Question of the Day: Gas, electric, other?
What type of cooktop do you have in your kitchen? Gas, electric, induction? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
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26 Comments:
I grew up cooking with gas. It was great to learn on because the burner changes temperature very quickly. If you have set it too hot it is easy to fix. However, with our stove at least, it was a bit tricky to get a steady low heat. You need a diffuser.
Now I have an electric cooktop. It is much easy to balance the little espresso maker on an electric burner, but otherwise, I have not noticed any particular advantages.
laura dot at 8:09AM on 04/27/07
I just bought an electric ceramic cooktop. My house is not plumbed for natural gas and I don't want a big propane tank sitting in my garden.
I love the even heat the cooktop produces and the fact that the burners are is level. (The coils on my old cooktop wouldn't stay level, so all the oil always flowed to one side of the pan - that was a nuisance!)
One drawbacks is that your pans need to be flat, flat, flat on the bottom and it's best to have pots and skillets with heavy bases. Luckily, I already am well stocked with those types of implements. The only other drawback is cleaning. My cooktop is black. It shows streaks. I use a ceramic cooktop cleaner that works quite well. However, mom lives with me and she streaks it up with glass cleaner. Oh well....
pageycooks at 8:13AM on 04/27/07
i finally have a gas stove after years of using electric. i prefer using gas top over electric top, but prefer electric oven versus gas oven. my baking was much better in my old electric oven, but my stovetop cooking has gotten better. i can now use a wok properly.
french tart at 9:00AM on 04/27/07
Gas all the way. It is quick, even heat. Drawback: turning on the wrong burner and scorching whatever item had the misfortune of being on said burner.
AuntJone at 9:27AM on 04/27/07
Gas all the way! Not only do I have better control of the heat, but it's such a sensory experience--especially the sight of the flames and the whooshing sound as it lights up.
homesicktexan at 9:47AM on 04/27/07
Gas. Hands down, no contest. I cooked with electric until I was 24 and bought an old house with a finicky gas range. Despite the cantankerous nature of the old range, I knew I never wanted to go back to electric. We replaced it with a new gas range and haven't looked back.
savvy at 9:49AM on 04/27/07
Gas, gas, gas.
hereandthe at 10:13AM on 04/27/07
Gas. The biggest advantage is how quickly the oven heats up. The disadvantage is the layout of the burners. One burner is so huge I have to have it on low to keep from scorching whatever I'm cooking, but the others are so tiny it takes 20 minutes to boil water.
Lucia at 11:45AM on 04/27/07
Electric is EXPENSIVE in California where the cost is 30+ cents per kWh
peekpoke at 12:47PM on 04/27/07
I grew up using electric and when I moved my apartment had gas. I love having gas for the cooktop, but far prefer an electic oven. I scorched a lot of cookies in the first months of using the gas oven.
Sarahrm at 1:23PM on 04/27/07
Right now I have a small electric GE, and I manage pretty well on it. My dream is to one day have a Viking six burner gas cooktop, with convection ovens!
ride&cook at 1:27PM on 04/27/07
I grew up with Electric and have had gas in almost all the places I've lived since then, and I definitely have to say that I find gas far superior.
Alm25 at 1:36PM on 04/27/07
I've only had electric (that's what my kitchens have all been wired for), and I've never been happy with any of them. I currently have one of those smooth-top models, which is easy to clean, but yeesh. It doesn't get hot enough for my wok, and low temperatures are more or less non-existent. This makes simmering anything a real pain. Using my friend's gas stove took a little getting used to, but I was much happier with the performance.
Some guys dream of having the sports car. Me? I want a big, burly, bad motha' sort of stove. Hi-five, ride&cook.
corycm at 1:47PM on 04/27/07
Gas, thank goodness. Easier to control the heat.
NSW at 4:13PM on 04/27/07
I'd rather have gas. Wait, did I say that out loud ...?
LunaPierCook at 9:02PM on 04/27/07
I grew up in a kitchen with electric, but when I move back home for the summer I will get to use gas since my mom since redone her kitchen since I went off to school.
Ash at 1:12AM on 04/28/07
I had a mixture of gas and electric over the years and I long for a gas stove again. Easier to control the heat and I totally agree with the level burners thing. This makes me CRAZY! Not to mention when you get a midnight hankering for a smore' you just can't beat a marshmellow cooked on a fork over your burner.
BTW, CORYCM WILL YOU MARRY ME?!?
Sindy at 7:24AM on 04/28/07
I love my gas range. It has two 9,500 BTU burners, one 12,000 BTU burner, and one 5,000 BTU burner. Everything from simmer to blast cooking. I can cook a steak in 10 minutes, or simmer a tomato sauce for 6 hours.
Lou at 8:08AM on 04/28/07
Gas. No contest. If I could, I would have restaurant levels of BTU's going. And since I cook a majority of my dishes with wok, I find an electric stove can't heat and sustain the wok properly. The gas just hits the middle and rides up the sides. Beautiful sight.
@ Lou. Ooooooohhhhhh. Can I play with your stove?
JubileeNYC at 2:05PM on 04/28/07
Absolutely gas- it is sensitive and much more controllable in terms of the minor adjustments needed. Also, it heats up fast and shuts down fast. Also, as someone else above said- there is a sensory advantage to cooking with gas. I do get a little freaked out on the gas stoves that you have to light with a match, as I always worry I may light a huge flame and scorch my hair off, but that's part of the thrill, I guess.
That said, I grew up with a mom who cooked incredible restaurant-worthy meals on electric. But still- Gas!
shaofan at 4:32PM on 04/28/07
@JubileeNYC: Absolutely. It's not an expensive range. It's a Kenmore, and cost about $500. The only down side is that a tank of propane lasts only a couple of months. It's worth it though.
The oven works great too. I made pizza yesterday. At 500F, pizza takes just 12 minutes.
Lou at 6:38AM on 04/29/07
There is no contest. Gas is far superior to electric in every way.
@Lou-- I think I'm in love with your stove.
@Jubilee, or anyone with the electric stove/wok problem-- You can use a charcoal grill for wok cooking, if you'd like. Just put the ring around a few hot coals on the coal grate.
Calichef at 4:56AM on 04/30/07
Gas, gas, gas....we have electric in our Vermont condo and I hate cooking on it (even though it's a nice stove). But at home? After using a piece of crud 40 year old Caloric gas stove since I was 5, I am now living the life with my dream range - my six burner Wolf gas range. Life is good.
tkln at 8:58AM on 04/30/07
I have a gas stove in our new place. After years of using electric, I must say I enjoy the finesse a gas flame can bring to my cooking. Plus, one of the burners is designed to have a power flame (I forget how many BTUs) for wok cooking!
Amandarama at 9:58AM on 04/30/07
I grew up with electric, but since coming to NYC, I've mostly had gas ranges. And unfortunately, all the gas stoves that I've had must need a diffuser as the first commenter suggested. They've all had one setting: blazing. For that reason alone, I miss electric ranges. I can see the advantages of gas though.
brookeleigh at 2:01PM on 04/30/07
I grew up with gas and learned to cook on it (well, ok, scramble eggs on it). I prefer it. We have electric now (rental apt), and it's OK for the oven, but I find I have only 1 decent burner. Drawbacks: 1) the stove/cooktop is level, but the coils aren't and anything I put in my pans slides to one side, 2) when the power goes out (like in the recent Nor'Easter) you can't cook the defrosting food slowly going bad in your 'fridge. When we buy a house, I'm insisting on getting gas.
KDBlue at 6:51PM on 04/30/07