save up to 10% of the electricity or gas used to cook it normally!
3. Try passive cooking your pasta (boil the pasta for 2 minutes, cover the pot, turn off the stove, and then let it finish cooking passively the amount of time indicated on the package).
4. Choose home appliances with a good Energy Star rating.
5. Defrost your freezer regularly: 3mm of ice in your freezer can lead to 30% overconsumption of elecricity.
6. A feng-shui kitchen: the layout of your kitchen is not insignificant in terms of energy consumption. As a general rule: don't place cold-generating appliances close to heat-generating ones.
7. Stop preheating the oven for so long before you put your food in. 5-10 minutes before cooking starts is plenty of time!
8. Don't defrost in the microwave: let things defrost in the fridge by moving them in advance.
9. Install a programmable thermostat. They can automatically adjust the temperature and help you save 15% of normal your energy use per year!