What is the most energy efficient method of cooking a British roast dinner?
An easy question to ask, but a surprisingly difficult one to answer from reliable published information. There is, of course, no standard definition of a ‘British’ roast dinner. Most people would accept the fact that it will have a piece of roast meat as its core ingredient. Traditionally this was likely to be beef, pork or lamb but increasingly it will be based on a whole chicken. The meat will be sliced hot and presented with a mixture of roast and boiled vegetables; a gravy, sauce or both and in many cases a stuffing. If beef it will traditionally be accompanied by a Yorkshire pudding. In the past FRPERC have carried out studies on the energy requirements in the cooking of a 2.25 kg rolled rib of beef. Taking the joint straight out of the freezer and cooking it absorbed up to 13,729 kJ (3.8 kWh). If joints were cooked from ambient (20°C) then as little as 6700 kJ (1.9 kWh) could be required. Very little of the energy used ends up in the cooked piece of meat (See bar chart). So where
