Energy construction site number one in my kitchen: the refrigerator. I just set it to 5.5 degrees at one point and left it that way without thinking why. I was just as thoughtless when cleaning up. Vegetables in the vegetable compartment, the rest simply if there is space. The experts tell me that raising the refrigerator temperature is worthwhile: 7 percent energy can be saved per degree. A higher fridge temperature does not necessarily mean food waste, because certain things break down faster. The magic word is planning.
When my kids were younger I used to make a menu plan for the whole week, I still count on two or three meals a week, which I (or she) cook as needed, as we often don’t know when who will be home for dinner. Sometimes I get a job, sometimes my daughter has an extra band rehearsal, or my son has an early shift instead of a late shift, or vice versa. I still try to post as much as possible in a weekly shop because it annoys me to shop every day. I decide to plan just one meal of fresh meat and cook it especially for me for the first half of the week in case of an emergency.
After shopping, it’s time to clean up. The experts say that it is cooler downstairs than upstairs, cooler behind than in front and warmest inside the door. That’s where eggs, butter, sauces, and drinks come in. Meat, fish and sausage go on the bottom shelf, yogurt and co on top and cheese and leftovers on top. There’s only one thing I don’t want to deprive myself of: I put the chocolate (sorry, I love chocolate from the fridge) behind the meat. Cheese and yogurt aren’t enough to hide them, and if my son sees them, I can’t eat a piece of them. I proudly close the door. My fridge has never been so tidy!
It comes what was supposed to come. Thursday evening everyone is home, I only enjoyed the stroganoff, there is what is left – vegetable rice. “No meat?” my son asks gruffly. “Has no one left.” – «Altääääää! I need meat. I’m still growing, man.” Says the almost six-foot tall 16-year-old.
An hour later he takes a frozen pizza from the freezer and fiddles with the oven. “Don’t preheat. That saves up to twenty percent energy,” I instruct him. “But the packaging says preheat.” “The experts say modern ovens heat up so quickly it’s not necessary.” – “You with your experts. They certainly don’t know better than the pizza package!” – “Yet. And while we’re at it: recycling. Saves up to 15 percent energy compared to bottom and top heating.» He shrugs and puts his pizza in the oven. won!
However, the dishwasher presents me with a small dilemma. After I put everything away, it’s only three-quarters full. My modest math skills tell me I’m wasting a quarter of my energy if I do it now. The problem is this: the Eco program, which saves 30 to 50 percent energy, takes more than two hours.
No problem if I run the dishwasher in the evening. But if I wait until it’s full, which is after breakfast, then the pans I need for lunch are in the machine. So I save more energy by running it three-quarters full on the Eco program than by filling it up and choosing a normal program. Well, I think I save the most by hand washing the pans I need so badly. What I do then. Reminds me of the school camps back in the day, and I still think that’s pretty cool. A little retro touch is very nice, especially at Christmas.
A little planning, a little thinking and a little crafting, and you’ve already saved a lot of energy in the kitchen. Albeit here and there at the culinary expense of teenagers.
