Electric Range vs Gas Range

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by TheSutterDynasty

We always wanted a gas range for the look and the speed of cooking/heating.

We bought a house with a new induction stove that boils a kettle of cold water in 3-4 minutes.

I'm not sure if there are other benefits to gas but you can't really beat that heating/cooking time of induction..

Well, the other benefit is you can use cheap cookware that warps. We have at least a dozen pots and pans and woks that can't sit flat on our ceramic top anymore.

[GGG]

After using Gas cooking at restaurants I would say induction is just as good if your cookware supports it. Otherwise factor in the cost of new cookware.

The cleaning factor is so significant. Boil over pasta, no starch burns on and you wipe it off. You can even push the pot out of the way wipe and put the pot back while cooking. Temperature control is more precise than gas and more importantly much more Linear. Heating time is a little slower.

The one area where induction is not as good is Woks.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Do you cook?
If so, gas for sure and it's not even close.

I cook a lot and I much prefer my induction range. I have shaved down making pasta puttanesca to 15 minutes start to finish just by having my water boil faster.

I freely admit I can no longer roast peppers and eggplants on my range and my omelettes have definitely suffered but I honestly can't think of what else I'm missing, I never used to do a Flambe in the kitchen, hoodvent too low and anything else I need flames for I do outside on the bbq which is nicer than roasting peppers, especially hot ones, on the stove inside.

The other day I cooked a pound of bacon on the stove top in a skillet, batch after batch. Something like that might take me 20-25 minutes to clean up afterwards and on my induction range it took less than a minute to wipe up with a damp cloth periodically while the bacon was cooking and the element was actually on.

I haven't attempted to brew beer using it yet so we'll see if the power is there to boil that amount of water, but I've made big batches of stock on it and had a great big stock pot humming within about 10 minutes on the big element.

I can't speak to how reliable it will be over time, but the reason we ended up switching was because the gas range failed in the first place.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Have owned both. Gas, especially the one I have, is a pain to clean, but still worth it. Induction is the electric version of trying to convince itself it's as good as gas.

What specifically do you like better about Gas?

[redforever]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

Got a Wolf gas stove. Wouldn't buy again. Too difficult to clean and upkeep.

The Miele induction is amazing, easy to clean. Also, good pans on even a crappy electric stove make all the difference.

I have a 6 element 36" Viking induction in my house at Priddis and a 5 element 36" Miele induction in my house in Calgary.

No comparison between the two. If you can afford it, go with Viking all day long...named Brigade in Canada.

I got the Miele because it has a bridge element. The main thing I don't like withe the Miele is the touch control. You can set each element to 9 settings and each element, including the bridge element has a boost.

But you can't get any setting between those 9 settings, so no 4.5 etc. I am sure the Miele would be MORE than satisfactory for most cooks but when you get used to all that extra control, well you miss it immediately.

My Viking has knobs and the settings are almost infinite.

I am seriously thinking about going back to the Viking (Brigade) and selling my Miele which is not even a year old.

EDIT: By the way, I have had my Viking induction going on 8 years or so and not one issue.

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by Locke

Oh, I have to second this.

They sell it as this awesome, 'professional' gas stove and what it really is is an unmitigated pain in the ass.

To the cooks and Chef's in the room, it's the pan and the skill of the chef, the knife, way more important then the heat.

Wolf is like a 30 minute job everyday I don't need.

[afc wimbledon]

What I love about gas is if the power goes out it still works, have a welders lighter on back of the stove to light it up. Last year the power was out on a freezing day for damn near 12 hours, just sparked up the stove and we all lived in the kitchen

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by GGG

What specifically do you like better about Gas?

I like that I can see how hot it is just by the size of the flame

[zamler]

I had an old gas range finally go bad on me replaced it with a high-ish end GE and really hated it the burners were complete garbage. I returned it and got a lower end unit from Sears and love it, great burners plus I didn't need the fancy pants giant burners anyway.

So if you go gas make sure the burners are good that makes or breaks a range.

[Gundo]

We had a Thermador gas range at our old house but the new one we got a Wolf Induction cooktop.

I loved the gas but as various people have mentioned it was a royal pain in the ass to clean, but temperature control and high fast heat was fantastic. Then we got our induction cooktop, as far as I am concerned the temperature control is just as good if not better now and I can boil a pot of water in literally 60 seconds which is amazing. Clean up is too easy, since the only heat transfer to the cooktop comes off the pots or pans almost nothing burns on and you can just wipe off any spill.

In my opinion using both. I prefer induction for temurature control, ease of cleaning as well as induction is more efficient.

[CroFlames]

I prefer gas. You'll likely save in the long run on utility costs too.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by GGG

What specifically do you like better about Gas?

For things that are picky about temperature ranges, I can lift the pan off the burner and still have heat reaching it. With induction, your heat is completely removed, and if you have one with missing pot logic, it gets worse from there.

Also for cooking things with very large cookware, you can end up with relatively cold spots. A large gas burner spreads the heat better under a large griddle etc.

[Sliver]

I just switched to gas from electric in October.

Pros of the gas: I love that tick tick tick woooosh sound when you fire it up. I love looking at the flames. It looks more bad ass in my kitchen versus electric, so visually I just enjoy its presence in my kitchen. I like when I'm boiling water, soup, whatever I can adjust how fast the boil is instantly by turning the knob. The control is awesome.

