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After spending money on the Turkey and all of side dishes, who isn't looking to save a few dollars before the holiday season? Here are 10 energy saving tips for cooking your Thanksgiving meal:
- Use an ice chest or cooler for drinks if you're hosting a large group to cut down on wasting electricity when the refrigerator door is open.
- Use LED lighting if you're decorating with holiday lights already. It's more energy efficient
- Turn down your house thermostat! You’ll likely be pumping plenty of extra heat out of the kitchen to make up for the difference.
- The sides: choose sides that you can cook with the turkey in the oven simultaneously so you don’t have to add extra time to the oven’s use.
- Don’t worry about pre-heating the oven, it’s not necessary for a long, slow cook like a turkey.
- Use ceramic or glass pans, you can turn down your oven by up to 25 degrees and your food will still cook just as quickly.
- Check to see if your oven has a convection feature; it will cook more quickly and it is more energy efficient.
- Cook on a gas grill instead of the oven. They are clean burning and energy efficient.
- Let your leftovers cool before you store them, so your refrigerator doesn't have to work as hard to cool the items.
- Cook more efficiently by using lids. When cooking with pots and pans, make sure to use lids whenever possible to retain heat. Doing so will allow you to save energy by cooking on lower heat settings over shorter cooking times.
