Cook holiday feast without being energy glutton

November 11, 2007

It’s almost time for Thanksgiving dinner. It seems like it takes a great deal of energy to cook such a big meal. Can you suggest some ways to cook more efficiently?

For most of us, the centerpiece of our Thanksgiving feast is a turkey, and cooking the entire meal is a big undertaking.

Many families have traditions that dictate the menu, with maybe a new item or two added each year.

Until recently, cooking the turkey meant popping the bird in the oven, with or without stuffing. But in recent years, folks have taken to new ways of cooking the turkey. Many are trying a barbecue or a deepfryer. Another option is smoking the turkey.

A turkey can be barbecued using a rotisserie or by putting it in a pan and cooking it with indirect heat. Either propane or charcoal can be used as fuel.

If you want to try deep-frying your turkey, many hardware stores and home improvement centers sell turkey fryer kits this time of year. The kits usually include a pot, burner, turkey rack, fry basket and oil thermometer.

Roasting an unstuffed 8- to 10-pound turkey in your electric oven or cooking it on a barbecue takes as long as three hours. Unlike traditional oven roasting or barbecuing, which cooks the turkey from the outside only, the hot oil in a fryer cooks the turkey from inside and out, reducing the cooking time to only 30 to 35 minutes.

From an energy standpoint, the least expensive way to cook a turkey is using a convection oven. Convection ovens push air throughout the oven, resulting in shorter cooking times.

But the amount of energy used to cook the meal isn’t large enough to be meaningful in choosing between cooking methods. The cost to cook an 8- to 10-pound turkey in an electric oven at 350 degrees is about 15 cents at today’s rates. You’ll probably spend $3 to $4 for propane if you decide to barbecue or deep-fry your turkey.

Still, there are cooking strategies that save energy.

First, don’t just stuff the turkey, stuff the oven, too. Bake as many things at the same time as possible. While the oven and range may run for between 12 and 20 hours baking the turkey, pies, potatoes and the like, the energy cost is really minimal, especially when more than one dish is cooked at once.

While we don’t recommend using the microwave for cooking a turkey, it’s sure handy for many of the side dishes. And, the microwave is an excellent choice for warming up the leftovers. We’ve also found the newer toaster ovens to be very useful for cooking many items, and they don’t consume anywhere near the amount of electricity you’d use in your regular oven.

One final note.

If you choose to deep-fry your turkey, keep safety in mind. Marilyn Westlake, public education coordinator for the Vancouver Fire Department, offers these suggestions:

Put the deep-fryer in an area where it is at least 10 feet away from anything that could burn.

Never deep-fry a turkey indoors, in a garage, on a porch, on a deck, or in any other structure that is attached to a building.

Keep children and pets a safe distance away from the fryer.

And remember that deep-fryers should always be attended during cooking.

We wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and hope you enjoy your special meal.