Keeping Your Kitchen Cool

In the summer, the kitchen can heat up quickly when you're making dinner. Luckily, there are plenty of measures you can take to keep your kitchen (and, subsequently, the rest of your house) from overheating while still getting a satisfying meal on the table. Here are some ways to keep your cool in the kitchen.

Cook on the Counter

Take advantage of the many countertop cooking appliances there are on the market, and use those to cook your dinner instead of turning on the stove or the oven. Many of them are very energy-efficient, and in addition to keeping your space cooler, they might even save you some money on your power bill! Try these:

• A rice cooker, such as the Panasonic Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker for making full meals, such as risotto
• A slow cooker for making stews or even pork loin or pulled chicken
• A multi-purpose cooker, like Fagor's Multi Cooker can make a variety of main courses or sides

Hit the Grill

Take your cooking outside by firing up your gas or charcoal grill. Doing all or most of your cooking outdoors not only will keep your kitchen cool but it also minimizes cleanup. (And who wants to sweat over a sink of hot water in the dead of summer?). If you don't have an outdoor grill, an indoor countertop grill, such as one from George Foreman or Breville is nearly as good. And grilled fish tacos make a particularly satisfying summertime dinner.

Try Induction Cooking

Portable countertop induction cookers are efficient and powerful and will likely cook your recipes in less time than a traditional gas burner. What's more, because the induction cooking surface doesn't get hot, but instead directs the heat to the inside of the pan, it's not radiating heat into your kitchen. One to try: the Fagor Portable Induction Cooktop.

Put on the Pressure

Pressure cooking, while done on the stove, cooks food in about one-third the time as regular cookware. The shorter the stove is on, the less time it has to heat up your house. Get creative with your pressure cooker and discover how it can cook everything from side dishes to dessert.

Make No-Cook Meals

Serving a chilled, no-cook dinner not only keeps your kitchen cool, but the refreshing temperature of the food will make you feel a little less hot as well. Try a chilled summer soup like traditional tomato gazpacho or cucumber yogurt gazpacho, and serve it with a loaf of bakery bread or a sandwich of cold cuts or fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.