It costs you nothing...
... to change your daily routine and you will save a lot of money, up to 15-20% of your kitchen energy costs, and, at the same time, prepare even more tasty and healthy food. How? Please read the following tried and tested techniques and, if you find them useful, pass them on to others.
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... to put a lid on pots and pans, and you will save 75% cooking energy. The lid keeps heat in the pot, and there is less vapor in your kitchen and flat. Once the food has come to the boil, set the gas to economy to save energy, without having to increase cooking time. In addition, the food will not get burnt. |
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... to use pans of an appropriate size: if you use a pan the diameter of which is smaller than the gas flame or the hot plate, some of the heat will escape into the air. Surprising but true: if the diameter of the plate is 18 cm and that of the pan is only 15 cm, 30% of the energy will be lost. You can avoid wasting this 30% by using a pot of the right size. ... to thoroughly chop ingredients and only use as much water as necessary. Using a lot of water will not only waste energy but cause valuable nutriments to be lost. |
... to stew instead of boiling: you will not have to heat water unnecessarily, and pour nutriments away with the water.
... soak leguminous plants a few hours before cooking or the night before; they will be ready sooner and be softer.
... to eat plenty of salads, fresh vegetables and fruit – they involve no energy consumption in the kitchen. Similarly, raw corn flakes and muesli are healthy; they contain important minerals and nutrients.
... to avoid the use of preserved food. Fresh food tastes better; preservation requires lots of energy and is thus expensive, and preserved food has less nutritive value. There are exceptions to this: natural preservation techniques, such as pickling and drying, are energy-efficient and do not cause any appreciable reduction in the nutritive value of vegetables and fruit. As a rule, food produced locally is the freshest: food transported over large distances is more expensive, and you never know how it has been treated...
...to prepare meat requiring a short frying and boiling time, which is even healthier. Fish and poultry contain more protein and are easier to digest than pork. Food prepared with less energy is healthier and cheaper.
...and you will save lots of energy!
It costs you nothing...
...to use cookware made of heat conducting materials; for example steel or enameled cast-iron pans and pots will heat up more quickly and consume 75% less energy than glass and ceramic cookware. These latter are for use in microwave ovens.
...to turn off the electric oven or hot plate a few minutes before the food is ready and utilize its heat without consuming further energy.
...to make sure that the oven door closes tightly.
...to turn off heating in the kitchen while cooking: the stove gives out heat, and so you can save 20% energy without feeling cold.
...to carefully read and follow the instructions in the recipe only: preheat the oven only if so instructed by the recipe.
...to optimize your work in the kitchen and bake two things in the oven at the same time, with half energy.
...and you will save lots of energy!
If you spend money on...
...buying cookware and kitchen utensils, think about the energy you can save by using them.
A clever gift often needs some thinking: it may be a good idea to give a more expensive, energy-saving household device as a present which the recipient to be gifted might not buy for themselves...
...buying an electric boiler or immersion heater to make hot water for tea and coffee, you can save 60% energy as these devices work with small heat loss and utilize energy very efficiently. You can remove scale efficiently, in an environmentally safe manner by using vinegar or a scale remover with vinegar in it (e.g. Frogsch).
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...buying a microwave oven, you will save energy, because this devices generates heat in the food but it does not heat the pot. For example, you can heat food from the freezer quickly, without any loss of taste. |
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...buying a pressure cooker, you can save energy: food can be prepared with only one-third of the energy, and three times quicker. In addition, nutriments cannot escape from the sealed cooker. It is true again: energy-efficient and healthy! |
... YOU CAN SAVE MONEY AND ENERGY!
Did you know that...?
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...In a fan oven, food can be prepared 20-30% more quickly and with 50-60% less energy compared to a conventional oven. ...Combining fan and grill functions, with the oven door closed, saves energy. ...By using the fan function, you can prepare food on several trays simultaneously without flavors being mixed. This saves considerable time and energy. |
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...To avoid heat and energy loss, avoid repeatedly opening the oven door time and again during cooking. Keep the number of turns to a minimum. ...You can save energy by turning the oven off 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking; it retains the heat for quite a long time, which you can exploit to complete the cooking process. |
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...To be cost-efficient, the cooking surface must be kept clean, as this ensures the best heat transmission. Therefore, the cooking surface should be kept clean. To clean off burnt matter, turn the hob on for a short time, and remove the dirt with a damp cloth. ...The bottom of the cooking pot should be in good condition and flat - neither hollow nor convex. Using a pot with a hollow bottom increases energy consumption by 50%, even if a lid is used. ...You should always remember to use a lid. Energy consumption may be 280% higher without a lid. ...You can save 30-50% time and energy by using a pressure cooker. ...If you use a burner or hot plate that has a smaller diameter, it takes longer to prepare the food, but less energy is consumed. ...You should turn off the hot plate in good time before removing the pot. Once turned off, the hot plate continues to give out heat for an additional 5-10 minutes, which you can use. |
Remember that consuming less energy will not only save you money but also protects the environment.
Things to know about stoves...
Some history
What is an electric stove? - a cooking device with at least two hot plates and one oven
Types of electric stove
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Types of hob
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Hobs transmit heat energy to the pot and the food by heat conduction, heat radiation or convection (heat transfer). Depending on which of these heat transmission methods is dominant, hobs are classified as operating by heat conduction or radiation.
