The influence of the cold rolled reduction on stored energy has been evaluated in a Fe-53%Ni and a duplex steel using neutron diffraction. Measurements of diffraction peak broadening were undertaken to study the influence of stored energy on mechanisms that govern the growth of the cube texture in a heavily cold rolled Fe-Ni alloy. The results suggested that the energy gap between the cube and the other main orientations increases with reduction and thus promotes the cube growth during recrystallization. The same method of energy evaluation was used for a duplex steel after hot rolling and 80% cold rolled reduction. It appeared that such a method was relevant for a two-phase material. More the energy levels found in the two phases are in good agreement with the two phases microstructural observations found in the literature. It appears that the austenite stores more energy than the ferrite.