Campden BRI has performed a number of trials on food products in order to determine which conventional method of cooking uses the least energy and is the most cost-effective. The microwave scored highly across the board.
A consumer poll conducted in December 2022 by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), revealed that one in five consumers reported eating cold food, because they felt unable to afford the cost of heating or cooking a hot meal.
In its findings, Campden BRI noted that based off the energy and costs involved in the process of preheating various appliances, it could be argued that preheating ovens may be an unnecessary measure, and that the energy ‘wasted’ by preheating an oven should simply be used to cook a product. However, it also noted that because the preheating time of different ovens can be entirely different, a consumer could not rely on on-pack instructions, and would instead have to play it by ear.
While there is not much difference between the cost of running an air fryer and the cost of running an electric oven, the cost difference between running an electric oven and a fan oven was large. In a test involving cooking a baked potato, the electric oven cost 35p while a fan oven cost just over 50p to complete cooking.
The results also indicated that, for some products, microwave cooking can be 10 times cheaper than oven cooking and six times cheaper than air-frying.
Energy saving
Greg Hooper, instruction services manager and thermal process specialist at Campden BRI, said: “Between September 2021 and October 2022, the average household energy bill almost doubled, so it’s no surprise that consumers are concerned about the amount of energy they are using to prepare a hot meal and the cost of cooking. But very little guidance is available about the cost of cooking or reheating particular food products. As many products can be cooked or reheated using a range of different domestic appliances and are available to purchase in different formats such as fresh, frozen or canned, it has been extremely difficult for consumers to find accurate, detailed and transparent information about cooking costs.”
Hooper added: “We know consumers are keen to understand the impact of cooking on their energy bill. The data gathered during our trials is expected to prove extremely useful to consumers and therefore to retailers and manufacturers, who will now be able to share information about the cost of cooking with respect to their products and cooking appliances.”
Campden BRI’s whitepaper on the topic can be found here. The research body has also launched a ‘Cooking Energy and Cost Rating’ service on the back of the paper’s publication.
