About Air
Things you can do to keep Florida's Air Clean
- Keep the range burners and reflectors clean so they will reflect
heat better.
- Match the size
of the pot to the heating element to avoid wasting
heat.
- Use a lid on your pot to cook at a lower setting.
- On electric ranges,
use a flat-bottomed pot that makes full
contact with the element (a warped or rounded pot will waste most of
the heat).
- Use a microwave or toaster oven
to cook small meals.
- Use a microwave oven to defrost frozen food.
- Use a pressure cooker
to dramatically reduce cooking time and
energy.
- On gas ranges , use a moderate flame setting to conserve gas and
make sure the pilot light is burning with a blue flame (a yellowish
flame indicates the gas needs to be adjusted because it is burning
inefficiently).
- Unless you're baking breads or pastries, you
may not need to
preheat the oven .
- Use glass or ceramic ovenware , and you can lower the required
oven temperature by 25°F while maintaining the same cooking time.
- Don't lay foil on racks and stagger the pans on upper and lower
racks to improve airflow (food cooks more efficiently and quickly
when the oven air can circulate freely).
- Watch the clock or use a timer instead of opening the oven door
to preview the food (each time you open the door, the oven
temperature drops by 25°F).
- Check the gasket
on the oven door to make certain it is tight and
hot air is not escaping.
- If using a self-cleaning oven , run the self-cleaning feature
immediately after baking when the oven is still hot (less energy
will be required to reach the cleaning temperature).
More Things You Can Do
Last updated:
May 22, 2013
2011 State of Florida