Gas stoves or electric stoves?

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EricG1793

OK, everybody, this must be the most random thread you have ever seen on Webdeveloper.com. Do you prefer cooking with an electric stove, gas stove, or does somebody else in your house cook?

I prefer electric stoves. They seem to last longer require less maintenance. And when you do maintain then it's probably just replacing a heating element after several years. I think they look nicer and are easy to clean, at least the ones with ceramic tops. They're probably safer, too; a gas stove could explode if something went wrong with the burner, or if a gas tank wasn't connected right. Speaking of tanks, it's much more convenient to have the cost of cooking built in to your electric bill than to have to deal with having your tanks filled however they need to be depending on your needs. We have to take our tanks to a campground near us to have them filled up, and deal with disconnecting them and connecting them again and switching them.... The propane trucks don't come down out road in the winter, as it is a private, skinny, rut-infested road; we don't get trash pickup in the winter either, but that's another issue.

However there are a couple good things about a gas stove. You always see the professional chefs on TV cook with gas stoves. When you turn on a gas stove, the flame is instantly on (assuming it lights correctly....) and it's ready to cook. You have to wait a minute or so for electrics to heat up. And you have better control over a gas flame, too; you turn the knob and the flame gets larger or smaller.

Which do you prefer, personally, based upon your own needs?

drhowarddrfine

a gas stove could explode if something went wrong with the burner, or if a gas tank wasn't connected right.

Just like your gas hot water heater.

it's much more convenient to have the cost of cooking built in to your electric bill

Not if you have a gas hot water heater.

We have to take our tanks to a campground near us to have them filled up

Gas pipelines come right into the house here.

When you turn on a gas stove, the flame is instantly on (assuming it lights correctly....) and it's ready to cook. You have to wait a minute or so for electrics to heat up. And you have better control over a gas flame, too; you turn the knob and the flame gets larger or smaller.

And there's my reason. I cook better than the average person and make above average meals. Controlling the heat is a huge advantage when trying to get something just right. But even cooking steaks in a pan is better when you can go from high to low heat in an instant. Right now, I have to have two electric elements, one on high and one on low for the way I prepare them.

EricG1793

drhowarddrfine wrote:
Just like your gas hot water heater.
Not if you have a gas hot water heater.
Gas pipelines come right into the house here.
And there's my reason. I cook better than the average person and make above average meals. Right now, I have to have two electric elements, one on high and one on low for the way I prepare them.

What do gas water heaters have to do with this?

I live in a rural (as rural as I can possibly be; I'm a mile and a quarter down a private dirt road and the closest person from us is probably a quarter mile away from us, so... we don't have the luxuries of public gas lines or water supplies. Although, yes, certainly having gas lines going right in to your house is very convenient. That's one of the biggest pains with having a gas stove, getting the gas to the stove.

Oooh, my grandfather, father, and (especially) aunt (all on my dad's side) are up for a cooking war with you now!:p

So your stove has two electric cooktop elements, and two (more or less) elements that are gas? That's a good combination. What about the oven part? Is that gas or electric?

Just a little story here. (This isn't going directly to you, drhowarddrfine, but to everybody reading this thread) By the way, Thanksgiving of '03, '04, and '05 we ran out of gas (in both tanks) while we were making the turkey. So my father has to disconnect the tanks, go to the campground (meanwhile the oven's losing temperature and the turkey's getting interrupted with its cooking process), fill up the tanks, and connect them again... in the dark. This delays our turkey for an hour!:mad: However, in '06 my dad made a special trip to get the tanks filled up completely for the turkey. It went through one of the tanks to make it....

EricG1793

OK, redbeef88, why gas stoves?

drhowarddrfine

What do gas water heaters have to do with this?

You said a gas stove and their connections can blow up. So can a gas water heater and it's connections. What's the diff?

That's one of the biggest pains with having a gas stove, getting the gas to the stove.

For some. Dare I say the minority? I own property out "in the sticks" and everyone I know there has one of those propane tanks behind the house so even they don't have to go anywhere to get it.

So your stove has two electric cooktop elements, and two (more or less) elements that are gas?

No. The house we bought didn't have the gas range we wanted. Plan to replace it soon with a gas one.

tca

Gas. Natural gas is much more efficient and less costly than it's electric counterpart. (Right now anyway) Propane is probably a little more expensive depending on where you live. The pros use gas for a reason - better heat control.

It was 1957 before we got our first stove. It was electric. We had cooked on a wood stove up until then. Talk about hard to control the heat! My daddy went to work for my uncle who was in the propane business so we went with gas. That's what I learned on so I guess it has a lot to do with what you know.

My wife is an electric stove person. But she tolerates my natural gas stove. We had to move out for 5 months a few years ago to an apartment. Had a fire... not related to the gas stove BTW. So I had to cook on an electric stove. The kids complained about the food. Same pot and pans, just an electric stove. I burned everything!

Nowadays I do 90% of my cooking in cast iron skillets. Old ones. Griswold's made before 1912. So I gotta go with the gas. My wife is secretly glad we have gas. She lets me cook a lot more.

The_Old_Sarge

A gas stove (or water heater) could indeed explode. But only if it has been leaking for some time and the gas building up ... without ventilation. It takes a pretty high concentration of gas for ignition to occur. The pressure coming into your abode (hence, the volume of gas) is very, very low ... measured in ounces (or fractions thereof) per squate inch. The high pressure only occurs at the mains. There's a pressure regulator incorporated into your meter.

Besides, an electric stove could electrocute you.

And I'm with the good Dr. I like the control of a gas flame when I creat my masterpieces. Eric, however has a point about cleaning.

