Residual Cooking for More Dishes and Less Energy

It goes without saying that deep fried and oily food are the enemy to your body and skin. Still craving palatable crispy food? No worries. Cook with an electric oven. It is easy to use, even if you are a novice cook.

Most electric ovens nowadays have built-in cooking programmes, which allow you to adjust the cooking time according to the food’s weight at the touch of a button. Some models come with a preset recipe mode. All you need to do is selecting the settings such as dish type and portion. The programme will automatically adjust the temperature, perfect for busy workers.  

The recently launched electric steam ovens have quickly gained popularity for good reasons. Apart from steaming and baking, they offer a hybrid function – while baking, the steam is released inside the oven to reduce the evaporation of the food’s existing moisture, making the food crispy and moist. The Consumer Council has compared the electricity consumption of bain-marie and steam-oven cooking. They have found that the electricity consumption of the latter is less than half of the former. Steam ovens can save an average of HK$124 per year from your electricity bills.

Frugal Cooking with Residual Heat

Cooking and Energy-Saving Tips for Electric Ovens:

1. After the oven is turned off, residual heat remains in the oven and it will take some time for it to cool down. With the door closed, the temperature of the electric oven drops by about 20°C to 30°C within 10 minutes. The drop in temperature has only a slight impact on the temperature of the oven centre. Therefore, keeping the door closed can preserve the residual heat for cooking. It is recommended to turn off the oven 5 to 10 minutes before the food is almost ready to serve and use the residual heat to cook another dish.

2. Make full use of the space inside the electric oven to bake multiple dishes simultaneously. If different dishes require different baking times, you can put the bakery into the oven in sequence.

3. Minimise the preheating time of your electric oven.

4. Preset the time switch of the electric oven to avoid overcooking and energy wastage.
5. A clean electric oven is more energy-efficient and durable, so it is ideal to clean the interior and exterior of the oven properly every time after use.