How to Save Electricity

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 33, 28 February 1930, Page 32

How to Save Electricity

‘Alleoven and All-steamed Dinners

ey all talks on electrical cookery, a point is made, and rightly so, of the enocomy or saving in the actual eurrent consumed, that can be effected if a little thought and common-sense is brought to bear on the subject. We all know women, who spend less than Half on their clothes and personal adornment than their less thoughtful sisters, and yet manage to obtain better results; and exactly the same thing applies to cooking by electricity. Once it is realised that practically the only time that the top and bottom elements of the oven are working at "high" together, is when the oven is being pre-heated, it will also be realised how immense the saving in current will be, if as much cooking as possible is done at one time, to avoid the expense of again pre-heating, to cook what in many cases could have been done at the same time, if prepared. To start in a small way, to make toast, turn top oven element to "high," place as many pieces of bread as required on the grilling pan (which is the only one that touches all sides of the oven, and should be left in for no other purpose), put on top shelf below element, leave oven door slightly open, and turn slices of bread when ready. When both sides are toasted, put bacon or bacon and eggs in on the same pan, shut the oven door, turn off the current, and they will be found perfectly cooked in a few minutes. This avoids heating a unit on the top of the range to fry the eggs and bacon. A little experience will enable you to so time vegetables on the boiling ring that once they have come to the boil the switch can always be turned to "low" and in many cases "off," when they will finish cooking on stored heat. To Cook the Dinner. [tz is a good plan, when a roast dinner is to be cooked, to start in good time, pre-heat the ‘oven to between 450 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and first bake any pastry or scones that may be

required. When these are cooked there will be sufficient heat, with the current turned right off, to cook sponges, shortbread, or biscuits;+ and on removing them the oven will still be found quite hot enough to put in a roast. Meringues will cook with the oven temperature at 250 degrees and both elements off.’? For casserole cooking (so délicious and so nourishing, because all the juices and mineral salts are conserved), the casserole can be placed in a cold oven, with the lower element only on. Heat to about 350 or 400, or until the contents of the casserole begin to bubbl depending on the size of the dish, and then turn the element right off and cook entirely on stored heat. Care

Should be taken not to open the oven oF once the current has been turned oi. The meal will be found ready in about three hours, and will be none the worse for being left longer. All that Will be necessary will be to turn on the lower element for a few minutes. Coyered roasting pans, too, are excellent, Ricy puddings and custards can ve ‘ cooked in the same way as casserole cooking, the only difference being that, of course, the custard must not be allowed to boil, or it will eurdle, and both should be removed when cooked. These dishes, too, can often be cooked after a roast dinner has been removed from the oven, and warmed up for a future occasion, if required. It Pays to Plan Ahead. AM TILE forethought in planning ; *.2e€ menu will enable the whoie dinner to be cooked in the oven; or again an entire dinner on one boiling unit, with the aid of a three-tiered Steamer, thus avoiding using both oven and rings for the same meal. ' Nearly all ovens are large enough to take a roast, vegetables-en-casserole, and a pudding. Where: only one shelf is being used at a time, always place it below the middle of the oven; scones, meat, and the like, about three rings up, and large cakes, tarts, and biscuits just below the middle. Most books advise that all baking be done after pre-heating, with the top element "off" and the bottom at "low," but in practice it is often found more satisfactory to keep the top at "low" for the purpose of browning scones, phes, and so on. This method should -not'be followed for cakes, however, or they bake too quickly at the top and do not rise properly. Cakes being cooked on stored heat should be placed in tins on the scone tray, quite near the bottom of the oven, to assist the browning and cooking of the cakes underneath. More Good Hints. FRYING, also, can be carried out most satisfactorily on the lower element in the oven, if shelves and slides are first removed, thus saving unpleasant splashes on top of the range. Use a baking tin, and, of course, make certain that the fat is really bot and giving off the characteristic blue vapour before the food is put in. A unit which is still warm naturally heats‘up more quickly than one which is cold, so that it is wefl to take advantage of a partly-heated one, when stargige a fresh cooking operation. It often makes for economy, too, when using more than one boiling unit, to use the higher-powered one to bring pans to the boil, then move it to a lower-powered one, reserving the larger, heated one to start the second an. » Leave the oven-door open, when cooking is finished, to allow any steam to escape, and brush out any crumbs that may have fallen from cakes or pastry. All cooking operations leave a certain amount of moisture, and both sides and shelves require cleaning occasionally. A clean oven radiates sre heat. Shelves should be taken out" washed with soap and water (a little sand-soap if very greasy or gravy has been spilled), the sides of the oven treated in the same way, and shelves replaced. It is a very simple operation, and one that can be accomplished in a very few minutes,