EricG1793

The Old Sarge wrote:
A gas stove (or water heater) could indeed explode. But only if it has been leaking for some time and the gas building up ... without ventilation. It takes a pretty high concentration of gas for ignition to occur. The pressure coming into your abode (hence, the volume of gas) is very, very low ... measured in ounces (or fractions thereof) per squate inch. The high pressure only occurs at the mains. There's a pressure regulator incorporated into your meter.

Besides, an electric stove could electrocute you.

And I'm with the good Dr. I like the control of a gas flame when I creat my masterpieces. Eric, however has a point about cleaning.

We don't have a meter, we have tanks that we fill up ourselves. If you should happen to leave a gas stove with the knob a little out of place the gas will still leak out in to your house. And that could kill you. You would smell it, of course, but let's say you go upstairs to the second floor or you're in the basement and the gas is building up in the main part of your house. You could either stay in the part of the house where your are and wait for your furnace to ignite (if you have one... If you have electric heat than you should be OK!) and then your house would explode, or you could walk through the house with gas in the air. I don't really know which I'd choose, but obviously the second chance gives you more of a chance to live.

Gee, that's a point, I never thought of an electric stove electrocuting somebody. There's something else to debate about!

And, yes, I believe that everybody (including myself) has said that a gas stove is better for heat control.

EricG1793

I am a member of another forum that's for downloading video game music and such. There is an area for other random threads, kind of like the Coffee Lounge here, and usually whenever I post a thread like this here I post it there too. Somebody there made a great point: Gas is a nonrenewable resource. Coal and oil that are used to make electricity are nonrenewable as well, but there will always be wind, water, and solar power for our electricity.

Raged

main difrence between the 2 is gas will heat up quicker, but it cooks in a diffrent way to electric.
tbh i prefur electric due to i hate the smell of gas. both kinds

The_Old_Sarge

Eric, even your tank has a regulator. It would still take a long time to get enough gas to make an explosion. If you're in the house while it's leaking, you'd likely die of asfyxiation/gas poinsoning long before there was enough gas to ignite explosively. And if you're away while it leaks, you'll smell the gas as soon as you open the door.

Most fires associated with gas leaks are not at all explosive. They are the result of leaking gas simply finding an ignition sourse ... such as another pilot light. Most, if not all, household gases are heavier than air and hug the floor as they spread, gradually building depth until the layer is thich enough to find the ignition source. When that happens, there is very rarely enough gas to explode ... it just flashes over, maybe breaking some windows form the overpressure and then settles into pretty much an ordinary house fire.

Don't fall for what you see in movies and on TV. They love to dramatize and spectacularize almost everything.

Sunny_G

Wow- this thread is random. Looks like I have competition

Anyways, to answer the question. I know gas power is far more effective, therefore safer for the environment. Gas stoves heat whatever much faster, and by only using gas. If I actually had one, I could get my caffeine beverages faster! Green tea, coffee, hot chocolate, all good sources of caffeine... Mmmmmm.

Watts

Flame on. Flame off. 'nuff said...

The_Old_Sarge

Safer for the environment ...

What about hydro-electric power? Isn't that even safer ... environmentally?

JPnyc

Anyone remotely into cooking will tell you that electric stoves and ovens just don't cut it. You have much better control with flame.

CrazyMerlin

I was once in a position were I knew that I had enough of a solid career in software engineering which would allow me to take some time off and pursue my second dream job.....as a chef!

I worked as a chef in some fine hotels and bistros and I can tell you this, as an expert in matters of cooking......I have never seen an electric range in a professional kitchen.

Someone said...gas on, gas off, nuff said. Well, I understand that point if it was made years ago. I am unfortunately stuck with electric as I live out in the desert and we have no gas pipeline here, but we do have an electric range that you turn on and it heats to full capacity in about 2 seconds.
The "gas off" makes no sense, because all gas ranges have a metal conductor base to help with heating and to support the pan, so when you "gas off" it is still hot for some time.

Gas is better simply because it is more natural.

And for those who support electric...do you know how much raw electricity it takes to convert into heat? We are now talking about wattage....that's the thing that costs you a fortune. To convert joules into Fahrenheit costs a lot of money...hence the high cost of running a drier.

Gas on the other end converts to heat with the cost of a single match!

Isn't this like saying: "Which is a better networking platform...Windows or Linux" ?

My two bits!

//erlin

root

Gas is cheaper.

The_Old_Sarge

\\.\ wrote:
Gas is cheaper.

Depends on where you are. Hydroelectric power is very cheap. Also clean and friendly to the environment.

EricG1793

The Old Sarge wrote:
Depends on where you are. Hydroelectric power is very cheap. Also clean and friendly to the environment.

Hydroelectric power is cheap?!:eek: Maybe I have the wrong idea in my head, but I would think that solar would be the cheapest, however wind power would be the best alternative to burning nonrenewable resources. With hydroelectric power you need to make a dam for the water, purchase all the machinery needed for the water power to actually be converted in to energy, and of course there always has to be some worker around inspecting for leaks, jams, etc.

Wind power probably is the best. Wind is around in the day and at night. The only downside to it is if a tornado happened to hit the area... power surge! And also you have to clear space, but hire somebody to do a one-time job and that's it, unlike hydroelectric power. You can plant grass all around the turbines and hay it.

Solar power is probably a lot cheaper and maybe a lot easier than hydroelectric power or wind power, but it requires more work, batteries for a source of energy for the night, and you have to deal with a place to put the solar panel.

But it seems to me as if hydroelectric power is the best alternative. Correct me if I'm wrong, please; maybe there's a factor that I didn't consider.

kiwibrit

Gas every time for me. Instant control to fine-tune what is happening on hob or grill.