Put a lid on it

What

Whether you’re a master chef in training or more of a pasta-and-pesto kind of cook, a simple pan lid can save you time, money and energy in the kitchen.

When it comes to cooking on the hob, it can take twice as long to heat a pan of water with the lid off instead of on.1 Other than steaming up the windows, the rest of the heat goes to waste.

put-a-lid-on-it

Benefits

For people

When hunger strikes, waiting around for water to boil is the worst. If you’re heating up a pan of water for cooking pasta, potatoes, rice, eggs or anything else really, putting a lid on it will shave minutes off your wait. Using an electric kettle to boil your cooking water is even faster!

By speeding up your cooking, you’ll be saving money as well as energy. It might not be completely bank-altering, but as someone once said: every little helps. Especially when it becomes a life-long habit.

For planet

You don’t have to be a scientist to figure out that putting a lid on your cooking saves energy. And the less energy you use, the smaller your carbon footprint. If we all become more aware of how much energy we’re using, and make small daily changes in our behaviour to reduce our impact, it’ll add up to a significant difference.

How

We’re pretty sure you don’t need a step-by-step guide to using a saucepan lid – although it’s worth saying the better fitting the lid, the more time, money and energy you’ll save.

Instead, here are a few more tips to get you a Michelin star in eco-friendly cooking.

  • The microwave is the most efficient way to cook practically anything in the kitchen. Use it to heat your soup and parboil your potatoes for baking or roasting.
  • It’s better to boil water in your kettle first and then put it in the pan.
  • Only use as much water as you need – boiling extra takes more time and energy.
  • Use the right sized pan for the job, and put it in the hob ring that most closely fits its circumference.
  • Don’t have lids for your pans? Get yourself a set of multi-purpose silicone suction lids, they fit on all size pans.

If you want to read more about saving time and energy while you cook, check out these tips from uSwtich and OVO Energy.