Hotpan Thermal Cooking: Saves Energy

It’s not that Europeans haven’t told us about thermal cooking. After all, they’ve been using this method of energy efficient cooking for centuries, in the form of homemade hay box cookers (in which hot pots were started on a stove, then tucked into straw-lined boxes, and left to cook using only retained ambient heat). Now, with global warming and fuel costs out of control, it’s an idea worth revisiting. And with Kuhn Rikon’s colorful new Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, embracing the concept just got easier.

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Pressure Cooker Skillet: Does Double Duty

Kuhn Rikon, the same Swiss company behind the Hotpan Cook & Serve Sets, is a leader in energy efficient pressure cookers. Two of their most versatile, quick-cooking products are the Duromatic Pressure Fry Pan and the Pressure Braiser.

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Capresso Kettle Boils Water Better

An electric tea kettle always makes my list of handy, green appliances, because it boils water with less fuel than a cooktop, shuts off automatically, and it’s not just for tea. The best ones also boil water faster than water on a stove, are cordless and the heating elements are completely self-enclosed (meaning almost no fuel is wasted, unlike on a gas or electric range). The Capresso H2O Plus Water Kettle does all of this, and more.

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Top Chop: Architec Cork Cutting Boards

Cutting boards get greener, and handsomer, everyday. The latest model to cross my countertop is the Architec Cork Cutting Board. According to the company, it’s made of small particles of cork adhered together using heat and pressure, like traditional wine corks.

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Cookprint: A New Green Buzzword

What do you call the impact you make on the planet when you cook?

It’s your “cookprint”—the entire chain of resources used to prepare meals, and the waste produced in the process.

The cookprint starts with food, in your garden or at the farm; it travels to your kitchen and continues in your fridge, freezer or pantry. The cookprint grows larger every time heat or fuel is added, from a cooktop, oven, or small appliance. Discarded waste, whether it’s organic produce trimmings, plastic packaging, or water down the drain, further colors the cookprint. As do the implements you cook with, the way you store leftovers, and how you dispose of food waste.

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Epicurean Cutting Surfaces: Hip, Green, and Good for Cooks

Epicurean’s eco-friendly cutting boards may be a chef or cook’s new best friends, and they’re ultra design-sexy. My first pick: Their brilliantly conceived Modular Sets (they link together like a jigsaw puzzle).

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