Why You Should Always Use A Lid When Cooking

Use your lid! Here’s why using a saucepan lid when you are cooking helps save you energy and money.

Something I’m really passionate about is saving energy. Saving energy is such a win-win for everyone. It helps keep a lid on your energy bills AND helps the environment at the same time.

Energy saving is important for the environment because on average, electricity and gas use creates about a quarter of all carbon emissions from our homes. Cut our electricity and gas use, and we cut our carbon emissions, helping to tackle climate change, whilst lowering our energy spend.

However, a lot of the discussions around reducing energy use at home focuses on the big stuff. Stuff like installing solar panels or heat pumps, replacing windows, or installing insulation. None of which are practical if you don’t own your home, or don’t have the funds to make these big changes.

Instead, I’m a big fan of the little energy wins that anyone can do, regardless of home ownership status or income. With energy bills set to rise by 9% in October 2024, now is a good time to get a handle on those bills.

Why You Should Use A Lid When Cooking

So how do you start making a dent in your electricity bills? I recommend starting in the heart of your home – the kitchen – as that’s where much of our energy use occurs.

It’s really easy to get started. All you need to do is to use a lid.

Yes, it’s really that simple – a great place to start is to use a lid on your saucepans when you are cooking on the hob.

Using a lid on your pots or saucepan when you’re cooking speeds up the cooking time. This is because the lid keeps the heat in the pan, where it’s needed, rather than escaping into the air. This reduces the amount of energy required to cook your food. It also stops you from unnecessarily heating your kitchen rather than your food.

Simmering vegetables, cooking pasta, rice, or potatoes, making soup or sauces, and boiling eggs will all benefit from using a lid. Braising or poaching food also benefits from keeping a lid on things. The good news is so will your pocket too!

When Not To Cover Your Food

The only times you don’t want to use a lid when you are cooking is:

• When you are trying to thicken or reduce a dish – such as a soup, stew or sauce. In this instance, you want to let the excess liquid out, rather than trap it in the pan.
• When you are searing or frying food. It’s safer to let any moisture in your food out, rather than letting it condense as water on the lid and then dripping into the hot oil.

Check out my top tips on how to save energy when you’re using your oven for more ways to save when you’re cooking. And when you’re ready to go further, find my 15 top tips to save energy all around the home.