Afraid of gas stoves?

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Does anyone have a fear of gas stoves/ovens? I think I do have a slight fear of them. I had a few relatives who had gas appliances have minor explosions when lighting them, which may cause part of it. Also when I was in school we once watched a safety film where a lady that lived in a cottage tried to get a boy to light her pilot on her stove. They wound up having a fire of some sort that had to be put out.

For some reason the idea of having an open flame in the house scared me also.

I guess I could get used to cooking with gas but it would take a while, and a lot of courage to light one with pilot lights especially.
 
I used to have that fear..

Growing up, most of thw family was afraid of gas appliances, after a gas line explosion in a town my grandparents lived in years ago.

I remember my grandparents house shopping finding the perfect home, perfect price, perfect location, then finding out it had gas cooktop, wall oven, and furnace, and saying no way.

I was terrified when I started as a teenager working in commercial kitchens, surrounded by gas appliances. Then I worked for years in a restaurant with its Original 1940s kitchen, all gas. After dealing with those monstrosities, and losing my eyebrows more than once, nothing made for home use scares me, lol.

Actually once you get used to it, gas isnt anything to be scared of, just use good common sense. In some ways it can be safer than electric. If a gas range leaks or the pilot goes out, you can smell it. Once I was badly shocked by an electric stove after a mouse chewed a wire, and once my grandmother's stove nearly caught fire due to the same thing. No warning on those issues.

I still prefer electric. Cleaner and cooler.
 
Never have had a problem with gas. Was raised with it- Gas heat, stove, hot water heater, clothes dryer.

Gas appliances have come a long way. They now have electronic ignitions instead of pilot lights. So lighting burners isn't the issue that it use to be.

Like Kevin mentioned earlier-- if a gas leak develops or if the apppliance should malfunction you can smell the odor of gas very quickly. If an electric appliance malfunctions you are liable to getting zapped or perhaps starting an electrical fire.

Each source has its pro's and con's. You just have to decide which one is favorable for you.
 
LOVE my 1940's Estate.

No electric parts to break, no electric needed to cook dinner(important in the Snowbelt..Dealing with Thundersnow as I type), instant temp changes..

Plus, I have a 25,000 BTU large skillet burner that actually gets hot enough to Wok cook on correctly.

If your old manual pilot is whoompfing, run a piece of weed trimmer line down the pilot tube..you have a blockage.

I grew up with Gas appliances and as long as they are on Natural Gas and not Propane, I love them. I consider propane gas stoves one step above an electric hotplate.(propane underrates burners by about 20%)

lamont-2014111722230804744_1.jpg
 
Fear of gas stoves? No. Complete hatred? Yes! I was mildly terrified of the huge commercial beast I cooked on all summer at the camp I work at, only because it had not been maintained properly- the pilot lights would go out if you breathed wrong, and it nearly blew the pans off of the burners when it finally lit. On more than one occasion I singed the hairs on the back of my hand while lighting the front burners. Thankfully it was repaired and works fine now. I still hate it and refuse to use the ovens for any kind of cooking, because it is so uneven. Never had any explosive results with gas stoves at home, but I much prefer electric.
 
gas ovens..

They are terrible arent they? At the restaurant we kept having servicemen come out, who kept saying they were fine. We finally gave up, left them set at 500 degrees and remembered which areas inside were cooler and which were hotter. Horrible way to cook. Love me a nice even electric oven.
 
Never been afraid of gas stoves, dryers, water heaters, furnaces etc. I have had a few furnaces blow up on me though, made me jump out of my skin but never was afraid even after that, just learned to stand to the side when lighting them.
I'm honestly actually slightly afraid of electric appliances, especially electric dryers since those are more prone to catching on fire then their gas counterparts *cough GE cough*.
 
To me,growing up with a gas stove was common in my neighborhood as well as gas dryers,gas heat and , in some cases, gas refrigerators. I have scars to prove it . Thanks to my deep interest in washing machines and John LaFevers generosity, I received a beautiful coppertone GE 40" Americana and a nice Westinghouse roaster. I had only used a cheap GE stove and hated it. Once I learned how much more control I could have without scorching or boiling over,and the better,more even heat distribution electric ovens have over gas,I was converted permanently. In my life, gas has been dangerous. It blew up rows of townhomes, killed numerous folks from fume leakage and is dirty fuel. It might be a bit cheaper but not that much.
 
I've never been afraid either...the blue flame has always fascinated me...does that make me a pyromaniac? Everything in my house is gas...Stove, waterheater, dryer, furnace, backup heat, pool heater, grill. Never had a problem. Gas is safer than electricity. You will smell gas leaking LONG LONG before there is enough concentration to explode...electricity can start a fire unnoticed at any time inside a wall or attic. My parents converted to gas stove 20 years ago and after Ice Storm '94 my sister became a convert as well...guess you could say my whole family is full of gas.
 
