Gas cooking is hazardous to your health

[parunner58]

I have cooked on electric for the last 22 years and the prior 20 were with gas. Personally I can see no difference. They both get hot and they both cool down. The chef is the one with the problems. You have to change your cooking techniques depending on which fuel you use and style of cooktop. I have seen people switching from gas to electric and electric to gas and seem to think there is only one burner setting " HI ". I believe that every cooktop today has controls to adjust the burners, It is the chefs job to learn how they work. Cooking is a fun science, you experiment until you get it right. I have burned or undercooked many things, it was never the stoves fault it is the chefs. Machines only do what we tell them to

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oh, for crying out loud!

From the Aerias link: "Cover all pots when cooking to reduce moisture that could lead to biological contaminants"

I've got a lot of things to worry about, but getting toxic mold from boiling pasta isn't on the list.

Hmmm. Wonder if they stopped to consider that one will eventually have to uncover those potentially deadly pots. Then the steam will go where...?

Trying to convince someone to give up gas cooking is like a vegetarian trying to get someone to give up meat.

veg

 

[Maytagmom]

Gimme gas anyday

It's easier to light a cigarette from the burners.
And I have only singed my eyelashes twice...
I remember trying to do on a KM flat cook top I had back in '97-half the tobacco would stick to the top. LOL
I now have a nice collection of zippos, but I still occasionally use the stove to light one up.
Besides, when the electricity goes out during storms, hurricanes, etc...I can still cook.
But honestly, at the prices of NG at my house lately, I am about ready to go to electric.....
Nah...

I'll shut up now.

 

[laundromat]

I HATE GAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LIVE BETTER ELECTRICLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Brneyedgrl80]

I've grown up with both gas and electric stoves and have to say that I am looking forward to going back to gas. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with electirc stoves, I just prefer gas.

I think that's what it all boils down to. It's all about preference.

Kind of like some people like Fords others Dodges and other Chevys.

 

[agiflow]

When i had an apartment i was stuck with electric cooking...i never really got used to it. Been cooking with gas all my life and would only switch if 30" induction ranges ever hit the market.

I think we have FAR more worries in the processed foods we eat everyday.

BTW Steve, you should write the manufacturers of gas ranges and let them know how you feel.

 

[rickr]

now we're cookin' with gas!

I only cook with gas. Hate cooking on electric stoves! At least when you lower the heat with gas,you do not have to remove the pan from the burner. The temp. changes are "right now" and that is what I like.

 

[bobbyderegis]

Does this mean I should stop heating my kitchen and living room by turning on the oven, Toggles? All the gas on gas stoves that heat many of the triple deckers in Boston! Oye.
Bobby in Boston

 

[tomturbomatic]

As far as stir frying, use a pan or wok with a flat bottom, especially on an electric surface unit and do not use that ring. This puts the heat at the bottom where it is supposed to be in traditional wok cooking, not going up the side with the usual gas burner. Commercial gas wok burners focus the flame inward at the bottom. Using the flat bottom wok or other stir fry pan gives excellent results on my 1954 Frigidaire range. We took two 208 volt elements from an old Frigidaire apartment range and replaced the front 8 and 6 inch elements with the 208 volt ones. When that 6 inch element gets hot under a pan for stir frying, it does not let the pan temperature drop when the veggies are added.

 

[toggleswitch]

Meaning you used a 208v element on 220v line, or that you used a higher wattage element in place of a less powerful one?

 

[westyslantfront]

what about the expression......."now you're cooking with gas"???.....grew up with gas stoves, and had gas stove in my house in new york city.....since moving west in 1997, i have only had electric...just have to learn to shut burner off BEFORE food is done and/or remove pot from electric burner when food is cooked.....

 

[vivalalavatrice]

GAS OVENS!!!!

(from Delux thread)

I've always had electric oven, in the two ranges (1 MagicChef, 2 Tecnogas) I owned in my life (gas burners/electric oven), but since I've been discovering gas oven some months ago in a friend of mine's house, I CONVERTED SOON MY OPINION ONTO GAS OVEN!!!

I found that cooking with gas oven is faster than electric one, really I found it faster than the microwave oven too! I was preparing some dinner meals and using both ovens I found the range's gas onev one faster...

I speak about natural gas ("metano"), not about GPL ("propano") that is another thing, worse I suppose as it has a heating power slower and to reach the same results you consume more and it takes you longer

Someone says that gas oven tend to burn meals (underside)if you are not care to the cooking level, but I think this is to be attributing to the old gas oven, wiht a not very good burning control... now they should be electronic, isn't it?!?!?
Anyway if you're good at cooking you do it either with electric than gas oven LOL!

So I decided to suggest my father to put in our holidays house (wihc is to be remoulded), a gas range! With only one appliace we should not to by a microwave oven more than a reange with elecrtic oven.

