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Introduction

Whether maintaining cooking and kitchen facilities in commercial office premises, or this equipment being the hub of operations in the food service industry, small businesses stand to gain from implementing energy efficient cooking and kitchen solutions and behaviours.

Reducing energy usage in cooking and kitchen practices can translate to significant cost savings. And there are other possible advantages to consider – better and consistent food quality, less food spoilage, and better working conditions in kitchen environments. The environmental benefits of resource conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are also substantial no matter how small the action. Smart cooking practices along with using the right equipment for the job can save on energy costs and reduce your impact on our environment.

Energy Saving Tips

Quick winsThink through cooking needs.• Consider smaller appliances to help meet peak load times instead of having one large appliance being under-utilised and wasting energy throughout the day.

Educate your staff to use equipment efficiently.• In particular, pay attention to education on cleaning routines to ensure equipment always works at peak efficiency. Equipment maintenance is critical. Depending on use, cooking equipment should be serviced twice a year, including the recalibration of ovens and any other equipment controlled by thermostats.

Use a single hotplate• . Use a single hotplate with a saucepan and stacking steamer with a well-fitting lid. Energy can be further saved when cooking vegetables by using stacking steamers - thereby using only one hotplate.

Use the right amount of water.• When cooking vegetables, do not overfill pots with water. When steaming, use the minimum of water needed and keep the lid on.

Simmer, avoid boiling unnecessarily.• Unnecessary boiling can contribute to wasted energy use.

Energy Efficiency Fact Sheet: Cooking & Kitchens

Limit opening the oven door.• Try to limit the number of times an oven door is opened. Opening an oven door may lose 4 degrees of heat.6

Check oven seal/insulation.• Regularly inspect the seal around the oven. Replace it if it is damaged, cracked or too loose.

Turning off your oven when finishing cooking.• Turn the oven off several minutes before removing food and leave the door open to allow the remaining heat to enter the kitchen space in winter. This allows residual heat to complete the cooking process.

Run equipment on low in quiet cooking periods.• Turning off backup fryers during low production periods and turning ovens down or off during low production periods can save on energy usage.

Ensure close contact with hotplate.• By ensuring good contact with the hotplate or grill cooking efficiency can be maximised. Use cooking vessels with flat, clean bases. Choosing a cooking product that just covers the hotplate means heat is not wasted. Keeping the coil, hotplate or grill clean maintains good heat transfer.

Use the right equipment for the right job.• Using flat bottom saucepans will ensure better contact and heat transfer. Using the correct size lids on pots and saucepans will keep heat contained and make cooking faster and more efficient. Microwave ovens and electric fry pans use less wattage and have faster cooking times. In fact, up to 90 per cent of the energy used by ovens is wasted, so microwaves ovens are a more efficient cooking method.6

Keep equipment clean • . Maintaining a clean microwave oven should keep required cooking times to a minimum. Similarly, an oven rangehood that is free of grease and baked-in residue can work more efficiently.

Share cooking load.• Cook two or more dishes in the oven at once.

Cook at moderate temperatures.• Adopting more energy conscious cooking styles can help reduce energy use. For instance, reducing heat after initial searing and cooking at moderate temperatures preserves food quality and saves energy.

Keep up maintenance of equipment.• Regularly checking appliance door seals, hinges and catches may identify where these are working less efficiently and repairs may be needed to return them to optimal performance.

Follow manufacturers’ recommendations.• Preheat cooking equipment at no longer and no higher setting than what is recommended by the manufacturer.

Cook in efficient loads and quantities.• Use cooking equipment to capacity as fully loaded equipment utilises energy more efficiently. Avoid overloading as this increases cooking time.

Long TermPurchase insulated cooking equipment.• Fryers, ovens, coffee machines and other cooking equipment that are insulated maintain more heat within equipment and transmit less to the environment.

Replace old equipment with more energy efficient options.• Replace broilers with grooved or smooth griddles to substantially reduce energy usage.

Timers on equipment make for optimal cooking.• When purchasing new equipment, consider options such as timers and thermostats. These can automate cooking operations for optimum results.

Invest in new generation energy efficient equipment.• Taking into account running costs, a more efficient cooking equipment model may have a higher purchase price, but the energy savings can pay for themselves. Induction and halogen cook tops are newer electrical technologies which can offer high cooking speed and responsiveness.

Chrome-plated grills lose less heat than conventional ones. Grills with hinged top sections which cook food products from both sides reduce cooking times and energy use. If cooking quantities are variable, split grills or salamanders can be operated more energy efficiently as half units.

Benefits

There are significant financial and environmental benefits to derive from smarter and more efficient cooking and kitchen solutions.

Cost Benefits

The above mentioned actions can result in significant cost benefits in terms of:

reduced maintenance costs on equipment;•

a longer lifespan for cooking and kitchen equipment; and •lower running costs and associated energy expenditure.

Environmental BenefitsThe associated environmental benefits may include:

avoided emissions, including greenhouse gases, through energy conserving products •and actions; and

resource conservation through increasing the lifespan of existing cooking and •kitchen devices, equipment and appliances with regular maintenance, repairs and improvements.

Did you know?1. Cooking and kitchen equipment constitute some of the largest outlays for many small businesses working in the food service industry.

2. Choosing new generation energy efficient cooking equipment may be a significant capital outlay, but will often pay for itself over the longer term.

3. Energy used by commercial cooking equipment is a small but significant component of many small businesses’ operating cost in the food service industry, typically 3–7 percent.3.

Useful references

Australian Government – Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. 1. www.eex.gov.au/eexhomepage/smeenergymanagement

Government of Western Australia – Sustainable Energy Development Office. 2. www.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au/pages/publications.asp

Government of South Australia – Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure 3. www.dtei.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/16613/cooking.pdf

Australian Government – Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts – 4. Greenhouse Challenge Plus. www.environment.gov.au/settlements/challenge/publications

Sustainability Victoria. 5. www.sv.sustainability.vic.gov.au/manufacturing/sustainable_manufacturing

Queensland Government - Department of Mines and Energy 6. www.dme.qld.gov.au/Energy/energywise_tips.cfm

Further information

For more information visit www.originenergy.com.au or phone our dedicated small business team on 1300 730 533.

Endorsement

This fact sheet is endorsed by Ingrid Cornander, MSc Environmental Engineering and Senior Consultant with Impact Employee Communications – An Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Company. It is for general use only and should be used as a reference guide only.

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