What I fear far more than gas stoves is trying to cook properly with electric stoves. They have certain uses (great for low simmers etc), but just try to find a single high-end home (e.g. worth over $2M) with an electric stove in the kitchen. It simply ain't gonna happen. For serious cooking there is only open flame.
 
I have used both..

And I personally have never used anything that baked as good as a old match lit Caloric I once had....now for surface cooking , I prefer fixed heat electric, although I never had a major problem with gas, but with my pushbutton Hotpoint, I know at a glance exactly what heat I have and what it will do, with gas or infinite heat electric, I was constantly fiddling with the knob...but I never understood people wanting gas top and electric ovens, I thought just the opposite!
 
serious cooks?

Im from a family of serious cooks, and for 3 generations we have seriously cooked on electric. I have used commercial gas ranges in restaurant kitchens since I was 16. And I still prefer electric.

I cannot think of one thing I have cooked on a gas range that was any more difficult on an electric range, and I do far more than just simmering.

As for those high end homes, half of the owners have never been in the kitchen. Its not about functionality, its about showing who can spend the most money. And commercial gas ranges are expensive.

If you prefer gas, then by all means, use it. But dont assume having it makes you a better or more serious cook, anymore than having a ford instead of a chevy makes you a better or more serious driver. Julia child was one of the greatest cooks of the previous century, a grand woman. And yes, at home she had a commercial gas range. On all her shows, what did she cook on? Electric.

I don't care for elitist views, especially where the kitchen is concerned. I have eaten 5 star meals cooked in expensive copper pots in grand kitchens, that didnt impress me half as much as simple country dishes cooked in a battered and beaten collection of pots and pans in a kitchen that about to fall off the house. Its only a poor workman who blames his tools for a badly done job, as they used to say. And the same goes for ingredients. Prime rib cooked badly, does not taste better by virtue of expense, than hamburger cooked properly.
 
A fine kitchen...

Does not always make a fine cook!! You are right...I prefer my aluminum cookware over stainless for many things, I know All Clad is the in thing now, but just as I want a vintage stove, I want vintage cookware.likewise, I dont want granite counter tops, or a faucet over my stove..etc...
 
JeffG, dear...

"What I fear far more than gas stoves is trying to cook properly with electric stoves."

I used to be just like you for years. But there's nothing to fear. Cooking on an electric stove is like riding a bike, riding a horse, or driving a stick in that it's not hard; it just takes practice....lots & lots.... as in more practice than those 3 examples combined. HOWEVER, there's no actual reason to be afraid ;-)

Gas stove, gas dryer, gas heat, gas hot water...some neighbours actually had gas driveway lamps where I grew up. I'll always prefer gas for all the usual reasons If I have my way I will always have at least 2 gas burners, a gas oven that can be lit with a match, and gas hot water.

Why? Hurricane. Gloria.

I spent 8 days w/o electricity. I handled it w/little problem because I had my hot shower and I had my morning coffee. No, seriously. I've chopped wood and hauled water up 3 flights to a roof-top cistern to have drama free coffee & hot shower in the morning.

That said, I won't turn down the chance to play with an induction burner should I ever get one :-)

Jim
 
the eternal debate reprised...

why confine to one or the other? Both have differing merits.

Generally prefer an electric cooktop and oven, but using a traditional wok is one area where elecric coils or induction just don't work as well imo.
 
Actually ...

"Like Kevin mentioned earlier-- if a gas leak develops or if the apppliance should malfunction you can smell the odor of gas very quickly."

But there's very rarely any risk of an ELECTRIC leak ...
 
JeffG ...

"just try to find a single high-end home (e.g. worth over $2M) with an electric stove in the kitchen. It simply ain't gonna happen."

Actually, it DOES happen. You're just not looking hard enough.

There are many estate homes in the Pittsburgh area in the $7- $10 million range with electric ranges. I've been in them myself.

And here in Manhattan, quite a few eight-figure apartment renovations also feature all-electric kitchens.

I think that what you may be referring to are the nouveau riche outfitting their McMansions with what they're brainwashed to believe is "high-end" on HGTV.
 
I have only been using electric for about 3 years, while I learned to cook on gas (and a very poor example of a gas range at that!), I find electric far more predictable, more even, and without the awful odor. Not to mention that the oven heats in 5 minutes or less, and recovers just as quickly. Try that with gas. Try melting chocolate without a double boiler on gas. The camp I work at has a full size commercial convection oven, and it doesn't bake half as well as our 1961 Frigidaire's electric oven. I'm constantly burning something. We have gas heat, hot water, and clothes dryers, which I don't mind (although I do prefer electric dryers, but that's not an option here). I guess everyone has their preferences, and I prefer electric for cooking. But I don't fear gas.
 
NYC, the only problem with an electric leak is you cannot see/smell it until you touch it.

Vintage, I would assume Julia Child used an electric on set because most studio's probably do not have a gas line run into them and electric is "safer" for the crew.

The big reason I prefer Gas is because all of the electric ranges I've cooked on are all BOL POS with little control on burners. My mother has a glasstop induction electric that I LOVE...But the $$$ factor means I only get to cook on it on holidays....no way I'd spend what they did on a Range.

