AS the cost of living crisis continues to bite, saving cash has never been more important.
Inflation has hit 10.1% according to figures with food and fuel among the costs rising.
Is it cheaper to use an oven or a microwave to cook a meal?
But you may not know how much cooking everyday foods is adding to your energy bills – and that using the right method can help you save.
Will Owen, energy expert at price comparison website Uswitch.com, has revealed how much cooking everything from casseroles to boiled potatoes can cost when rustled up in different ways.
But it can depend on the meal your cooking which one is the most efficient to use.
He said: “Cooking in the oven is one of the most common ways to prepare dinner, but it is often more expensive to run than other kitchen appliances.”
For example, Uswitch’s research found preparing a baked or boiled potato is cheapest in the microwave, costing just 3p. That’s compared to 27p in an electric oven and 14p on an electric hob.
And it takes just 12 minutes to cook them in a microwave, so if you’re looking for a meal on the go, that’s your best bet.
If you’re looking at cooking a hearty casserole, but you don’t know whether to use an electric oven or a slow cooker, it’s the slow cooker that works out cheapest, at 22p.
It uses 0.80 kilowatts of energy as well, as opposed to 1.94 kilowatts.
The downside to the slow cooker is that it will take four times as long to make the casserole.
But you can always set it to cook in the morning, head out and then it’ll be ready when you get home.
Will said: “Slow cookers tend to be the most efficient — they cook food on low power over a number of hours and come with the added benefit of providing a fully cooked meal when you finish work.”
If you’re cooking breaded chicken, it’ll be cheaper to make it in an air fryer as opposed to an electric oven.
It’ll set you back just 11p to cook it, and only needs to be in there for 39 minutes as opposed to 49 minutes in the oven.
Will said: “Air fryers, like microwaves, can work out cheaper to cook in than an oven because they take less time to heat up and have a shorter cooking time.”
Overall, microwaves use the least amount of energy when compared with electric ovens, electric hobs, slow cookers and air fryers.
Will said despite microwaves tending to “come out on top” when looking at cooking for less, they don’t always give the best results.
He said: “So either choose carefully which foods you can cook in the microwave with no loss of enjoyment or, if you really want to drive your energy bill down, design a menu that means you can make your microwave a mainstay of your cooking.
“There are even recipe books dedicated to microwave cooking to help you do this.”
Using a smart meter can help you cut back on costs as well, Will said.
“Smart meters are the easiest way to see how your energy usage fluctuates in real time.”
You could use a smart meter to compare the cost of cooking your favourite meals using different appliances to find out which one is cheapest.
A smart energy monitoring plug could also help you monitor how much it costs to use your airfryer or slow cooker each time.
More ways to save on energy costs around the home
It’s not just kitchen appliances that can see your bills rack up.
Across the rest of the house, you should be careful to use certain appliances that can see costs rise.
Air conditioning can cost homeowners over £130 a month to run, while electric heaters and tumble dryers can be expensive to run as well.
Here’s how you can save on your dryer running costs and your washing machine too.
Games consoles, smart TVs and light bulbs are also not cheap to run –especially if you leave them on standby.
We previously revealed the eight cheapest household items, including vacuum cleaners, microwaves and lawn mowers.