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At Home Depot and Lowes during my retail sales associate days, the Hotpoint sealed burner gas ranges were superior and had nice,basic features.
Automatic electronic ignition on all four sealed burners and the oven, porcelain on cast iron grates.
Self cleaning gas oven, waist high broiling,see through tempered glass window, porcelain on steel drip pans,porcelain on steel cooktop, interior oven light, minute timer and a high rating in CR with one of the best frequency of repair records. Not convection. If convection is a must, go with GE. Fewer repairs,great performance and not too overpriced.
 
If you have to hire a plumber to install a gas .......

Sadly the existence of a gas main and or having to hire a plumber to install a line much less the thing itself have nothing to do with each other.

By NYC code all installations of gas appliances (ovens, ranges, dryers, etc...) requires a licensed plumber to do and sign off on the work. Of course there are persons then and now who ignore this and perhaps do the install and get some plumber to sign off.

Gas is probably the most common fuel source for cooking in the City if not all of NYC. As such you normally do not find 240v lines in kitchens, just 120v. In some buildings old enough to predate electronic ignition ways have to be found to create an outlet near enough to the range. Have seen some apartments where holes were drilled though kitchen walls to the room on other side in order to get at that outlet.

New in particular recent construction or renovation jobs (especially gut/total reno jobs) are a different story. But that still leaves a large percentage of New York housing that is old to ancient. We're talking pre-WWI, Spanish-American war, and even Civil War, *LOL*
 
I wondered how long it would take for this thread to explode lol

Personal preferences are just that. If it's what you like then buy it.

I will point out that any comparisons to "Gas is better because it is what commercial kitchens use" is just hogwash for a home use. I suppose those same folks drive on slick tires on their cars since that is what "pro race drivers use" so therefore its better for a street car... The commercial environment is entirely different with a high CFM exhaust fan pulling out the pollutants and air born grease. They also have a fire suppression system just in case. They need the high output of the big burners they have and ability to control temp is secondary.
 
I believe most ranges on average have/had 9,000 BTU burners so that's what recipes are basing their judgement on. On the 18,000 BTU burner on the GE, "high" translates to "medium-low", which was about the same as the electric elements on the old glasstop. In other words one could forge steel with that burner.
I boiled King Crab legs that were frozen in a very large stockpot on New Years on that burner, each time I threw some in it only took a few minutes to bring the water back to a violent boil, providing the same results as the old electric elements.
 
To Each His Own - Live & Let Live

That's what I say.

Some persons like electric burners, others gas, still some love AGA type ranges cooking as if it were 1916 instead of 2016, leave them enjoy themselves either way.

Think much depends upon how one learns to cook and becomes comfortable using. I love gas for cooking because of the instant control. If a pot is boiling over can just turn the heat down or off; just as one learned. With an electric burner may have had to move the pot/pan all together.

With even small and or budget/builder's special gas ranges/cooktops coming with one or more "high" powered burners and others lower you can have the best of both worlds.

Here in NYC were electric rates tend to be dear gas out numbers electric for almost everything involving generation of heat (hot water, home heating, cooking, etc..). Home heating in some areas however can also be oil.
 
This Samsung range is at the top of the list for gas ranges at Consumer Reports. Model NX58F5700; priced at $1699 at Samsung's website. It out-scores (by 20-40 points in some cases) pro-style ranges from big names like Wolf, Viking and Dacor. CR gives it an Excellent rating for evenness in baking; rare for a gas range. Has an interesting griddle / oversized pan burner.

Full disclosure: I'm a smoothtop electric user. Had both gas and electric ranges in the kitchen. I chose to go electric when the range area was downsized. I have a TOL Frigidaire double-oven range. Overall, it's great. I prefer having two equal-sized ovens rather than a small upper / larger lower found in most brands.

frigilux-2016010619310802786_1.jpg

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Hmm interesting, Samsung has popped up on my radar already...thx for the info F-Lux.

Laundress, like you said...in our NYC 100 yr old LES tenement it's gas. Moving to semi-suburban San Diego where I gre up means dealing with a new situation...by fixing it and going to gas.
That said induction is a vast improvement on the standard electric elements which I generally was referencing in earlier comments. I am (sorta) sure that is what combo52 was indicating in his post as far as usability goes.
But I am a fire sign so the die is cast.

So one of the percieved selling points for some gas units is their mechanical simplicity.
The pricier stuff eschews the digital clocks and timers for heavy metal valves and such.
This apeals to me as did the mechanical simplicity of the knob version SQ FL washer we bought.
That said I like our Samsung French door refrigerator and it's quiet efficient ways.
Bosch and GE Cafe are Samsung's peer group competitors it would seem in the 30" gas range department. Any thoughts out there regarding those?
 