Gas is king in commercial kitchens due to the cost savings...not due to any advantage in control or cooking-ability.
 
lamont:

You are correct that electric was safer under the circumstances of taping The French Chef in WGBH's studio. And Julia always held that "if it heats up, you can cook on it." She often cooked with hotplates and electric skillets when on book tours where a demo was called for.

However, Julia's confrere James Beard was a huge booster of electric ranges; his famed teaching kitchen in his New York townhouse was equipped with Corning smooth-top units. Beard was one of the very few people Julia related to as a peer.

In my own teaching experience (1983-1989), I found over and over again that electric ranges beat residential gas ranges to Hell and gone. The reason is more powerful heat output. Residential gas range burners do not generate as much heat as an 8" electric burner can. I also find electric ovens to be much more even bakers overall.

My sister and brother-in-law disregarded my advice some years ago, when they wanted to replace their electric range with gas. I wished them well and told them I hoped they wouldn't be sorry. They were; they quickly discovered that large pots took much, much longer to come to a boil.

Commercial gas ranges are a different story; they have greater heat output on their burners. But they use about triple the gas, they often require special support construction for the floor underneath them, and they are absolute Hell to clean.
 
Induction

With the 3000 watt induction element, I can boil 12 ounces of water in 65 seconds in the Revere Designer's Group teakettle, one of the most beautiful ever made, IMHO. Once it boils, I pour it into the Corning 3 cup teapot to steep. With the 3500 watt element, two servings of frozen mixed vegetables in a bit of water reach a full boil in one minute. I love electric resistance cooking, but just cannot help but be amazed at the speed and efficiency of induction. I don't use induction for sauteeing-type operations because I don't need more power than the resistance units offer, but I do use it for French-Frying because the units can be set to hold a temperature as well as heat quickly. Every time I put frozen vegetables on to cook, I remember back to the 50s and early 60s when frozen vegetables came frozen in a block of ice in those little square wax board boxes and how long it took to get them defrosted and up to a boil on the gas range with the burner on high and all of the heat going up the side of the pan.
 
And ...

"Commercial gas ranges are a different story; they have greater heat output on their burners. But they use about triple the gas, they often require special support construction for the floor underneath them, and they are absolute Hell to clean."

And for those "high end" residential applications, they require extra insulation, more distance from flammable cabinetry, and more ventilation.
 
Induction

With the 3000 watt induction element, I can boil 12 ounces of water in 65 seconds in the Revere Designer's Group teakettle, one of the most beautiful ever made, IMHO. Once it boils, I pour it into the Corning 3 cup teapot to steep. With the 3500 watt element, two servings of frozen mixed vegetables in a bit of water reach a full boil in one minute. I love electric resistance cooking, but just cannot help but be amazed at the speed and efficiency of induction. I don't use induction for sauteeing-type operations because I don't need more power than the resistance units offer, but I do use it for French-Frying because the units can be set to hold a temperature as well as heat quickly. Every time I put frozen vegetables on to cook, I remember back to the 50s and early 60s when frozen vegetables came frozen in a block of ice in those little square wax board boxes and how long it took to get them defrosted and up to a boil on the gas range with the burner on high and all of the heat going up the side of the pan.
 
Lamont ...

"I would assume Julia Child used an electric on set because most studio's probably do not have a gas line run into them and electric is "safer" for the crew."

In New York City, television studios need special permits and variances for open flame cooking; they essentially need to be designed to comply as commercial-grade kitchens. You cannot simply put a gas burner into any television studio and presto! you have a cooking segment or show.
 
Permits and Variances:

The situation Matt alludes to also pertains to cooking-school installations in retail spaces, which is the sort of venue where I taught.

We could have put gas in, but it would have been far costlier and taken longer.

Sadly, we had some real problems when a new teaching kitchen went in, because the store's owner (a total non-cook, and damned proud of it) decided she knew better than I, and ordered high-end Gaggenau appliances. The oven was convection and the cooktop halogen.

After quite a few disasters where guest teachers didn't cope with the "personality" of the Gaggenau stuff well, it became clear something needed to be done. The halogen cooktop was a particular problem, because it had a weird heating curve - it took forever to do anything at all, then all at once - BOOM! - it became blast-furnace hot.

The last straw came when a guest teacher wished to use a stovetop fryer, and did not listen to my instructions on the halogen. A veritable Vesuvius of hot peanut oil erupted when the halogen got cranking, flooding the countertop (Corian, no harm done) and threatening the safety of students sitting up front.

After that, I got listened to - we got a Kenmore wall oven with self-cleaning and a Thermador open-coil top that fit the Gaggenau equipment's cut-outs.

I also advised students against halogen (at the time, the latest "buzzword" in cooktops) after that, telling them that it had quite a personality, and that I didn't feel that stoves were entitled to a personality.

Halogen is all but dead as a cooktop heat source, and if I had anything to do with that, I'm happy.
 

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