Most conventional electric hobs use heat conduction. Heating elements used in glass ceramic hobs radiate heat. Induction coils under glass ceramic plates form an independent group.
Conventional electric hobs
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Conventional electric hobs can have normal plates, plates with increased power, rapid plates (thinner, with a red circle in the middle and provided with a temperature regulator), and automatic plates (with 12 stages). In the case of conventional electric hobs, power depends on the number of heating circuits and stages. |
Radiating glass ceramic hob
The basic material of glass ceramic is melted and homogenized at 1700 Celsius. This substance is then rolled to size at 1400 Celsius and cooled down to normal room temperature in a cooling chamber, using a pre-set program. After this, sheets are cut to size and burnt into the glass at 900 Celsius.
Residual heat display: when turned off, the hob remains hot for some time, which is displayed until its temperature drops below 70 Celsius.
Automatic pot detection: heating is on only until there is a pot on the hob. (Modern devices can even identify the size of the pot.) It is important to know that it will only respond to metal pots, and is unable to detect plastic, ceramic or very small pots.
Childproof lock: safety function which prevents children from turning the hob on.
Induction heaters for glass ceramic hobs
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In the case of induction cooking, heat is generated directly in the pot, so most of the heat is taken up by the food; the hob, heated only by the pot, in fact remains cool. The heat generated in the pot depends on the physical properties and shape of the pot, and its position in the magnetic field. |
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Please remember that only magnetizable pots may be used for cooking; aluminum or stainless steel pots, glass and ceramic pots are unsuitable. (However, you can use stainless steel pots that have a triple bottom including a medium layer made of magnetizable steel sheet.) |
Comparison of conventional electric, radiating glass ceramic and induction hobs
Cheapness is the only advantage of conventional electrical hobs. This is why stoves with electric plates can compete with glass ceramic hobs. Their disadvantage is that they take longer to heat up and thus consume more energy.
Currently, glass ceramic hobs dominate the market. Due to their good physical characteristics (quick heat transmission, minimal heat expansion coefficient) and practical functions (residual heat display, automatic pot detection), they are more modern and more cost-efficient.
Induction hobs heat the food 1.5-2 times more quickly than any other hobs, including gas hobs. Therefore, they are the most modern and cost-efficient hobs, but also the most expensive on the market.
| gas |
conventional (electric) | radiating glass ceramic | induction glass ceramic | |
| heat adjustment |
least cost-efficient | the more stages their filament circuit has, the most cost efficient they are |
cost efficient |
cost efficient |
| heat up time |
long | long (but shorter in case of rapid cookers) | shorter | shorterst |
| cooking time |
almost the same |
almost the same | almost the same | shorter |
| energy consumption |
least cost-efficient | better than gas but least cost efficient among electric cookers |
cost efficient |
most cost efficient |
| practical functions (e.g. residual heat display, childproof lock) |
none | none | yes | yes |
| price | cheapest | cheaper than glass ceramic |
more expensive |
most expensive |
Regarding energy consumption, it is important to know that 80% of the energy used by a stove is consumed by the hob and only 20% by the oven.
Ovens
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Oven heat is regulated in two ways: by power regulation (regulation by stages), and by temperature regulation (by Celsius), which is a more advanced method.
Some modern ovens offer functions that help housewives a lot. In addition to traditional cooking, most of them have a grill function, and some have a steam function. This latter is a tender method for preparing vegetables, fish and meat at 40-100 Celsius. 
Catalytic self-cleaning is a chemical process triggered by a catalyst. This catalyst is the special enamel coating of the inner oven space. At 200-300oC, the catalyst chemically transforms the contamination by using air oxygen. After this, remaining particles have a loose contact with the oven wall and are easy to remove.
Pyrolytic procedures means the decomposition of materials by heat. At present, this is the most developed self-cleaning technology.
Hungarian statistics
- Percentage of stoves in households (%):
Gas stove fully electric stove combined stove 60 10-11 29-30
- Percentage of built-in – standalone stoves (%):
Built-in Standalone 71 29
- Percentage of the different types of hobs used(%): 7%
gas/electric conventional (electric)/glass ceramic radiating glass ceramic/induction glass ceramic 54/46 2/98 95/5
- Stoves older than 10 years used in households1:
Number, million % Number of stoves older than 10 years, million 0,4 30,5 0,1
1 Source: GFK Electro*Scope EEOACD 1/ 2006
What can you read from the energy label of stoves?
Installation of electric stoves
If you decide to operate an electric stove or oven or wish to replace your old device with a more modern and efficient one, you can consult the customer service staff of your local electricity provider before making your purchase decision. You will receive information free of charge about the technical conditions needed to be able to operate the intended device without difficulty.For retail consumers in Budapest, ELMÜ has adopted a social business policy according to which no network development contribution has to be paid in the case of one-phase consumers up to the limit of 25 A. In this case, the applicant only has to pay for the materials, pay the fee for the work and a call-out charge. The mains cable and the protection for electric stoves must be installed by specialists in accordance with the applicable standards and technologies, and the Code for Shock Prevention in Communal and Residential Buildings.
