10 expert tips to save LPG amid shortage concerns — From pressure cooker use to smarter cooking

Health and lifestyle coach Dr Nandita Iyer shared measures to reduce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumption by nearly 50% amid ongoing supply shortages in several parts of India due to the Middle East conflict. The LPG price hike and unavailability affected several sectors, mainly the food and beverage (F&B) industry, forcing several eateries to shut down operations.

Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world’s most critical energy corridors, handles substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas exports. Disruption in this narrow shipping route between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula has triggered the LPG crisis. In a post on X, the wellness educator listed 10 tips to reduce LPG consumption significantly.

1. Pressure cooker use - Pressure cooking reduces cooking time by 30 to 70%, especially for dals, beans, potatoes, and meats, the health coach said.

2. Soak dry food items - Soak pulses, beans and rice before cooking to reduce cooking time and LPG consumption, since soaked foods cooks 30 to 50% faster. Typical soaking times for rajma or chana is 8 to 10 hours, for dals it is 30 to 60 minutes and for rice it is 20 to 30 minutes.

3. Burner size: When large burner is used for small vessels it wastes gas so small burner is recommended for items like tea, tadka and reheating while large sized burner must be used for pressure cooking or boiling water. Notably, the burner's flame should not burn beyond the circumference of the pan.

4. Cover cooking pot with lids: Cooking with a lid retains heat, reduces evaporation and speeds up cooking. It reduces fuel use by 20 to 25%.

5. Cut vegetables in smaller in pieces - This speeds up cooking time due to more surface area and faster heat penetration.

6. Club multiple items- Cooking multiple items together in a pressure cooker will save gas. Example: Place vegetables in a bowl with meat. “This one-flame multi-cooking can cut fuel use dramatically. Even in smaller cookers, you can keep one vegetable directly in the cooker and another in a cup over it (like smaller quantity veg for sambar),” Nandita Iyer wrote.

7. Check the burners for any blockage: Clean burners every few weeks for faster heating, blue flame and lower LPG use since blocked burner holes cause inefficient combustion. It is important to note that yellow flames means incomplete combustion.

8. Use residual heat: Many foods continue cooking with trapped heat so turning off the stove early saves energy.

9. Use flat bottomed heavy vessels - Heavy-bottom cookware like thick base stainless steel, triply steel and cast iron which reduce cooking time by distributing heat evenly. “Thin vessels waste heat and burn food,” the wellness expert noted.

10. Smarter cooking - For boiling water an electric kettle must be used as it is more energy-efficient than LPG for water heating.