Lets have a discussion on ranges...

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I find it fascinating that a gas stove is the only gas-burning appliance that is allowed to be unvented in my area.

Probably because it has been so for 75+ years and if eveyrone in my city had to vent them, they'd be forced convert to electic and there would not be enough electricity to go around.
 
Electric

My mother learned to cook on a woodstove, then electric. She said the electric was the most like cooking on wood. Hence I learned to cook on electric.

Had a gas stove for a few years. It was a cheap builder quality Magic-Chef. For three years I kept telling myself "You just aren't used to gas" After trying to bake cookies, one sheet at a time where the bottom would burn and the tops were still uncooked I got tired of it, called the electrician, Visited the Maytag store and bought my first smooth top.

Now for my favorite stove. It was a GE with P-7 self-cleaning oven. Select a size burner, and a wood grained controls.
 
Toggles,

You expect coherent, reasoned, intelligent answers?
Sigh. Yeah, you probably do.
Before we begin, I am not talking about the type of gas ranges a gay queen would buy for her 40€ kitchen in 2009.

Well, let's dash your expectations:

~Many cheaper gas stoves in Continental Europe don't have encapsulated flames under their ovens.
(Why no, they don't. There is a thin steel plate with large holes along the sides, rear and often a big slash in the front to shove a match in.)

Does this mean the "air-circuit" of the oven's flame never gets into the oven cavity? ((Never saw that)
(You just lost the slippery tread of my tiny little brain here. If you mean the encapsulated burners, right - it's like a combustion chamber in a gas-powered air-flow furnace in the US. If you mean open burners, nope - the air mixes with the combustion gases and eventually exits out the top rear of the oven.)

Or do you mean the flame is under the oven bottom (with openings to allow heat/air in)?
(That, too? The open design let's air in from right under the oven, but, of course, it also draws air in from the oven and recirculates...encapsulated draws air in through an arrangement which does not permit the combustion gases to mix with the room air).

Or do you mean those ovens (was it in Australia or the UK?) That shoot up a fountain of flame right in the oven cavity?

(I was thinking of the neat UK ranges which have a little platform elevated above the hob by about 24 inches or so on which is mounted an oval shaped burner. When that gas is ignited, the item placed on a tray directly under it is broiled. Totally practical, wonderful idea but dangerous and scary as hell.)

Considering we used town gas here in parts of Germany until fairly late in the last century (Eastern Germany), the open combustion and lack of ventilation is even scarier than in areas in which methane is used. Getting rid of those gas monsters was a priority.

I think an oven with a built in Vesuvius would be kind of interesting, never seen one.

Did that help?
 
No. but i will take my meds and email you. Thanks for the valiant effort. I'm feeling dense (and bloated) today. *LOL*
 
Eee-Lectric!

I'm an electric fan, always have been, even when I was a cooking professional (I taught back in the '80s). You'd be surprised how many pros like electric, like James Beard. There are two main reasons:

1) When standard home models are being considered, a large electric burner is capable of more heat output than a gas burner (yes, I know there are now super-duper gas ranges with super-duper burners, but I'm talking the kind of regular ranges that Middle America buys, not special stuff).

2) Electric ovens have it all over gas ones for even baking heat. This is because a gas oven must draw in outside air to support the combustion of its flame. That means there is a constant draft in the oven, plain and simple.

Gas ranges have improved tremendously in recent years; the introduction of sealed burners and the wider availability of self-cleaning makes them much easier to live with than formerly. But they still create smells, still leave combustion byproducts on walls and cabinets, and they're much more failure-prone than electric units (specifically, those ungodly expensive igniters used in burners and ovens).

Me like 'lectric. And over the years, I have been fonder of GE's ranges than any other kind.
 
I do have to say

That the two modern GE ovens I use regularly in the 'States, while they pre-heat much slower than Whirlpools, also bake far more evenly and, well, predictably for lack of a better word.
I wonder why?
 
The GE I had was much more "predictable" than the Maytag I have now. In 15 years the GE never had a repair. In the last 13 years it has been repaired three times. Twice for a bake element, once for the controller.

The GE cleaned itself much, much MUCH better too.
 
Electric, Electric, Electric

I learned on a woodstove. Our first electric was a Kenmore and it was so awful we often lit a fire in the old woodstove and cooked on it. In 1967 I bought my family a Frigidaire 40 inch double oven with money I saved from farm work and an after school job in a restaurant. Mom is using it to this day in gleaming perfection. I have never lived with gas, although cooked on it almost exclusively in commercial settings and always hunger for the confines of a home electric range. I am very comfortable with sensi-temp burners. A heavy pan, fully loaded will allow it to cycle perfectly. Unlike the rush to high and hope it jacks down before it boils over or burns circumvents the purpose of infinite control burners. I set the burner where I want it to cook and then never change it. I have a high end GE smooth top with convection oven. I have found no fault in it's performance. Prior it was always a GM Frigidaire although GE cooks and bakes well it is simply lighter in weight and materials. I do not want to spend my time in the kitchen stooping over to look at gas flame, waiting for it get hot enough, constantly playing the adjust flame game to get an even cooking temperature and then adjust it low for a simmer and have the air current blow it out if someone walks past the stove. Gas stoves are harder to clean, burn the inside of the pan if the flame isn;t adjusted, take forever if the flame is adjusted to the bottom of the pan and 9 times out of 10 I burn my hand by reaching for the handle of the pan which would always be cool on an electric stove. I have had better experience with older gas ranges than new. The cavemen used open flame to char their food. I prefer the advancement of technology.

mixfinder++11-24-2009-10-28-4.jpg
 
My last comment!!!

