Best ingredients and appliances to save cash when cooking

theguardian.com:

Households facing huge energy bill increases have been told they could save up to £600 a year by switching to more efficient cooking methods.

Gas and electricity bills are expected to soar in October, meaning many Britons are looking at whatever they can do to reduce their energy use.

Research by the energy firm Utilita found that ditching an electric cooker in favour of options such as air fryers and slow cookers could help families save money during the cost of living crisis.

This week, chef Jamie Oliver launched One-Pan Wonders on Channel 4, with all the recipes cooked in one pot saving on energy, and on the hot water for washing up.

Other tweaks include batch cooking, using the right-sized pan with a lid, simmering rather than boiling, and avoiding overfilling the kettle.

Using more efficient appliances could typically save households £287 a year, according to the research, which was published as part of a new campaign with the budget supermarket Iceland

It typically costs 87p a day to run an electric cooker – amounting to £26.38 a month, or £316 a year – making it the most expensive of the cooking methods tested, according to the researchers.

Dual cookers typically clock up a daily cost of 72p, or £264 annually, and a gas cooker costs 33p a day to run. That adds up to £120 over 12 months.

Slow cookers cost 16p a day – £59 annually – to run, while air fryers typically add 14p a day to people’s energy bills, or £52 a year.

A microwave was found to be the cheapest option, costing only 8p a day to use, or £30 annually.

The research was based on cookers being used for 43 minutes a day on average, and all the other appliances being used for 20 minutes.

According to the study, batch cooking, where possible, could save £158 over a