Budget and recipe ideas due to cost of using oven

[HoppingKangaroo]

Looking at the new price caps for October could cost over a pound to run an oven for an hour, maybe more.
Any of you planning on using your oven less? Is it worth investing in an air fryer - could those be used to cook frozen mini pizza, chips or fish fingers cheaper? Anyone have any good cost cutting ideas for cooking food? Any good recipes that will cost less to cook (either less time to cook or use microwave or slow cooker more etc)? Thanks

Cook pizza have cold next day
Salad
Bread for breakfast instead of toast

Lids on pans at all times

We dug out microwave steamer out the back of the cupboard steams veg in minutes .

Is oven more or less expensive than induction hob?

Or an instapot? Not sure whats most economic

Have a look at FYFF£20 on Facebook. Lorna on there is fab! She’s posted lots of helpful stuff about costings of oven use compared to microwave and slow cooker.

There is a news letter you can sign up to where she does a weeks worth of main meals for around £20, and she’s recently done a slow cooker meal plan, I think she’s planning an air fryer one next - you can see all the old meal plans on Facebook, so the page is great for cheap recipe ideas.

I've been using my Ninja Foodi Multicooker a lot more. I'm sure it's cheaper as you don't need to wait for it to warm up, and it cooks faster, especially when I use the pressure cooker.

I have been thinking about this. We know that the majority of our bills are heating (gas) not electricity, so we are going to prioritise cutting the heating bills.

But on cooking we are going to:
-batch cook to get the most out of the oven being heated
-make double portions all the time and eat same two days in a row
-use quicker cook carbs e.g. noodles, couscous, smaller pasta rather than slower to cook carbs - cooking potatoes smaller for example means they cook quicker
-focus on cheap raw ingredients as the priority over cutting the actual cooking costs

But yes, I am thinking I will limit the oven usage where possible. For example I used to make a pasta bake - but it is less energy to just make pasta and sauce.

Have you got a slow cooker? I find I can make enough to last two meals or left overs to take to work.

Pressure cooker
mince 30 minutes
veg 3
spuds 5

I read it is more expensive to run a slow cooker for 8 hrs than use the oven for an hour or so.
I use my slow cooker a lot, but as I am normally on my own I can make enough portions to last four meals and simply reheat.
I plan to eat more beans and pulse base meals which basically need much less cooking time.

I batch cook so once in the oven = 8 portions of meals which I reheat in the microwave
If the oven is on, fill it
So if you're doing a frozen pizza, get a cottage pie or lasagne in there cooking too
And for smaller stuff I use an air fryer so part baked rolls, chips, beige food.. etc

Forestgate

I think an induction hob costs less to run than oven because the heat is transferred directly to the pan rather than heating up a whole oven. Not sure how it compares to an instapot

I tend to cook on the (induction) hob more than in the oven anyway, so things like chilli, risottos, pasta dishes.

If I'm using the oven it tends to be for batch cooking, so I'm getting multiple meals from it.

Another way to cut costs would be to not buy processed food such as frozen pizzas. Pizza dough is very easy to make and costs a fraction of a ready-made frozen pizza.

Defrost food before you cook it

Who told you that? Its always been cheaper to run that's there whole deal

I'm not sure that's accurate ? May be wrong but was always led to believe it is one of the pros of slow cooker

I bought an air fryer recently and have been very impressed.

Rather than heat up an oven for ages and then the time cooking the food, an air fryer does the same thing in minutes.

It'll cost initially (my Ninja Dual cost £180), but already I am saving on energy according to my smart meter.

Invest in an air fryer. I have a Tower one with shelves, it is just like a mini oven and grill. You don't have to wait for it to heat up and cooks food a lot quicker. I have had mine for 3 months and haven't used my oven once since buying it.

For a single person it’d cost way more to make your own pizza.
Id have to buy the ingredients for the dough, tomato sauce, cheese and then toppings.
Fine if I want to live off only pizza for a week.

If I’ve only got a fiver I’m going to buy the £1.15 pizza in Asda.

Be organised so that if you're putting the oven on for something, you're cooking a load of other stuff at the same time. Then you can reheat the cooked stuff in the microwave.

Pizza is cheaper in aldi my kids can eat a whole one each but it's still cheaper to buy it than to make it with the cost of flour etc these days