Oven question here share people, but it doesn't depending on costs but on cooking results... anyway it's the only case in which electric usage is almost like gas usage ore more!

REMEBER THAT natural GAS ARE GENERALLY CHEAPER THAN ELECTRICITY!

GoodBye
Diomede

PS: The same is for smoothtop, gas is better! As I have alwasy cooked on gas burners....

Here in Italy mostly people use gas!
Cooktops (on range and on built-in counter cooktop), are anywhere gas powered (natural gas or GPL)

Central heating and water heating (which are generally proveided by only one unit, "caldaia a gas"), go with natural gas (sometimes with GPL)

Only where there's not a public gas line, people heat their water electrically (or with solarboard, as we have many sunny days!!!), and central heating is provided with wood in fireplace!
It's very rear to heat rooms with electric soteves... WHAT AMOUNT OF MONEY WILL YOU SPEND?!?!?

 

[vivalalavatrice]

Toggle GOOD!!!

DeLonghi!!!
It's an Italian brand... and with Italina desing!

L'orgoglio delle cose di casa nostra, che bello!

What a wonderful objects...
))))

 

[gyrafoam]

Can't cook worth a damn on an electric stove. If they ever take gas stoves away I guess I'll have to refresh my memory on how to "hearth cook". ESPECIALLY canning-------I just can't imagine regulating my huge pressure canners on an electric----although now that I think about it, I guess it is all in what one is used to.

No, I'd rather fight than switch!

 

[parunner58]

I want to appologize about my post #113879. I have been a little stressed here at work and thats where I wrote it from. I found it a little on the offensive ad direct side when I read it myself last night. The company atmosphere and management here has been well underpar based on the corporate values they have posted. After being here 21 years, I gave my two week notice last Friday and now my bosses will not even give me the time of day. I find that a little upsetting since my boss of one year has worked with me for over 10 years. My friends & family are happy and all want me to take them with me.

What I really meant was everyone has thier preferences and picks the fuel they like to cook on. My mom dislikes electric also. Whatever you feel comfortable using makes cooking more enjoyable. The techniques above for electric are so secnd nature to me you don't even realize you do it. I do it when I am at mom's on her gas stove. I turn the burner off and move the pot to the counter or one of the other burners.

Don't laugh about hearth cooking. Every time i go to Williamsburg VA. I start tinking. I would love to try as a challenge to cook a complete meal either at a hearth or on a big old cast iron wood stove. I think it would be fun.

 

[toggleswitch]

No need.

All is well.

In any written expression of one's thoughts the tone is hard to convey.

Here is a fun story. In NYC we usually NEVER see electric cooking. Grandma moved into an apt that DID have one, as it was built in the 70's during the enrgy crisis and no new natural gas connections were allowed.

Sister went to *ignite* burner and bent down to see if the flame had indeed lit. She waited and waited till I finally siad *Uh, See the coils? it's electric!* We both had a good laugh. Habits are fun to watch especially when they trap us in behaviors.

 

[rayjay]

Gas/Electric

I an cook on anything. I grew up with gas cooking. At that time there were only coil electric ranges. When we bought our house it had a gas stove. My wife being from Conneticuit, grew up with electric. Well, I said I would try it. So, our first electric stove was the solid elements, which were quite nice but took a long time to heat up and also cool down. I now have a Ge Spectra flat surface and LOVE it. Heats up fast, cools down a lot quicker, ( not as fast as gas), but much, much, quicker than the old coils. The electric oven bakes much more even than my old gas oven. The ceiling above the stove no longer gets dirty as with the gas stove. I guess it is eveyones preference, but they made me like an ELectric stove over a Gas one. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks. LOL

 

[gyrafoam]

parunner58-----

Mike, hearth cooking is fun---provided it is in cool weather! Cooking everything in cast iron takes practice (something I am currently out of!). I've had enough experience with it to be able to do such things as bake a cake (in a big pan with the lid on). If you are doing a whole meal things get interesting. Trying to time everything just right is the hard part. Remembering what level you cook what on, etc. Hanging the pots just right and swinging things back and forth into the fireplace can get hectic! AND of course the cast iron keeps right on cooking after you get it away from the fire.

If you ever get the chance to try your hand I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

[rinso]

I can cook on anything as well, but I do like broiling meats with gas much better. Electric broilers spew out smoke into the room, while the flame in a gas broiler consumes it.

 

[petek]

Other than about a 1 year stint in one apartment that had a gas stove all my cooking has been electric which I prefer. It's just what you're used to is all and when you know your stove it's pretty simple as to where to set the dials regardless of the source. Those folks that cook on high then turn it off are the same ones who do that with the heat in the car, they can't find a middle ground always flipping back and forth LOL drives me nuts.