Even though gas cooking is far superior to electric(and 96 percent of professional chefs prefer it),I've noticed a disturbing trend-people switching from gas to smoothtop electric ranges. Why? You can't cook during a power failure and have limited heat control.
Are gas ranges on their way out?
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I sooo totally agree!
I prefer cooking with gas. There is flame, heat and the whole process is so much more tactile (for a better want of words). Smoothtops are sterile and boring. Just a shiny smooth surface that can crack and scratch at any time. How would I describe the look of modern cooking appliances - sterile, bland and pretentious (that is how I describe most modern stuff). It is designed by people who want to reflect their personality traits in their products and who don't cook themselves, but want to show off their $50,000 kitchen. Give me a 1970's or earlier 40" range (either gas or electric) any day. So much more fun and so much more style.
How's that Dan? Take it easy with the popcorn.
Olav
I prefer cooking with gas. There is flame, heat and the whole process is so much more tactile (for a better want of words). Smoothtops are sterile and boring. Just a shiny smooth surface that can crack and scratch at any time. How would I describe the look of modern cooking appliances - sterile, bland and pretentious (that is how I describe most modern stuff). It is designed by people who want to reflect their personality traits in their products and who don't cook themselves, but want to show off their $50,000 kitchen. Give me a 1970's or earlier 40" range (either gas or electric) any day. So much more fun and so much more style.
How's that Dan? Take it easy with the popcorn.
Olav
I have both a gas range and a smooth-top electric. Frankly, I like the electric better for a number of uses---boiling large pots of water for pasta and simmering sauces, to name two. Heating is also more even when browning meats in a large saute pan---also long as your pan is perfectly flat. Cleanup is also quicker.
I find the electric oven heats more evenly, especially when baking two muffin or cake pans side-by-side on the middle rack. The gas oven tends to over-brown the edges of pans when two are placed side-by-side on a rack.
I use the gas burners, too, but find pot handles get much hotter. I think gas burners are great for sauteing vegetables, where instant heat changes prove themselves convenient. But even with 13,000 btu burners, the electric burners boil large pots of water faster and can hold them at a full boil more readily.
To each his/her own. If you prefer gas, then by all means, use it! I, for one, enjoy having access to both types.
I find the electric oven heats more evenly, especially when baking two muffin or cake pans side-by-side on the middle rack. The gas oven tends to over-brown the edges of pans when two are placed side-by-side on a rack.
I use the gas burners, too, but find pot handles get much hotter. I think gas burners are great for sauteing vegetables, where instant heat changes prove themselves convenient. But even with 13,000 btu burners, the electric burners boil large pots of water faster and can hold them at a full boil more readily.
To each his/her own. If you prefer gas, then by all means, use it! I, for one, enjoy having access to both types.
laundromat
Well-known member
I may sell them but-----
I HATE COOKING WITH GAS!
completely uneven heat,wastefull use of fuel,filthy smell and the only way I can use it during a power outage is by lighting the burner with a match. I can't use the oven during a power outage so,why is every gas range lover so insistant on their claim?I can use an electric range ceramic top or coil top and get fabulaous results in even baking as well as less burning or scorching of cookware and food.I grew up with gas cooking and,once I had a decent electric range that our club member,John LaFever,so graciously gave me along with a fabulous Westinghouse roaster unit,I swore I'd never go back to prehistoric fire cooking.Here,I have no choice because we have solar and wind power,sell propane fuel and have unlimited sorces of gas ranges available.I got a KitchenAid gas 30 inch dual speed convection range that retails for $2400 free.When I was riding up to dump the trash at our local dump,I saw this in a truck in front of us. When they turned into the same dump we were going to,i asked the driver what was up with the range in their truck. He said the owner was constantly complaining of it burning everything and bought another one to replace it. I asked if I could have it and we loaded it on our truck.I got it home,cleaned it all up and hooked it up to gas and 110V. The problem was that someone had the oven set for C instead of F !!!!! I reset it correctly and have been using it ever since.I do not like the cooktop but the oven works great.I have better heat control on a ceramic top or induction cooktop then a gas cooktop.Less splattering of grease,less boiling over and they're much easier to keep clean.No smell of gas fuems and my eyes don't sting from the gas after the oven comes on.When I lived in Florida,we had a kohler gas generator outside the house that would automaticly come on when the electricity failed.It ran on natural gas and was more than powerful enough to provide energy to keep everything going.We would get severe thunderstorms and had a few hurricanes go through our area but, with that great generator,never had an issue in losing electricity.Live better---electricaly
I HATE COOKING WITH GAS!
completely uneven heat,wastefull use of fuel,filthy smell and the only way I can use it during a power outage is by lighting the burner with a match. I can't use the oven during a power outage so,why is every gas range lover so insistant on their claim?I can use an electric range ceramic top or coil top and get fabulaous results in even baking as well as less burning or scorching of cookware and food.I grew up with gas cooking and,once I had a decent electric range that our club member,John LaFever,so graciously gave me along with a fabulous Westinghouse roaster unit,I swore I'd never go back to prehistoric fire cooking.Here,I have no choice because we have solar and wind power,sell propane fuel and have unlimited sorces of gas ranges available.I got a KitchenAid gas 30 inch dual speed convection range that retails for $2400 free.When I was riding up to dump the trash at our local dump,I saw this in a truck in front of us. When they turned into the same dump we were going to,i asked the driver what was up with the range in their truck. He said the owner was constantly complaining of it burning everything and bought another one to replace it. I asked if I could have it and we loaded it on our truck.I got it home,cleaned it all up and hooked it up to gas and 110V. The problem was that someone had the oven set for C instead of F !!!!! I reset it correctly and have been using it ever since.I do not like the cooktop but the oven works great.I have better heat control on a ceramic top or induction cooktop then a gas cooktop.Less splattering of grease,less boiling over and they're much easier to keep clean.No smell of gas fuems and my eyes don't sting from the gas after the oven comes on.When I lived in Florida,we had a kohler gas generator outside the house that would automaticly come on when the electricity failed.It ran on natural gas and was more than powerful enough to provide energy to keep everything going.We would get severe thunderstorms and had a few hurricanes go through our area but, with that great generator,never had an issue in losing electricity.Live better---electricaly
The cost to run gas or electric really depends on the cost of gas vs electric in your area-in many areas its cheaper to use the gas as a "fuel" then electric-for heating appliances you are using the electric for "fuel" as in the case of an regular electric range or oven.I had no problems with gas-the apartment houses I lived in used gas-with gas liked how you turned the burner down-it reponded quickly unlike electric.I suppose induction ranges give you the best of both-but at the prices of induction--WOW!!you could eat out for those prices.An induction stove would be nice to try.And for induction ranges you have to use magnetic cookware.For electric or gas--any.Yes I miss Florida too-used to live there growing up-Clearwater-Tampa,St Pete area.My Mom lived in the Cape Canneveral area-visited her during the summer.Florida was a fun state!Loved the mild winters.Despite the hurricanes in NCalmost as bad as Florida-same with thunderstorms-don't need a genset at home.The power in my neighborhood is VERY reliable.Even during hurricanes-it stays up.
Another note---during PROLONGED power outages-the gas may fail too-after the resudual gas is used in the lines-the gas compressor station may run from electric.My backup is a propane grill with a gas hotplate.Natural gas in my area is EXPENSIVE!!!So most out here use electric for cooking and water heating.Some homes use propane for cooking,heating.The propane is actually cheaper here.
I gotta chime in here too...I have a gas range and I have to agree with Frigilux thatwhen it comes to boiling a pot of water..gas takes a bit longer. Plus I find that alot of heat seems to be wasted. Electric coil and smoothtops do very well and also for evenness of the heat.
Baking with a gas range means like in my case that browning of some foods means that after I am done baking I have to turn the broiler on to get a bit more color on the food. With electrics you dont have to do that. Plus gas is a moist heat. Ever watch the glass on your oven door get all misty when you first start the oven? Cant run the oven without power. Older gas stoves you can since they use a pilot.
I would love to try induction but I cant be within 6 feet of one since I have a pacemaker.
Baking with a gas range means like in my case that browning of some foods means that after I am done baking I have to turn the broiler on to get a bit more color on the food. With electrics you dont have to do that. Plus gas is a moist heat. Ever watch the glass on your oven door get all misty when you first start the oven? Cant run the oven without power. Older gas stoves you can since they use a pilot.
I would love to try induction but I cant be within 6 feet of one since I have a pacemaker.
What Eugene said...
I like the luxury of both. I think, as Marie Barone would say, "you'd have to be a COOK to understand", there are advantages to both. Whenever people who know I'm an appliance connoisseur ask me, I always tell them to go for both.
I think that the popularity of electric smooth tops is simple: judging by the numbers of them up for sale on Craigslist, women appliance customers are persuaded to buy them because they look clean and look deceptively easy to clean. And since most Americans don't cook, they heat up, performance isn't a consideration.
I like the luxury of both. I think, as Marie Barone would say, "you'd have to be a COOK to understand", there are advantages to both. Whenever people who know I'm an appliance connoisseur ask me, I always tell them to go for both.
I think that the popularity of electric smooth tops is simple: judging by the numbers of them up for sale on Craigslist, women appliance customers are persuaded to buy them because they look clean and look deceptively easy to clean. And since most Americans don't cook, they heat up, performance isn't a consideration.
Where is it written that gas cooking is superior? Everything I've read states the opposite and that electric espeically induction is now the best to be had especially for low even simmering and melting (where gas is apparently the worst for scorching and uneveness)
If ---------
I would have built-ins. 4-5 gas burners, 2 electric coil elements, and two electric ovens. Electric is great for simmering, but until I got used to them, I burned things. I usually do not burn things. It made me angry. And sad.
I used to be a better than ok American Chinese cook, and I have tried, and tried, but I cannot stirfry successfully on electric.
I don't mind the extra cleaning with a gas cooktop.
I have looked at dual fuel stoves, but they generally have features I do not want, like a warming drawer, or even a second oven. Or ridiculous cooktops without a space in the middle.
The electric my landlord provided was a decent one, years ago. It is an 80s Tappan, oven's been ok, but the cooktop is nonsense. The oven does not self-clean, and that, to me, is a major deficiency in an electric.
When I started to rent, in 1996, I've only had electrics. Best was a new, self-cleaning Hotpoint.
He said I could have a gas stove if I bought and put it in. So, either in August or next February, I am going to do just that.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
I would have built-ins. 4-5 gas burners, 2 electric coil elements, and two electric ovens. Electric is great for simmering, but until I got used to them, I burned things. I usually do not burn things. It made me angry. And sad.
I used to be a better than ok American Chinese cook, and I have tried, and tried, but I cannot stirfry successfully on electric.
I don't mind the extra cleaning with a gas cooktop.
I have looked at dual fuel stoves, but they generally have features I do not want, like a warming drawer, or even a second oven. Or ridiculous cooktops without a space in the middle.
The electric my landlord provided was a decent one, years ago. It is an 80s Tappan, oven's been ok, but the cooktop is nonsense. The oven does not self-clean, and that, to me, is a major deficiency in an electric.
When I started to rent, in 1996, I've only had electrics. Best was a new, self-cleaning Hotpoint.
He said I could have a gas stove if I bought and put it in. So, either in August or next February, I am going to do just that.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
mrb627
Well-known member
Gas Shutoff
I have a Kenmore Gas Range which has a solenoid that will shut off the gas in the event of a power outage. So, the luxury of being able to cook in a power outage is a thing of the past for the modern day range...
I have a Kenmore Gas Range which has a solenoid that will shut off the gas in the event of a power outage. So, the luxury of being able to cook in a power outage is a thing of the past for the modern day range...
It is your OPINION that gas is superior to electric.
Like everyithg in life, there are advanctages and disadvantages.
It's just a matter of what is more imprtant TO YOU at the time.
Electric cooking tends to be faster, cleaner, cooler safer (as a class) and now with induction you'll have infinite heat settings AND instaNt gas-like heat response.
Research in the UK indicates children that grow up in homes with gas cooking have TWICE the repsiratory ailments (FOR LIFE) than those that gorw up in homes withe electric cooking.
Gas is intuitive, cheap and easy. It's good feng-shui to cook over an "open" fire /flame.
Everyoe is TAUGHT to hate electric cooking--- until you've had it-- then there is no turning back.
Personally you can keep the poisonous ougassings of a gas stove. You can keep the excessive heat a gas stove releases into the room. And can keep the film of grease and dirt it pushes out (BYPRODUCTS of COMBUSTION) over every suface in the kitchen and home.
If I had to choose ONE, it would be electric. When I had the chance to have both, I DID!
IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING electric is not a big adjustment at all! My 70 year-old mother handles my sister's electric smooth-top without any problems after never having before used an eletric cooker. Start on "HIGH" until you boil or fry, move the heat to "medium" and adjust it from there. Just like gas!
Remeber darlings "ALWAYS" OR "NEVER" in a multiple-choice answer is usually WRONG
"GAS IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN ELECTRIC" (Far superior to...)
UH, NO........
Like everyithg in life, there are advanctages and disadvantages.
It's just a matter of what is more imprtant TO YOU at the time.
Electric cooking tends to be faster, cleaner, cooler safer (as a class) and now with induction you'll have infinite heat settings AND instaNt gas-like heat response.
Research in the UK indicates children that grow up in homes with gas cooking have TWICE the repsiratory ailments (FOR LIFE) than those that gorw up in homes withe electric cooking.
Gas is intuitive, cheap and easy. It's good feng-shui to cook over an "open" fire /flame.
Everyoe is TAUGHT to hate electric cooking--- until you've had it-- then there is no turning back.
Personally you can keep the poisonous ougassings of a gas stove. You can keep the excessive heat a gas stove releases into the room. And can keep the film of grease and dirt it pushes out (BYPRODUCTS of COMBUSTION) over every suface in the kitchen and home.
If I had to choose ONE, it would be electric. When I had the chance to have both, I DID!
IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING electric is not a big adjustment at all! My 70 year-old mother handles my sister's electric smooth-top without any problems after never having before used an eletric cooker. Start on "HIGH" until you boil or fry, move the heat to "medium" and adjust it from there. Just like gas!
Remeber darlings "ALWAYS" OR "NEVER" in a multiple-choice answer is usually WRONG
"GAS IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN ELECTRIC" (Far superior to...)
UH, NO........
Get an Avanti brand Turkish stove if you want to be able to cook in a blackout.
High-end features even in copmpat units and doesn't (always) need electricty
High-end features even in copmpat units and doesn't (always) need electricty
Never go back?
Steve, you said "never." I am going back to gas cooking the first chance I get!
There is more than just gas in the house for children's health. Ma was a heavy, sloppy smoker for all of my childhood. She didn't quit for good until I was in my late 30s. A parent who smokes, I bet, could do as much, if not more damage than a gas stove. Besides, during the summer, all three kitchen windows were open, and the fan was running during the winter.
I don't find electric cooktop cooking to be that less heating of the room, which is why from mid May to early October, I do most "cooktop" cooking in my Radarange.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Steve, you said "never." I am going back to gas cooking the first chance I get!
There is more than just gas in the house for children's health. Ma was a heavy, sloppy smoker for all of my childhood. She didn't quit for good until I was in my late 30s. A parent who smokes, I bet, could do as much, if not more damage than a gas stove. Besides, during the summer, all three kitchen windows were open, and the fan was running during the winter.
I don't find electric cooktop cooking to be that less heating of the room, which is why from mid May to early October, I do most "cooktop" cooking in my Radarange.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
~Even though gas cooking is far superior to electric
Says who?
