Natural Gas vs Electricity for cooking

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nog

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So I'm doing a kitchen remodel and am considering options. I've always used electricity for stove top cooking (save friend's houses), but I've been thinking about gas for cooking so I'm looking into options. Due to the layout of my kitchen and what I am after I'm looking to have a cooktop and an oven separate, rather than having just a range.

What do you use, what's your preference, comments, thoughts, opinions?

I'm also open to environmental concerns regarding the two options.
 
I like natural gas. It turns on instantly and you can easily adjust the temperature. I also like that when it's off, it's off and you can still cook during a power outage.
 
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I have gas and I love it
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I'm used to electricity, but the place we live now has gas. It makes me nervous. I feel like I have to check and double-check it's off when I'm done cooking. Plus it doesn't always ignite properly on first try, and some gas will escape into the room, which is probably no big deal, but I always wait a bit before I attempt to ignite it again just in case somehow the escaped gas is still nearby and risk setting fire to my hair or something.
 
I've only ever used gas so I'm very used to it. Never had a problem with it and like amhappy1 said, it's great that you get to cook during a power outage.

My daughter has an electric range that I have used to cooking a few times. I think I could get used to either if I had to. One thing about the electric is it seems to take longer to adjust the heat to a lower degree once the burner is really hot. Occasionally, I've had to remove the pot completely so as not to have the contents boil over until the burner cooled down a bit. But that could be because I don't cook on it often enough to know how to gauge the heat properly.
 
We're going to replace our 50 yo oven/cooktop soon as well. I'm probably going to be sticking to electric. I hate smooth cooktops so I'm looking at 5-6 wrap coil burners.
 
Ive lived in houses with both. We had a gas oven once, it scared the hell out of me. especially as my housemate once put a ready meal in the oven drunk and fell asleep. I woke up to a horrible smell at about 5am and turned it off glad the house was still standing o_O

My ex had one of those electric hobs where it looks like black glass, and when it's on the rings glow red. I have both sat on it and put my hand on it, just after it was turned off. OW. i dont recommend one of them if you are anything like me.

To be honest, i never noticed the difference in actual cooking though.
 
I prefer cooking on gas, for the already-mentioned reason that it responds more quickly to changes in temperature settings.

The last apartment I lived at had a gas stove, and it was super easy to have the knob turned slightly and leaking gas into the room. The knob had to be turned all the way to the end to ignite, then adjusted down.
When we bought our house we had to put in a new stove, and the one we got has the ignition right when the knob is first turned, so I don't think it can be on without being lit. (First, it makes that clicking ignition sound, plus if it's released before it ignites it will snap back off.) I'm definitely more comfortable with this one and don't worry about double checking to make sure it's off.
 
amhappy1 said:
I like natural gas. It turns on instantly and you can easily adjust the temperature. I also like that when it's off, it's off and you can still cook during a power outage.
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^ This is how I feel. It's so hard to get the temperature right using electric and it makes me nervous waiting for it to cool down. My cats aren't allowed on the stove, but I'm always afraid one of them is suddenly going to decide it's time to see what's up there while it's hot.
 
I'm partial to electric, because I've never had an electric range almost poison me. Can't say the same for gas. (The gas range in my last apartment was venting carbon monoxide. Discovered that after a CO alarm was installed.)

If you cook with woks gas or other open flame is basically a necessity. A flat bottomed 'wok' isn't a wok.
 
amhappy1 said:
I like natural gas. It turns on instantly and you can easily adjust the temperature. I also like that when it's off, it's off and you can still cook during a power outage.
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Yep I agree, we have electric now and it's okay but the electric cooker at my parents house is either ON or OFF, there's no inbetween, if you put it midway it just doesn't get hot.

That said, I'm very absentminded and occasionally leave the oven/hob on when I go to eat my dinner and notice an hour or so later, which would be much more dangerous if we had gas. So even though I prefer gas, I think maybe I'm too clumbsy for it.
 
My grandfather had an electric oven and hob with a timer on it that you had to set in order for it to work. My parents inherited it after he died. I found the timer to give much peace of mind because I knew the oven/hob would never be on long enough to cause a serious accident. Of course, it was also the source of some frustration since sometimes it would go off before the food was cooked and I failed to notice. But I got used to it after a while.
 
I had always preferred gas for cooking because of the ease of changing temperatures quickly, which is especially useful when making certain sauces, etc. And I've always found that an electric oven produces a more even heat for baking.

But now that I've been living with a gas cooktop again for the past couple of years, it's making me nervous. I have found on more than one occasion that I have inadvertantly turned on burners, but not to the extent where they have lighted, apparently just by rubbing along the controls while doing other things at/near the stove. I'm not concerned for a fire hazard so much as that the fumes are a big worry because I have birds. So now I am double checking all the time.

As for cooking with a wok - yes, the heat produced by an electric stovetop is inadequate. But so is the heat produced by a gas one, just to a lesser degree. The only way you're going to get enough heat from a gas cooktop for proper wok cooking is to buy a stove with a special high intensity heat burner, and those are super expensive.

A better (and cheap) option is to buy one of those metal gas cookers that people buy for camping or to deep fry turkeys. Obviously, you then have to use your wok outdoors, but it will do the trick.

ETA: When making sauces on an electric cooktop, I just got into the habit of lifting the saucepan a little from the heat when I had to reduce the temperature quickly.
 
mlp said:
I had always preferred gas for cooking because of the ease of changing temperatures quickly, which is especially useful when making certain sauces, etc. And I've always found that an electric oven produces a more even heat for baking.
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Yeah, for stovetop cooking I prefer gas... but for oven cooking I prefer electric simply because it makes a frozen pizza cook better. :p
 
I love cooking on my sisters professional gas stove top. Her oven however has issues with he temperature gauges, but still works nicely for non precise baking.
 
Electric hobs (stove tops) are extremely inefficient, and gas is much much better for money saving and also for the environment. I also prefer it to cook on, because I hate waiting for electric hobs to get hot and I hate how they are a burn hazard for so long after you turn them off, too.

When I moved out of the last place, I swore I will never again live in a place with electric heating or electric hobs.
 
Lord Snot said:
Electric hobs (stove tops) are extremely inefficient, and gas is much much better for money saving and also for the environment. I also prefer it to cook on, because I hate waiting for electric hobs to get hot and I hate how they are a burn hazard for so long after you turn them off, too.
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I'm just loving you for the use of the word 'hobs' which we just don't use here.
 
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Hmmm, I might have to see about getting a gas cooktop. It shouldn't be too difficult as my utility room with gas for my furnace and water heater is directly below my kitchen.
 
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