This is the best time of day to have a gourmet meal

Why spend hours sitting around a gourmet grill in the evening after a stressful preparation when you can simply move everything to the afternoon? Not only is this more convenient in terms of peace of mind, but apparently it’s also more environmentally friendly.

If you and your festive party mainly put meat in the gourmet pans (delicious—we’re not judging) that isn’t the best choice environmentally speaking (ugh, that sounds so patronizing, sorry!). But did you know that the time of day when you start gourmeting can also make a difference? We had never considered the environmental benefits of gourmeting earlier in the day, but apparently there’s a much better time for a gourmet meal than the evening.

Best time for a gourmet meal

Energy company Zonneplan explained it as follows: according to Albert Heijn’s annual Christmas survey, around 41 percent of Dutch people have a gourmet meal every year. If this happens with a group of six people on average, that could amount to nearly 1.2 million gourmet grills. If they are switched on for three hours in the afternoon instead of the evening, that saves a total of 65 thousand kilos of CO2 emissions. We never understand anything about calculations like these, but apparently it works like this:

Reason: it comes blowing in

According to the energy company, a large part of the electricity mix during the day consists of green power from wind and the sun, and that power is largely CO2-free. In the evening, the wind often dies down, there is no sun, and the demand for electricity is also much higher. That’s why most of our electricity is generated in gas- and coal-fired power stations during the evening hours. The so-called CO2 intensity is therefore generally considerably higher in the evening.

Because more and more energy is coming from wind and solar farms, there are significant gains to be made in this area during the day. Especially on a holiday or Christmas day when it’s very windy, it’s well worth filling those pans during the day.

Day-drinking allowed

We think a gourmet session in the afternoon is an absolutely excellent plan. Spend the day hovering over the pans with a nice glass of wine (see our wine and gourmet tips here), then go for a walk together just before it gets dark (or in the dark) to walk off the meal, and then head back inside for some delicious mulled wine! And cheese boards! And games! Happy holidays in advance!

Also read:

• This wine-roll drinking game will be the hit at Christmas
• 3x surprising gourmet recipes
• Recipe: white mulled wine