Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Microwave vs. Oven: Which is Greener for Reheating?

Microwave vs. Oven: Which is Greener for Reheating?

Suggestions for using technology greener abound, and this post from Treehugger adds info about figuring out which is greener for reheating food: the microwave, or the oven. So what's the answer? Like many choices in the greening of our home technology, the answer isn't totally straight.

We've got a previous post about power consumption that gives you the resources to do the figuring on your own by filling in a form on-line, saving you from having to do the math yourself.

The Treehugger post also gets into the differences between different types of cookware. One especially easy step: use residual heat. Turn off the stove or oven a few minutes before the end of cooking, as the heat needed to finish cooking will still remain.

- Image by Joshua Davis.

Comments (2)

The answer is particularly ambiguous because the Treehugger article doesn't mention microwaves at all -- despite the title, it's all tips on using your oven and range more effectively.

Having been there when these tips were new... on the preheating issue, if you don't preheat, you end up increasing cooking time by roughly the amount of the preheating time (on modern ovens, that's about 5 minutes), so it's pretty much a wash on energy use. For leftovers and casseroles, not preheating won't affect the yumminess of the food; for cakes, breads, and roasts, it could.

posted by wende in the twin cities on October 17th 2007 at 5:20am
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So I guess we have to decide the greener way for heating food. In this case I think the brand name has a relative importance and we should be aware of technical features for each option we have. Modern appliances are most likely to have a greener function. I was hopping for an answer though as I intend to buy some Whirlpool parts and it's difficult to make the right decision.

posted by gordman on February 4th 2008 at 12:05pm
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