As I have said before ,I have cooked on both, gas and electric,it seems the opinion of most that an electric oven is better...well,I must say the old Caloric oven I had baked beautifully,very even especially for cakes,the obsession over a draft in the oven really didnt seem to make much difference to me,but as I also said,I now use electric and love it,the main thing about gas I dont like is the heat it puts out into the kitchen in the summer,as for propane and unvented appliances....we heat our house with 2 unvented blue flame propane heaters and have had no problems whatsoever,this is fairly common in the south,I would have installed a new heating system in this house...but didnt have an extra 8 to 10 thousand dollars to do it, so I installed these heaters,we are not bothered with fumes or soot, in fact the house stays fairly clean, I currently have 2 electric ranges hooked up, the 55 Norge 41 inch is in my laundry room, and a 57 30 inch Pushbutton Kenmore is in the kitchen..I have 3 ovens 7 units a deepwell cooker and a griddle..so when I decide to fix a big meal, there is no problem...Hans
 
After years and years of cooking on electric stoves we went with gas this last time. We really like it. The heat is instant.
What you see is what you get. If you need a quick change of temp, it can do so easily. With electric you have to wait for the "cool down" time before the new setting takes effect.

Our stove also has a convection oven. We really love it. Biscuits and cookies and cakes all raise higher than in a regular oven, and are lighter in texture too.
 
Living better electrically

I've not much experience on a gas stove and always had electric other than a short spell in one Vancouver apartment years ago.
I don't care for the glass cooktop on this one though and preferred the coils, too much fuss to keep it clean so we usually don't LOL.

I really like the convection oven and probe though. I use the convection feature all the time because it negates the need to preheat the oven even for baking bread. It reaches temperature very fast with the convection fan/heater and both elements going.
 
In terms of resistive electrical elements

the absolutely most horrible ones are those solid plates which are so common here in Continental Europe and which are frequently marketed as "top of the line" in the US.

Slow to heat, slow to cool, always (but always) too hot or too cool, no way to monitor the actual temperature of the damn things, impossible to clean properly.

The only way to cook a heat sensitive custard or touchy sauce on them is to use two: turn them both on at the same time (about 20 minutes before you need them, run one on the hottest hot and the other at the simmer temperature. As soon as the sauce reaches the point where you just need to keep the temperature, switch it to the other plate.

My biggest fight with my first boyfriend here in Germany (who never cooked anything) was his insisting on buying us on of the damn stoves with them when we had gas! Of course, he also wanted the sink in the damn middle of the kitchen, 'cause that's the way "it is always" done when the connections were on another wall...

GE just seems to do it right with their stoves in the US. One of the few things they still manage to make well.
 
Ken D.

The Chambers uses rock wool insulation.

You are absolutely right: where there is fire, there is air exchange. The Chambers uses dampers. When the flame is lit, the dampers are open to provide air exchange and venting. When the gas is turned off, the dampers close to seal the oven. It is pretty efficient, the oven can retain enough heat to cook with for hours.
 
Slice it clean

Living with a smooth top has led me to believe they require less maintenance than coil burners. That said, nothing drip down to a burner bowl so if its ugly and brown you're looking at it. It is important to remember overspray of starch laden steam, grease from sauteing and splatters land on a "clean" burner and then when its fired up it burns as well. I make it a habit to wipe off the stove and the bottom of the pan if its been sitting on the counter, before cooking, use pans larger than I need to prevent splatters and boil overs and clean the top as needed after each time I cook. Using an electric skillet and not frying at the stove saves hours of cleaning the backsplash and stove from spattered cooking grease. I have an occasional mess and use a single sided razor blade in a holder to slice it off. Then a quick swipe with stove top cleaner and its done. The stove top cleaners leave a residual film to help make future messes easier to clean.

mixfinder++11-24-2009-13-13-2.jpg
 
I do love my smooth top. The only thing there that I would have done differently. NEVER will I get blackon black again. You see ever splatter, every speck of dust, every finger print.

Now my friend has white on black smooth top and doesn't have the complaints I do.

Mine also has the convection which I love.
 
more

www.ehow.com

How Do Ventless Gas Heaters Work? - Hunker

Ventless gas heaters are room-heating furnaces that do not vent air to the outside of the house. Instead, the oxygen that is needed to fuel the combustion process for heat is taken from the air inside of the room in which the unit is placed, and the resulting heat is vented back out directly...
www.ehow.com www.ehow.com
 

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