A Homemade Life
Welcome to Homemade Life.

To take full advantage of everything offered by our forum, please log in if you are already a member or join our community if not ....

Chilli-head
A Homemade Life
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Who is online?
In total there are 3 users online :: 0 Registered, 0 Hidden and 3 Guests

None

Most users ever online was 112 on 8th October 2020, 7:09 am
Latest topics
» Hungry Birds
by Dirick55 7th December 2023, 6:04 am

» PRESENTATION
by Chilli-head 23rd November 2023, 2:55 pm

» New Kiva loan
by Chilli-head 21st July 2023, 12:35 pm

» A peat-free compost is top in UK Which? magazine trial
by Dandelion 25th April 2023, 9:42 pm

» New gardening year 2023
by Chilli-head 5th March 2023, 10:15 pm

» What have I done in the workshop today?
by Dandelion 2nd December 2022, 1:12 pm

» What are you harvesting today?
by Dandelion 2nd December 2022, 1:12 pm

» Wartime marrow casserole
by Dandelion 18th October 2022, 4:42 pm

» Late sowings in August ... beans ?
by Ploshkin 11th August 2022, 9:29 am

» Come August, come night in the garden
by Chilli-head 4th August 2022, 3:29 pm

» Welcome guest
by Ploshkin 31st July 2022, 9:16 am

» The Jolly July Garden
by Ploshkin 19th July 2022, 11:38 am

» More mead ...
by Chilli-head 13th July 2022, 12:52 pm

» The June garden thread
by Dandelion 25th June 2022, 9:55 pm

» Plastic bags
by Dandelion 5th June 2022, 7:28 pm

» The merry May garden
by Dandelion 31st May 2022, 10:04 pm

» Fooling around in the April garden
by freebird 1st May 2022, 8:33 am

» March into the garden
by Dandelion 1st April 2022, 7:26 pm

» Mow Suggestions
by freebird 29th March 2022, 5:48 pm

» Some thoughts on resilience
by Ploshkin 12th March 2022, 2:23 pm

Statistics
We have 270 registered users
The newest registered user is Lloyd

Our users have posted a total of 48045 messages in 2416 subjects
Pages we like:

Very small energy saving tips Hca_button


Very small energy saving tips

5 posters

Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Very small energy saving tips

Post by freebird 18th January 2014, 6:13 pm

We all know about the big things we should do to save energy - but does anyone have their own little things that they do, that might inspire the rest of us?

I got my inspiration from something Pol said on another thread, about keeping a flask of hot water instead of boiling the kettle every time a hot drink was wanted. I quite often boil potatoes for mashing (for a shepherds pie, for example), or par boil for roasting. As I will be cooking vegetables later, instead of draining the potato cooking water down the sink, I drain it into a flask. It gets used again later for the vegetables, saving quite a lot of heat up time and gas, and if I happen to be cooking a roast, it all ends up in the gravy.
freebird
freebird

Posts : 2244
Join date : 2011-10-19
Age : 67
Location : Powys

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Dandelion 18th January 2014, 8:02 pm

After what you said about gas rings (smaller rings using less gas) Freebird, I start pans off on the bigger rings now then move them and have them simmering on a small as ring (with as little gas) as possible. I feel quite stupid to have passed my half century some time ago, but I though all rings produced the same amount of gas!
Dandelion
Dandelion
Admin

Posts : 5416
Join date : 2010-01-17
Age : 67
Location : Ledbury, Herefordshire

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Ploshkin 19th January 2014, 10:41 am

I don't do ironing - saves energy in more ways than one.

Mr P knows not to buy shirts that need ironing. He got one recently & pointed out to me that it said 'easy iron' on the package - I'm sure you can guess what my reply was.
Ploshkin
Ploshkin

Posts : 1779
Join date : 2013-07-18
Location : Mid Wales

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by polgara 19th January 2014, 11:09 am

Cooking rice or pasta, cover with water about 1ins above top of contents cover with a fitting lid. Bring to the boil, simmer for 5mins & then turn of heat & leave for 15 or so mins. Cooks a treat.
polgara
polgara

Posts : 3028
Join date : 2009-11-16
Age : 77
Location : Sunshine Isle

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by freebird 19th January 2014, 1:06 pm

Ploshkin wrote:I don't do ironing - saves energy in more ways than one.
Ha! I'd forgotten about that one! Nor do I. Though I do like sheets and pillowcases to be pressed, as I will only have cotton and not cotton polyester. Once washed, they are carefully folded and put under the cushions on the sofa and armchair. Only takes a few days for them to come out nice and flat.

