Whenever I turn off a burner on my electric cooktop stove, I cover it with a lidded pot of water. The passively-heated water is then used to hand-wash dishes. Likewise, I do the same when I've finished using the oven. Not only do these pots of "free" hot water save wear and tear on my water heater, but they serve to remove heat from the kitchen in hot weather. After seeing a WIlliams-Sonoma staffer recommend doing so, if I remember, I soak dry pasta in tap water for 45-60 minutes before cooking it. It dramatically reduces cooking time. A lasagna pan is convenient for soaking long shapes like spaghetti. From a friend, I learned that pasta cooks just fine if you don't continually boil it, and you can use less than half the generally-recommended amount of water. For a pound of dry pasta (unsoaked), bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Stir in the pasta (give long strands a minute to soften and submerge), put the lid on, turn off the heat, and add 3-5 minutes to the cooking time recommended on the package. Especially for stranded pasta, you might want to quickly lift the lid and stir once midway through the "steeping" time. An added plus is that this method eliminates boil-overs. I keep my refrigerator and freezer quite full, as the thermal mass conserves the cold so the unit does not need to run as much. On the rare occasions when there is open space in the freezer, I fill it with containers of water, If the weather forecast sounds like the risk of power outages is increased, I make sure to have these DIY "ice blocks" in the freezer. If the power fails, I quickly transfer one from the freezer to the top shelf of the fridge, then shut it and don't open either door until the power is restored. A few years ago when the Halloween snowstorm hit New England, I had no power for 106 hours. The only thing that spoiled was an opened container of cream that was on the verge of curdling before the storm arrived.
Whenever I turn off a burner on my electric cooktop stove, I cover it with a lidded pot of water. The passively-heated water is then used to hand-wash dishes. Likewise, I do the same when I've finished using the oven. Not only do these pots of "free" hot water save wear and tear on my water heater, but they serve to remove heat from the kitchen in hot weather. After seeing a WIlliams-Sonoma staffer recommend doing so, if I remember, I soak dry pasta in tap water for 45-60 minutes before cooking it. It dramatically reduces cooking time. A lasagna pan is convenient for soaking long shapes like spaghetti. From a friend, I learned that pasta cooks just fine if you don't continually boil it, and you can use less than half the generally-recommended amount of water. For a pound of dry pasta (unsoaked), bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Stir in the pasta (give long strands a minute to soften and submerge), put the lid on, turn off the heat, and add 3-5 minutes to the cooking time recommended on the package. Especially for stranded pasta, you might want to quickly lift the lid and stir once midway through the "steeping" time. An added plus is that this method eliminates boil-overs. I keep my refrigerator and freezer quite full, as the thermal mass conserves the cold so the unit does not need to run as much. On the rare occasions when there is open space in the freezer, I fill it with containers of water, If the weather forecast sounds like the risk of power outages is increased, I make sure to have these DIY "ice blocks" in the freezer. If the power fails, I quickly transfer one from the freezer to the top shelf of the fridge, then shut it and don't open either door until the power is restored. A few years ago when the Halloween snowstorm hit New England, I had no power for 106 hours. The only thing that spoiled was an opened container of cream that was on the verge of curdling before the storm arrived.