Ten tips to save money when using your oven

Cooking generally has high fuel consumption in comparison to other household activities. If you have an energy monitor, you'll see that your oven uses far more electricity than almost any other appliance in your home. Keep your bills down and save energy when preparing food with these simple energy-efficient tips:

1. Cook in batches as by cooking as much as possible in one go will make sure none of the heat is being wasted. Freeze portions of food to warm up at a later date which will save you time too.
2. Switch off an electric oven ten minutes before the end of the cooking time as it will still keep to the same temperature for this time period and this  lingering heat is also good for toasting home-made breadcrumbs or croutons.
3. Keep the oven closed while you're cooking as every time you open the door heat is lost and more energy is needed to get it back up to the required temperature. By keeping the glass window in your overn door clean, you'll be able to look in, rather than having to open the door.
4. Chop food into smaller pieces so it cooks more quickly.
5. Don't cook from frozen, if possible, as defrosting food in advance typically halves the cooking time so take it our of the freezer and pop it in the fridge to defrost overnight.
6. Get to know your oven: learn how long it takes to pre-heat, so you're ready to start cooking as soon as it's up to temperature.
7. When making roast potatoes, pre-boil them before roasting to reduce cooking time.
8. Ceramic or glass dishes are the most efficient to use in the oven and can reduce the temperature required for cooking.
9. Stainless steel skewers inserted into baked potatoes and joints of meat will speed up the cooking process.
10. Use the fan assist cooking option as you can set the oven at a lower temperature compared to when using the static cooking option.

What are your top tips?

Please share your helpful hints in the comments below.