Did come a cropper once, though, when we lost the man's sleeping bag liner. I was sure he had left it on a fishing trip, and said as much. Had to eat my words when I went to 'iron' the next batch of bedding, and found the liner under the sofa cushion.
freebird
freebird

Posts : 2244
Join date : 2011-10-19
Age : 67
Location : Powys

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Dandelion 19th January 2014, 2:09 pm

polgara wrote:Cooking rice or pasta, cover with water about 1ins above top of contents cover with a fitting lid.  Bring to the boil, simmer for 5mins & then turn of heat & leave for 15 or so mins.  Cooks a treat.

Ooh, thanks Pol - I'll try that one.
Dandelion
Dandelion
Admin

Posts : 5416
Join date : 2010-01-17
Age : 67
Location : Ledbury, Herefordshire

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Chilli-head 20th January 2014, 10:10 am

I'm struggling to think of much to add here. My favourite though is to go steady on supposedly labour saving gadgets. Blenders, food processors, juicers, you know the sort of thing. All these jobs can (and used to) be done without appliances which consume energy and - when washing up is taken into account - save little labour !
Chilli-head
Chilli-head
Admin and Boss man

Posts : 3305
Join date : 2010-02-23
Location : Bedfordshire

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by polgara 20th January 2014, 11:32 am

Use a steamer. According to Wartime recipie books you can cook a whole meal using a 2 tier one. Meat pud & then pots in the bottom one, veg in the top 2. Instead of a meat pud, a jam roly poly or similar in the bottom with the pots.
polgara
polgara

Posts : 3028
Join date : 2009-11-16
Age : 77
Location : Sunshine Isle

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Chilli-head 20th January 2014, 11:48 am

-- plus you can uses the plates as a pan lid, so warming them in the process.
Chilli-head
Chilli-head
Admin and Boss man

Posts : 3305
Join date : 2010-02-23
Location : Bedfordshire

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by freebird 20th January 2014, 3:43 pm

polgara wrote:Use a steamer.  According to Wartime recipie books you can cook a whole meal using a 2 tier one.  Meat pud & then pots in the bottom one, veg in the top 2.  Instead of a meat pud, a jam roly poly or similar in the bottom with the pots.
And, rather out of fashion these days, a pressure cooker. Mine doesn't get a lot of use, but there are some things I always use if for, such as cooking gammon for a Sunday meal. I can roast potatoes in the Remoska, which uses 450 watts, rather than putting on the oven. And going back to the topic of marmalade, I believe my mum always cooks her oranges for marmalade in her pressure cooker - I've another two batches to make, so I might try that.

Oh, and for those of you with log burners: I always have a kettle of water sitting on top, pre-warming for hot drinks. If you don't have a hob kettle, a saucepan will do.
freebird
freebird

Posts : 2244
Join date : 2011-10-19
Age : 67
Location : Powys

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by freebird 23rd January 2014, 7:50 pm

polgara wrote:Cooking rice or pasta, cover with water about 1ins above top of contents cover with a fitting lid.  Bring to the boil, simmer for 5mins & then turn of heat & leave for 15 or so mins.  Cooks a treat.
In a similar vein to Pol's suggestion, I've been experimenting with cooking in a thermos flask. I bought the man a food flask for Christmas, as he goes on day long fishing trips in the cold. Whilst researching different flasks on t'internet, I came upon a review by someone who cooks porridge in their flask. Interest piqued, I explored a bit more......

So far I've cooked potatoes, rice, pasta and a lamb shank stew. The short cooking-time items are probably better done Pol's way, as I can't see that any energy is saved because you have to boil water to heat the flask, as well as boiling the thing you are cooking. Despite this, I can see it having great potential for camping, when you may be restricted to a single cooking ring/burner. The lamb shank stew was done in a large 1.8 litre flask, and left for about 8 hours. It was all cooked, though some vegetables were not quite as tender as I like them, so I simmered it gently for a further hour before serving.

If I had the space, I would seriously consider installing a hay box in the kitchen!
freebird
freebird

Posts : 2244
Join date : 2011-10-19
Age : 67
Location : Powys

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Chilli-head 23rd January 2014, 8:56 pm

You could try solar cooking:
http://www.greek-recipe.com/about-solar-cooking/

The trouble is that if there is enough sun to cook by, I'm not usually in the mood for a stew !
Chilli-head
Chilli-head
Admin and Boss man

Posts : 3305
Join date : 2010-02-23
Location : Bedfordshire

Back to top Go down

Very small energy saving tips Empty Re: Very small energy saving tips

Post by Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum