MARTIN Lewis has revealed exactly how much energy it will cost to cook the Christmas dinner – and ways to save some big bucks.
The consumer champion, 51, broke down the cost of running an ordinary oven of a household was on the standard price cap tariff.
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He told the viewers of his popular ITV show: “If you have a two kilowatt oven, if you have it on for an hour that’s costing around 50p.”
But he added: “Sometimes ovens aren’t on full power, they get up to the power and then it goes off automatically and comes back on when it needs to heat up.”
Mr Lewis said: “If you know your wattage then you have a pretty good idea of what it costs, if you do a bit of maths.”
However, for the big Christmas Day meal most ovens will need to be on longer than just an hour if there is the traditional turkey, roast potatoes and veg to cook.
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Also don’t forget to heat up the oven to the correct temperature before you start roasting.
However, using the oven might not be the cheapest way to cook your festive feast.
There are various ways of heating food in the kitchen and – with the fuel costs soaring to an average £2,500 a year – it’s a good idea to know which is cheapest.
Microwaves are more efficient than ovens because the energy heats only the food, not the whole heating compartment.
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The other big advantage is you don’t need the oven to warm to a high temperature first.
A 1,000 watt microwave costs 34p an hour to use.
A 1,550 watt air fryer costs 53p an hour.
Air fryers have soared in popularity due to being quicker and more efficient than ovens.
The gadgets use hot air to cook food rather than oil, making them healthier than deep-fat frying but still giving food a crispy fried finish.
Foods that cook well in air fryers include chicken pieces, bacon, chips, and roast potatoes, but others are less suited, such as green leaves, cheese and wet batter.
To ensure even cooking, shake the basket a few times while it’s in progress and flip larger foods.
Slower cookers are very economical with 100 watt gadgets costing just 3.4p an hour although you will need them on for a good few hours to get your food cooked properly.
Slow cookers simmer food at low temperatures over a few hours – with the ingredients benefitting from the slow, gentle heat to bring out strong flavours.
Slow cookers are great for cooking meals in sauces, like stews, curries and casseroles, as they slowly blend the flavours over time.
An oven is usually the most expensive way of heating food – so should be used as a last resort.
Be mindful of cutting the cost of running an oven.
You can do this by batch cooking as much as possible to make sure all the space and heat is being used.
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Other ways of cutting costs include using glass or ceramic dishes in the oven as they retain heat better than metal ones.
You can also turn the oven off ten minutes before the food’s finished cooking as the temperature will remain the same, and the food will keep cooking.
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