Can you seriously save on your gas bill by cooking in the microwave?
If I search really thoroughly through my parents’ old belongings, I might still find a yellowed microwave cookbook. It was quite something back then, such a wonder appliance, and all kinds of recipes were developed that you could prepare in it without using a gas stove. And that last part is exactly what there might be a need for again…
Because gas prices have risen explosively, and combined with the price increases of practically everything, this means that many people are trying to cut back here and there. So would it make much difference if you stayed away from the gas stove and started cooking entire meals in the microwave?
Useful tool
On the RTL Nieuws website, chef Don van Rooy says that he considers the microwave a perfectly useful tool. He used to have a prejudice against it, but if something is “healthy, tastes good and is on the table within a reasonable amount of time, I fully embrace it,” he says. According to him, there is also the added advantage that food is less likely to burn, but we think he hasn’t seen these horror images of disastrous microwave experiences yet…
Temper your expectations
According to Joyce Donat of the Consumers’ Association, however, you shouldn’t expect cooking in a microwave instead of on gas to make a significant difference to your final bill. She says it may be more efficient, and you may use less energy this way, but gas consumption in the kitchen is generally only 3 to 5 percent of total household consumption. So you won’t save a great deal of money by leaving the flame off.
If you still want to do something, for the sake of the idea that every little bit helps? Then you could always bring water to the boil in the electric kettle instead of in a pan on the stove. If you don’t have an electric kettle, at least put a lid on the pan in which you’re boiling water; it will go faster and you’ll use less gas.
Also read:
- Never, ever put this in the microwave!
- Snackspert is a fan: ‘This is a really delicious microwave snack’
- Eddie’s food annoyances: eating food from the microwave
Source: RTL Nieuws
