Strategies for when it’s too hot to cook

June 21, 2025 by
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This year the solstice brought with it a record-breaking heat wave for much of the US. When the temperatures and dew points both spike this high, standing over a hot stove for any length of time is unappealing, to say the least. Keeping cool while cooking in the midst of a heat wave is difficult, but there are ways to both eat well and avoid overheating. Recipe sites are all publishing their best ‘beat the heat’ options: The Pioneer Woman has some quick and easy recipes on tap and The Independent offers five quick summer salads, just for starters. Visit almost any food website and you can find inspiration in the form of chilled soups, air fryer and Instant Pot recipes, and salads galore.

Using small appliances is a great way to minimize heat. My kitchen faces southwest and the sun beats down on it all afternoon, making it uncomfortably warm even with air conditioning. My plan when this happens is to use the toaster oven and Instant Pot as much as possible. The toaster oven will accommodate a large pie or 2-quart casserole dish and produces much less residual heat than the large wall oven. The Instant Pot tackles tasks that normally would take place on the stovetop, such as sweating vegetables and cooking rice and beans.

For the same reason, I don’t run the dishwasher until the evening – adding extra heat AND humidity during the day makes no sense. Utility companies appreciate this, because air conditioning units during peak daytime hours use a tremendous amount of electricity. Limiting use of all large appliances until after dark helps manage the electric grid to avoid brown outs, equipment failures, or the use of auxiliary power plants, which are often not climate-friendly. Some utilities even charge less for off-peak use so it could lower your electric bill. How do you keep things cool in the kitchen? 

Category: Antipasto

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6 Comments

  • Fyretigger  on  June 21, 2025

    I purchased a portable induction burner from DuxTop for an RV/Van conversion and have put it to use for hot day cooking. There is no waste heat with induction, and the hot pan can be put outside to cool. And the cooking itself can be moved outdoors.

    I also have a Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill, which is kind of a “do it all” workhorse — Grill, BBQ, Roast, Air Fry, Dehydrate, Broil, Smoke as their marketing claims. It works great and the cooking surfaces are very easy to clean.

  • Suitsme  on  June 21, 2025

    The instant pot or slow-cooker goes out on the screened porch. Just be sure the dog doesn’t get too interested out there by himself.
    We use the grill when possible.
    Also, we always set a time delay on our dishwasher so it runs overnight and we have nice warm mugs for coffee in the AM.

  • FuzzyChef  on  June 22, 2025

    Grill, baby, grill.

  • KatieK1  on  June 22, 2025

    Don’t forget the microwave oven. Barbara Kafka has 2 great books on how to use it.

  • Rinshin  on  June 23, 2025

    What heat! It has been unusually cool summer here in the googleland. Looking forward to at least 80+ summer days. Our vegetable garden needs some heat.

  • averythingcooks  on  June 24, 2025

    We had (in Celsius) “36 feels like 43” by 4 pm yesterday on day 2 of our 3 day heat warning in Ontario. Luckily we do have AC so cooking inside isn’t terrible (probably better than out right now as T described BBQ’ing our burgers last night as “very unpleasant” (I did paraphrase that 🙂
    I water bath can full on from July through to September and the AC has been a complete gamechanger.

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