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Less water
means less heat! Minimum
water—pasta—about
300ml
(1-1/3 cup) per 100g pasta Minimum
water—steam
potatoes,
vegetables, eggs in 100ml water The
fewer
the
pots, the less the energy needed! The
fewer
the
burners, the less the heat used. A
small
pot
takes less time to heat up than a large pot! A
pot
at
room temperature takes less time to heat than a cold pot. |
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Cooking
with
Very
Little Energy With
the methods below, you can cook on a fraction of the gas and
electricity that you use today, and save money too! Adapt, experiment
and refine them to fit your cooking needs. These
methods can help you relax and enjoy cooking more because the pots do
not have to be watched or timed so carefully when you cook on
afterheat—once it is boiling you turn off the burner and go read or do
something else while it finishes cooking. Soft-boiled eggs still have
to be timed, yes, but pasta is not critical, nor rice, nor other
grains, nor potatoes or porridge. Afterheat is soft heat—it does not
overcook the food. Vegetables—I put them in on top of the rice or
potatoes the last few minutes before serving—for example, broccoli
about 3 minutes before the meal. Covering the pots with a towel or pot
cosy (see below) on the table keeps them warm even if guests do not
come to table right on time! So less stress and a more enjoyable meal.
In other words, with these methods I save my own mental energy too!
Cooking pasta with minimum water In the ordinary method for cooking pasta, we boil a huge
amount of water, and then pour off most of this boiling water after the
pasta has cooked—a tremendous waste of energy in today’s world. In the
method below we use the minimum amount of water, and thus the minimum
amount of energy. Try it! ■
Place the pasta in
a pot that has a tight-fitting lid and add water: o
For spaghetti and
other dry pasta: about 300ml water per 100g pasta. o
For fresh pasta:
about 200ml water per 100g pasta• ■
Bring to a boil,
stirring as the pasta softens so that it does not stick. If necessary,
add water so that the pasta is completely covered by water.
(Any pasta sticking up above the water will be dry.) ■
Turn off the heat
and cover loosely with a towel to keep the heat in. Be careful the
towel doesn’t burn!• Ready after 10 minutes or so—the normal time. Ideally, the pasta is perfectly cooked and there is only
a little water left over in the pot at the end. With this gentle
method, pasta does not overcook and the timing is not so critical. With
practice you will learn how much water you need, and how to cook it for
a small pot or for a big party and with different kinds of pasta.
Practice on a small pot first! Cooking slowly on afterheat Bring the rice, beans, soup, potatoes or whatever to boil
in a covered pot, turn down the heat and let it simmer, as usual.
Before it is done
(5 to 15 minutes before, depending on your stove) turn off the heat
entirely, cover loosely with a kitchen towel to keep the heat in, and
let it finish cooking using its own heat.
For porridge,
couscous and foods made with milk: turn off the heat entirely shortly before
it
boils, to keep it from boiling over. Be careful the towel doesn’t burn! With this gentle
method, vegetables are still firm, fish does not get tough, and milk
does not burn. With practice you will learn how early you can turn off
the heat. If the food is not done, bring to a boil again, turn off the
heat and wait a few minutes more. Cooking in one pot instead of two You can steam vegetables (or fish or tofu) on top of
rice, pasta or potatoes, in the same pot:
Bring the rice or
potatoes to the boil in a covered pot, turn down the heat and let it
simmer a few minutes (say 5 minutes), as usual.
Add your vegetable
(broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans or whatever) directly on
top, put on the lid, bring to a boil again and finish cooking (turning
off the heat before it is done to utilize the after-heat, as usual). This method also works with pasta, with soft vegetables
such as spinach or courgette (zucchini) slices on top. Pasta only needs
8–10 minutes cooking time, so the vegetable must be one that cooks in
this time, too. This method saves using a second burner and a second pot
(including the energy to heat them up), and the washing-up! Using a pot at room temperature When I take a pot
with leftovers out of the pantry or refrigerator to heat up it up for
the next meal, I usually try to do this an hour or so before the meal.
Why? Because a cold pot requires energy to be brought up to room
temperature and heating the cold pot on the stove often requires as
much energy as heating the contents itself. So about half the
energy can be saved by letting the pot and its contents warm up by
itself in the kitchen. When I have no time
to wait, I instead transfer the contents from the cold pot to
another pot that is already at room temperature (or possibly even
warmer, having been used to cook something else just before). This
saves heating up a cold pot. When using a microwave,
you
can
transfer the food to a bowl at room temperature to save
heating the cold bowl (but most plastic containers weigh so little that
this only applies to glass plates and bowls). Pot warmers I
used a towel to insulate a pot on the stove after turning off the
burner because it was simple and quick. Here are two other ways that
hold the heat even better. Pot
cosy:
Make an insulator for smallish pots by taking a tea cosy and cutting
open the seam on one end so that it can fit down over the pot handle,
which sticks out. I use the pot cosy or a towel after I’ve served the
food, too, to keep the pot warm on the table or on the stove. Cookbox: Take a large
carton or wooden box and insulate with anything (even crumpled up
newspapers work), leaving plenty of room for the pot to be placed in
the centre. Make an insulated lid for the box, 3–5 cm (1–2 inches)
thick or more. An old styrofoam cooler, big enough for your usual pot,
may work perfectly. Copyright
2011
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