~(and 96 percent of professional chefs prefer it)
In this country, perhaps, where they are not familiar with induction, and don't know any better.
~I've noticed a disturbing trend; people switching from gas to smoothtop electric ranges.
Why is what you don't understand or grasp disturbing? This should immeidiately indicate you don't see an advantage others see.
~You can't cook during a power failure and have limited heat control.
Heat control is just fine. The cleanliness and the ease of cleanup FAR outweigh any disadvantages. You can't bake or broil in most newer gas stoves, either.
What good is a gas stove in summer if you can't use it because it is just too hot?
Says who?
~(and 96 percent of professional chefs prefer it)
In this country, perhaps, where they are not familiar with induction, and don't know any better.
~I've noticed a disturbing trend; people switching from gas to smoothtop electric ranges.
Why is what you don't understand or grasp disturbing? This should immeidiately indicate you don't see an advantage others see.
~You can't cook during a power failure and have limited heat control.
Heat control is just fine. The cleanliness and the ease of cleanup FAR outweigh any disadvantages. You can't bake or broil in most newer gas stoves, either.
What good is a gas stove in summer if you can't use it because it is just too hot?
Architect's Perspective . . .
I don't cook much at all so don't particularly care for me. As an architect I've been involved with high-end homes since the '80s, and can say that the ovewhelming majority of homeowners insist on a gas rangetop. Electric ovens are fine, and some like dual-fuel ranges, but I've never seen anyone ask to change from a gas rangetop to an electric. Obviously if the kitchen is large enough and the homeowner does a lot of cooking, having both gas and induction burners is nice. I find Viking to be the most popular brand for cooking appliances, although Wolf has a following as well, and one client of mine went Thermador to save a bit over Viking. Frankly I find that a lot of Viking stuff looks a little clunky, but it's generally well made and performs well.
I would never suggest having a kitchen without any gas burners unless the homeowner never plans to move, as it will hurt the resale value of the home since many potential buyers will immediately factor in the cost to convert to gas.
I don't cook much at all so don't particularly care for me. As an architect I've been involved with high-end homes since the '80s, and can say that the ovewhelming majority of homeowners insist on a gas rangetop. Electric ovens are fine, and some like dual-fuel ranges, but I've never seen anyone ask to change from a gas rangetop to an electric. Obviously if the kitchen is large enough and the homeowner does a lot of cooking, having both gas and induction burners is nice. I find Viking to be the most popular brand for cooking appliances, although Wolf has a following as well, and one client of mine went Thermador to save a bit over Viking. Frankly I find that a lot of Viking stuff looks a little clunky, but it's generally well made and performs well.
I would never suggest having a kitchen without any gas burners unless the homeowner never plans to move, as it will hurt the resale value of the home since many potential buyers will immediately factor in the cost to convert to gas.
A better question is:
"Has corporate greed killed the built-in induction cooktop and free-standing induction range and have they handed the market to the makers of countertop units?"
I don't know anyone who's said "Spend $5,000 bucks to boil water in a minute? Sign me up!" A lot of folks buy a countertop unit just to see what the buzz is all about and decide it's all they're gonna need. The vast untapped market is cooks who want the same performance or just a little more without the wasted heat and other drawbacks to conventional cooking for the same or a few more bucks.
We have a pair of portable induction cooktops and we're keeping our gas stove. I can't think of a better way to have a kitchen for all seasons.
"Has corporate greed killed the built-in induction cooktop and free-standing induction range and have they handed the market to the makers of countertop units?"
I don't know anyone who's said "Spend $5,000 bucks to boil water in a minute? Sign me up!" A lot of folks buy a countertop unit just to see what the buzz is all about and decide it's all they're gonna need. The vast untapped market is cooks who want the same performance or just a little more without the wasted heat and other drawbacks to conventional cooking for the same or a few more bucks.
We have a pair of portable induction cooktops and we're keeping our gas stove. I can't think of a better way to have a kitchen for all seasons.