Induction is,in my own opinion,the absolute best cooktop to use. Hands down. I currently own an Electrolux made Kenmore Elite but the oven needs repair. I also have a Kenmore ceramic top that works fine but needs the inner door window replaced. It shattered during the ElectriClean cycle. It's out on the back patio and I'm glad I kept it. The induction spaces are really precise. The kids here love using them and take great care. They learned well. The speed, accuracy, and ease of operation makes induction / convection electric ranges my favorite. My next one though will be a GE. I had their thirty inch cooktop decades ago and fell in love with it. The folks who had it in their new house said it didn't work and bought a KitchenAid ceramic cooktop to replace it. When it was installed,we took the GE away and it went in my garage. I had cast iron cookware and some induction friendly stainless steel from Gayfers. I think John L. has a similar,if not the exact same model. I have yet to burn, scorch, or boil over anything.
 
My 2 cents worth..LOL

I grew up in a area where almost everyone used electric ranges, so I learned on them, that said, other than heating up your house in the summer, I like cooking on gas, but even more, no matter how many people crow about a electric oven, the gas oven bakes so much better than any electric oven I have ever used, cakes are more moist and baked goods have a much more even delicate crust,to each his own,but its just like arguing over which vintage range is best, I say Frigidaire, John says GE, but Im certainly not going to argue over it, John is a great friend and a wonderful repairman, probably the best of any of us, so if he hates gas, more power to him, I may go back to gas someday, I had intended to put a 20 inch new old stock Hardwick I have beside my electric stove, but it just looked too tacky, so I didn't.....
 
Oh yeah...Range recommendation

I would probably buy a GE,Unless you really want to spend a ton of money on something like a Electrolux,I personally have no use for induction, I use vintage West Bend and Vita Craft as well as Guardian Service aluminum, and I have NO intention of giving it up,I believe before long they will find out being around that strong electrical field is unhealthy, just as I would NEVER live under a high voltage power line, I don't want one of these things, I didn't even have a microwave for many years, I wouldn't now but Donald likes to heat things in one,I use it for melting butter or something like that, never cooking or popping corn, I have a Presto automatic corn popper for that, mainly, if I don't have time to cook, I don't, I never try to hurry up cooking, rarely use high heat, and NEVER broil anything in the oven, I don't like a greasy smoky kitchen.
 
I know we are really getting off topic, but when I bake my sour-dough rye bread I always put a broiler pan filled with hot water in the oven first.  The steam makes the crust perfect.  I can see where the added moisture from a gas flame might add some moisture to the heated air, but I'm sure it's quite small.  I guess putting a bowl with water in the electric oven would be about the same.  I may try it next time I'm baking.
 
Hans is right: Absolutely DO NOT throw a handful of water into the oven to create steam if you have a self-cleaning oven! I used a spray bottle to create steam in my Maytag gas self-cleaner in 1994 and the floor and walls wound up with a million little hairline cracks in the finish. Eventually, very thin shards of it would come up off the floor of the oven when I'd try to wipe it with a damp cloth.

Pro ranges sometimes don't have the same coating on the floor and walls. Those ovens can handle the Julia Child method.
 
Throwing Water In A Hot Oven

DON'T DO IT, I have seen the porcelain finish damaged in many ovens by doing this, it would make no difference if it is a self-cleaning oven or not or a professional range for that matter, they all use the same type of porcelain enamel which is powdered glass that is fired on at around 1,500 degrees F.

 

If you care about the finish in your oven don't do it, however putting a pan of water on a lower rack should not cause any problem [ don't set the pan directly on the floor of the oven however ]
 
I just bought a new range recently....

And did lots of research and shopping around......really depends on your budget as there is such a wide price range.

I almost did decide on gas...not necessarily because I prefer it but because I wanted the extra room on the electrical panel. I didn't end up doing it however because of the hassle of running a gas line and having to build in the proper ventilation.

Had I decided to go with gas I would have gone with a GE Monogram 30". Unlike many other pro-ranges they actually come with many great features such as a temperature probe, self clean, timed baking, proof mode etc. Apparently they have some of the best simmer elements in the industry. They are available in all gas or dual fuel depending on your preference and after seeing them in the showroom, they appear to be built like a Volvo. They are expensive however. The one I was looking at was a scratch/dent model so it was significantly discounted and the little scratch wouldn't have even been noticeable so that might be a way to go if you can find one.

Because I ultimately decided on electric I went with the GE Induction Slide In. It has great reviews and they've been making them long enough that I'm confident it will be reliable in the long term. So far I can't say enough good things about it. Elements are extremely fast/accurate, super easy to keep clean, amazing true convection oven, nice warming drawer etc. I think GE's self cleaning oven racks are also some of the best I've used.

Thats my 2 cents!

http://appliances.monogram.com/ApplProducts/ZGP304NRSS
 

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