Brits will be forking out more than £5 just to have the oven on to cook a Sunday roast as the cost of energy soars. The shocking rise in bills is set to make some people question whether the Sunday ritual is sustainable.
In 2019, the price of keeping a 3kw oven on for two hours was just over £1. But with the latest energy price cap announcement, that will rise to £3.12 in October this year. By January 2022, when the price cap is reviewed, experts predict that the cost of running an oven will reach £5.16.
Brits eat 1.28 billion roasts a year, with one in five saying that they sit down with friends and family to have a meal on Sundays. The cost of cooking a Christmas dinner is also set to soar, with experts predicting that families will be set back £10 based on a 5kg turkey, the Mirror reports.
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TV chef Dave Myers, of the Hairy Bikers, said the situation with rising bills is now "out of control". Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “We’ve never really had to factor in the energy required to cook before we even think of the price of the dish. We’re a top 10 world economy, we shouldn’t be having these problems when we worry about heating our house in the winter."
Dave, who has hosted a number of cooking shows alongside Si King, said the Sunday roast has been a staple of family life since his childhood. He said: “When I was little you could smell the chicken cooking all morning, while Junior Choice was on and Family Favourites was on the radio. It was such an event.
“There’s something about the Sunday roast, the predictability. Not only do you know you’ll like it but you know what goes with it. Even though my wife’s Romanian and I have stepchildren, my family have embraced the traditional British roast with all the trimmings. If you can only get the family around the table once a week then that’s definitely the time.”
He suggests batch cooking as a more economical approach to cooking for people who are worried about the cost of their bills. “I’d cook like a chicken fricassee or a chicken chasseur because you can then freeze two or three of them,” he said. “Obviously there’s a cost to keeping the freezer going but it’s a lot less than the oven.”
Dining out is also set to become more expensive as restaurant and pub bosses warn of mass closures. Businesses have reported facing rises in utility costs of up to 500 per cent. Takeaways are also under threat with Britain’s fish and chip shops warning that they face “extinction” due to high costs..
The crisis is also hitting high-end restaurants like those run by MasterChef winner Simon Wood in Manchester and Chester. “We need to keep traditions like the Sunday roast alive because often you only realise how special those family meals are when one of your loved ones is no longer there to enjoy it,” he said.
“This crisis could have an impact on family life for generations to come. The government are sailing blindfolded down the river, out playing the fiddle while Rome burns. Fuel poverty and food poverty come hand in hand."
He added: “At my restaurant I’m already paying £50 for a table for two on energy alone before people walk in. This could hit £200 next year. Businesses will die, no two ways about it.”
How the cost of living is rising
Experts have predicted how energy costs for all sorts of household tasks are predicted to soar. Doing a load of washing will rise from 8p to 25p while an hour of ironing goes from 7p to over £2 by January. If you want football on, it’s 24p a time, up from 6p this time last year. If you forget to put the lights off before you go to work, it will cost 50p.
Sarah Merrick, founder of green energy company Ripple Energy, who crunched the numbers, highlights how it won’t just be the oven that ramps up costs. “Millions of people who previously didn’t have to think hard about their energy intake will be drawn into fuel poverty,” she said. "Families will have to think twice about everything, from ironing shirts to putting on a football match on TV to cooking an iconic Sunday roast."
- Boiling the kettle to make a cup of tea - Apr 22: 1p, Oct 22: 2p, Jan 23: 3p, Apr 23: 4p
- Washing one load of clothes - Apr 22: 8p, Oct 22: 15p, Jan 23: 25p, Apr 23: 29p
- Cooking a roast dinner in the oven - Apr 22: £1.68, Oct 22: £3.12, Jan 23: £5.16, Apr 23: £5.88
- Keeping the lights on for eight hours - Apr 22: 9p, Oct 22: 13p, Jan 23: 25p, Apr 23: 41p
- Ironing clothes for an hour - Apr 22: 70p, Oct 22: £1.25, Jan 23: £2.06, Apr 23: £2.35
- Watching a football match on television - Apr 22: 9p, Oct 22: 17p, Jan 23: 28p, Apr 23: 31p
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