Cooking: Keep the Lid On
Impact
Medium
Difficulty
Easy
Speed
Instant
Cooking pasta or a stew without a lid is like trying to heat your house with the front door open. You're letting the most valuable part of the cooking process—the steam and pressure—escape.
Using a tightly fitting lid allows the contents of the pot to reach a boil much faster and maintain that boil with a significantly lower burner setting. It can reduce energy consumption for a typical stovetop task by as much as 60%. It also keeps your kitchen from becoming a humid sauna, which saves your range hood or AC from having to work harder. Plus, your food often cooks more evenly and stays moister.
It's the simplest habit in the world. Pots have lids for a reason! Make it your defaults setting. If you need to see what's happening, use glass lids. It's a small, zero-cost choice that respects the energy you're using. Put a lid on it and enjoy the silence of a simmer that actually stays in the pot!