How much does it cost to heat "corned beef brisket" for 2 hours at 350 degrees?

[Banter]

The wife thinks she's saving money by buying two pounds of corned beef brisket at $2.69/pound. However, it takes 2 hours to bake at 350F.

Is there a way to convert 350F times 2 hours to kilowatts?

We pay a sliding scale for electricity from 12 cents per KWH for the first week of the month (or so), to 45 cents per KWH for the second half of the month, so I can average the electricity to cost something like 25 to 30 cents per KWH.

But, how many watts does it take to bake?

I realize once I figure out the watts, the rest is easy. But how do I figure out the watts in an hour at 350F?

[trader4]

Google is your friend....

Also, I think what you're saying is that you have tiered electricity rates, so that beyond a certain point, you pay more. If so, I would not use the average rate, because if you add that additional cooking time, it's at the incremental, ie higher, cost. Using your $.45 rate and the calculator, gives a cost of $.70

Also, if you're using the oven now, during the winter, you're also getting free heat for the house from it. That reduces the true cost.

And boy it must suck to pay those rates. Here in NJ I'm paying about $.17 and it's one of the highest rates in the USA.

[HeyBub]

Huh?

If you eat two pounds of brisket at a sitting, you have no choice but to cook it all at once.

On the other hand, suppose it costs an extra, oh, TEN DOLLARS to cook the brisket in advance of mealtimes. You've got to ask yourself is it really worth it to save the ten bucks?

Remember, if the wife is happy and you're not, you're still happier than if you were happy and she wasn't.

[dpb]

But it's much more efficient to only heat the oven once than it would be to do it multiple times...she's almost certainly right (and it's being pretty miserly on pennies when there undoubtedly are many more usages that are far more extravagant you don't mind or recognize I'd wager).

[Banter]

That's a fantastic web site! Thanks.

I just looked up my "tiered" rate for Silicon Valley:

Tier1 = $0.13/kWh up to "baseline" Tier2 = $0.15/kWh from there to 130% of baseline Tier3 = $0.30/kWh from there to 200% of baseline Tier4 = $0.34/kWh from there to infinity So, it's 34 cents per kWh, not 45 cents (sorry) in California.

Plugging 34 cents per kWh (which is what I'm charged for half the month) into that calculator, it costs me $0.27 per hour to bake at 350F.

So, roughly, the cooking costs are 50 cents for that 2 pound corned beef and cabbage she wants to make for Saint Patty's Day!

The good news is it's much less than I had thought it would be (I thought it was in the dollars range). That makes buying a cheaper cut of meat more of an economical alternative than I had originally assumed.

Thanks for edifying me!

[harry]

You can't. All depends on the heat loss/insulation of your oven which we don't know.

You need to check it with your electricity meter. Be sure everything else is turned off.

[Home Guy]

Holly shit are you paying through the nose for electricity.

Here in Ontario (Canada) most of us are now on time-of-day metering, with the cheapest electricity costing about 7 cents per kwh from 7 pm until 7 am. During the day there are 2 rates, but even the most expensive is I think 14 cents.

Do your rates (above) include "delivery" charges? We pay an extra few cents per kwh to the operator responsible for maintaining the distribution network.

[trader4]

It's pre-cooked if you buy it at the deli counter or in a can. If you buy a brisket, it's raw beef that has been brined and it comes in a plastic packaged surrounded by the brine. You braise it for a couple hours, as he indicated.

Also, you don't have to do it in the oven. You can simmer it in a pot on the range. So,, if Banter has a gas range, that is probably the most cost effective way.

[Chemo]

I would have thought you'd be more interested in how long a piece of string is.

[trader4]

I'm not sure what the savings comparison is in relation to. I would think he means cooking your own as opposed to buying it cooked. If so, they are way ahead. Cooked corned beef would cost 3X as much. But it's not a 3x savings, cooking it yourself, because when you cook it you're probably left with 70% of what you started with. Still, it's definitely cheaper to cook your own. And usually much tastier too..

[James Silverton]

Ordinary ovens are not really expensive to run especially at 350F. If you have a window its surprising how infrequently the heating element glows.

[John Grabowski]

*You need to find out what the watts consumption is on the heating element(s) in the oven. This information might be available in the manual or the parts book. Also check the wiring diagram on the back of the stove. Then you can do a rough estimate. The elements will not be on 100% of the time while cooking, but perhaps 50% will work for your equation. Divide the element wattage by 1000 to get kilowatts.

[CRNG]

On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 09:46:36 -0700 (PDT), " [e-mail]" wrote in Re Re: How much does it cost to heat "corned beef brisket" for 2 hours at

350 degrees?:

Nice tool.

[CRNG]

On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:41:02 +0000 (UTC), Banter wrote in Re Re: How much does it cost to heat "corned beef brisket" for 2 hours at 350 degrees?:

Wait a minute. Are you using whole house A/C at this time of the year in Silicon valley? If so, you need to factor in the cost of removing the oven heat from the house after it escapes from the oven.

[Metspitzer]

Toaster oven vs regular oven.

A toaster oven has to keep less volume warm, but has less insulation.

[Doug]

Funny how that works but you are CORRECT !

[Banter]

There are TONS of additional California charges on the bill!

[Gil]

Don't know where you live in Ontario, but where I live we are paying just under 20 cents per kwh (and it varies slightly depending upon kwh usage each billing period) and we're not on 'time-of-day' usage. The so-called 'delivery charge' exceeds my kwh usage cost. And then there is all the other miscellaneous charges they add to it. Try dividing your bottom line by the kwh you used to find out what it's really costing you. The 7 cents thingy is BS put out by the provincial government to make you think you're not paying much.

Gil

[Banter]

Correct. The label says you can cook it either way.

[gregz]

Or subtracting it here. Electric ovens put less heat into the kitchen compared to gas.

Greg