Baking Marathon

We conserve the energy used to heat our oven by the following ways:

1. Making larger portions so that you can maximize the food that you are cooking in your oven at the same temperature. (ie make several casseroles or bake a whole sheet of chicken and another whole sheet of potatoes) If you're going to be keeping that oven on for 1 hour anyway, you might as well multiply its cooking power and make dinner for another night and freeze it! Besides, prep time for extra ingredients will only take you a fraction longer.

2. Baking different things consecutively while the oven is hot! (ie after making the casserole, make a batch of muffins or cake for dessert!) It saves energy because you don't have to reheat the oven to the desired temperature again if you are planning on baking something else soon. If you are quick enough, you can whip up the muffin batter while your casserole is baking...you're waiting anyway! Muffins, cookies and cakes freeze great and come in handy when you are in need of a quick dessert.

3. Turn off your oven and leave the door closed a couple of minutes before the desired doneness. This, of course, requires some experience and knowledge of how well your own oven retains heat. (ie when your muffins are 95% done, turn your oven off and keep it in without opening the oven door until it's desired golden color) Word of caution, keeping your goods in the oven for too long will dry it out. I did read somewhere that you are supposed to do this anyway when you make cakes and it allows your cakes to cook perfectly every time!

4. Turn the oven light off when you are not needing it. While this one seems like a no-brainer because us Frugalistas do it throughout our house, we sometimes forget to turn the light off in the oven!

Remember every little bit saved counts! Happy baking!
I think I'm going to thaw a muffin that I baked last week now....mmmm....and smother it with butter....