John Whaite, winner of The Great British Bake Off’s third series, has created a pie celebrating the nation’s official top five favourite fillings and baked using energy-efficient tips during British Pie Week (6-12 March).
Teaming up with British Gas, Whaite aims to inspire households to renew their knowledge of home economics and how to be smarter with energy use in the kitchen.
According to British Gas research, the majority of people (58%) admitted to burning their bakes, indicating that Smart Home Economics was important to avoid ruined pies and unexpected energy bills.
John Whaite, British Gas smart chef ambassador, said it was so important for people to understand what they were eating and how to use kitchen appliances efficiently.
“This is a big part of my motivation behind my hands-on classes at my [John Whaite’s] Kitchen Cookery School,” he said. “I want to teach the culinary skills needed to create tasty, wholesome meals that are also energy-efficient to cook, so it’s super-easy to replicate at home.”
British Gas has offered some top tips for bakers on how to bake ‘smart’ pies’ around the nation:
- Keep the oven door closed while baking: As tempting as it is to take a peek at your pie, opening the oven door causes the heat to drop and uses extra energy to get back up to temperature.
- Turn the oven off 5-10 minutes before the pie is done: It will retain plenty of heat during this time and will continue to cook your pie to perfection.
- Keep the oven clean: Grease and little pieces of burnt food in the oven can absorb the heat and make the oven less efficient. Keeping the glass clear also gives you a sneak peek while baking.
- Bake in batches: Cooking a number of pies to cater to different family favourites? Try cooking them all in one go – an already heated oven will use less energy.
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