Using Less Energy to Cook in the Summer

A couple of days ago, we got an email from a reader asking if we had any information on our site about tips for cooking with less power in the Summer. We didn’t have a very good answer for her, but we knew our readers would! We asked our facebook fans for their tips and here are just a few of the answers. We went through and tried to delete duplicates, so if you don’t see yours, its because someone else had the same answer. The most common tips included cooking with a Sun Oven, cooking on a bbq grill, or other type of grill, and eating lots of fresh foods.

Since cooking with food storage tends to cause you to cook a lot more from scratch, we thought this was a great question to address on our blog. Here are just a few of the great tips submitted. Thanks Facebook friends!

Does anyone have any tips for using less energy as we cook through the hot summer? Let’s all share and get ideas from each other!

Amanda: Crock pot and pressure cookers

Stephanie: We eat a lot of Panini

Toni : During the summer almost all we do is grill

Wendy: SOLAR OVENS ARE AWESOME!! We LOVE ours!!!!

Chelle : When I cook ground beef to go into recipes I cook a bunch all at once and then separate it into baggies for later use. It saves so much time and energy!

Carole Gentry In the summer, make only bar cookies, not drop. Use way less energy.

Lora : BBQ and crock pot! Great ideas!

Deb: I make a lot of pasta salads early in the morning, not on peak usage time. Tuna salads, chef salads, egg salad…BBQ once for several days, mooch off family..lol Pot lucks would give everyone a break in the kitchens though! Grilling pizza is WONDERFUL!!!!!

Linda: A crock pot on back patio!

Mary: Barbeque and crockpot!

Mercedes: Thermos cooking. More info on YouTube.

Misty: Here is an article about baking on. The grill: http://www.preparedpantry.com/How-to-Bake-Bread-On-A-Grill.htm

Elizabeth: pasta salad…any salad…and the microwave doesn’t heat up the house like stovetop and oven…:) I use my bread machine in the summer….much less heat in the kitchen when you bake bread:)

Mariana : Toaster oven. i put mine outside. Don’t even heat up the house.

Carole :We have dinner in the garden a lot!!! Just pick and eat and the grill

Carrie : We love our outside grill, George Forman grill, Crockpot, and lots of lunchmeat and veggies… 🙂

Nancy: Solar ovens, crock pots, grills. time to try out all those alternative cooking options, rocket stoves, soda can stoves, Dutch oven cooking in campfire. Don’t forget the bug spray!!

Martha: Cook outdoors more!!

Cleo: Plus, sometimes I just serve a meat and cheese try with fruit for dessert… cheese and crackers, and cold cuts are also summer favorites.

Michael : So as to not waste charcoal, I will fill my grill to capacity at least once every Sunday, more if the fuel lasts and then I have grilled goodies for the rest of the week for lunch or quick dinners. That really makes the charcoal last.

Delma : Green smoothie’s they are full of good stuff for you and easy to do.

Suzanne: I love my Electric Pressure Cooker, most meals take less than 20 minutes. Also use a teapot to boil pasta water, then pour into pot and you will take a lot less time and energy boiling water when making pastas. And I LOVE pasta salads in the summer!

Susanne: Yes, my husband has made me an outdoor kitchen, complete with gas stove/oven, and also a lot of BBQ. I do a lot of my canning out there and cooking in the summer so I don’t heat up the house.

Rise’ : Grilling over the fire, potatoes and veggies cooked in the ashes. Lots of fresh salads from the garden. Also, cook enough meat on the grill to have leftovers to go on a big salad the next night.

Becky : Grow gardens and eat salads, wraps and green shakes!

Do you have any ideas that aren’t listed? Feel free to share in comments.

p.s. If you check on Facebook later today you just might notice a SURPRISE SALE to celebrate something exciting!