The one main con is massive, and it could be I'm doing something wrong so advice is welcome. When I turn up the heat, the handles heat up on all my pots now. The electric I had wasn't induction - just a standard saran top stove - and it never did this.

At first I thought it could be that I'm putting the pots on too large of a burner and the flames are licking up the side and heating up the handles, but when I turn down the flames or put the pots on a smaller burner, it can then take forever to heat stuff up.

I always need to wear an oven mitt to take stuff off the stove now, which I've never had to do in my whole life. Is this normal?

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I just switched to gas from electric in October.

Pros of the gas: I love that tick tick tick woooosh sound when you fire it up. I love looking at the flames. It looks more bad ass in my kitchen versus electric, so visually I just enjoy its presence in my kitchen. I like when I'm boiling water, soup, whatever I can adjust how fast the boil is instantly by turning the knob. The control is awesome.

The one main con is massive, and it could be I'm doing something wrong so advice is welcome. When I turn up the heat, the handles heat up on all my pots now. The electric I had wasn't induction - just a standard saran top stove - and it never did this.

At first I thought it could be that I'm putting the pots on too large of a burner and the flames are licking up the side and heating up the handles, but when I turn down the flames or put the pots on a smaller burner, it can then take forever to heat stuff up.

I always need to wear an oven mitt to take stuff off the stove now, which I've never had to do in my whole life. Is this normal?

Strange - I have a gas range (it came with my house) and I've never had this issue with my pots. And when we moved in we had these crappy metal pots that eventually rusted out. Since then we've upgraded to slightly nicer non-stick stoneware type stuff from Walmart. Never had a problem with hot handles on either set.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I prefer gas. You'll likely save in the long run on utility costs too.

Nope, induction is more energy efficient on its own and much more so when you consider the venting systems required for gas.

http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-de...induction.html

http://www.inductionselect.com/induction-vs-gas/

[wooohooo]

I've never tried induction before but I have a gas range. I think it's good, just a huge pain to clean up as everyone before has stated. The other thing I don't like is it gets really hot standing around the flame. I can't fry my foods over the pan as it gets way too hot compared to an electric. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Kipper is King

Induction ranges are awesome!

I've had gas, electric and induction. I've also worked in kitchens in my previous life for about 6 years.

Gas is easier to do things like sauté, etc if you like flipping ingredients in pan without utensils. It's easier to control heat as well to some degree. Because of the open flame and non flat surface, spills are harder to clean. Higher fire risk too obviously, plus more dangerous if you have children.

Electric will cook your food, but takes a while to heat up, heats inconsistently and stays hot for a long time after so burnt pots and hands are always a risk.

Induction heats things quickly, consistently and cools instantly. It uses electromagnetism to heat the metal pot directly to cook the food, so when you turn it off it is instantly cool. Mine heats a pot of water in about 2 minutes. Super quick. It's a glass top so cleaning is easy. Downside is only pots using magnetic metals will work. Most tfal frying pans won't work for example.

If you love cooking, don't have kids, and don't mind the clean up then gas is best. With induction you never have to worry if you left a burner on or if the kids touch the stove, etc. Electric works fine and is cheaper.

I'll never switch from induction

[FlamingHomer]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I just switched to gas from electric in October.

Pros of the gas: I love that tick tick tick woooosh sound when you fire it up. I love looking at the flames. It looks more bad ass in my kitchen versus electric, so visually I just enjoy its presence in my kitchen. I like when I'm boiling water, soup, whatever I can adjust how fast the boil is instantly by turning the knob. The control is awesome.

The one main con is massive, and it could be I'm doing something wrong so advice is welcome. When I turn up the heat, the handles heat up on all my pots now. The electric I had wasn't induction - just a standard saran top stove - and it never did this.

At first I thought it could be that I'm putting the pots on too large of a burner and the flames are licking up the side and heating up the handles, but when I turn down the flames or put the pots on a smaller burner, it can then take forever to heat stuff up.

I always need to wear an oven mitt to take stuff off the stove now, which I've never had to do in my whole life. Is this normal?

That's exactly what I was going too add as a major drawback of gas. Even wider based pots that appear to cover the flame still get hot right to the top of the pot and the handle. Here in Panama gas=propane.

[aaronck]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I just switched to gas from electric in October.

Pros of the gas: I love that tick tick tick woooosh sound when you fire it up. I love looking at the flames. It looks more bad ass in my kitchen versus electric, so visually I just enjoy its presence in my kitchen. I like when I'm boiling water, soup, whatever I can adjust how fast the boil is instantly by turning the knob. The control is awesome.

The one main con is massive, and it could be I'm doing something wrong so advice is welcome. When I turn up the heat, the handles heat up on all my pots now. The electric I had wasn't induction - just a standard saran top stove - and it never did this.

At first I thought it could be that I'm putting the pots on too large of a burner and the flames are licking up the side and heating up the handles, but when I turn down the flames or put the pots on a smaller burner, it can then take forever to heat stuff up.

I always need to wear an oven mitt to take stuff off the stove now, which I've never had to do in my whole life. Is this normal?

It might be the pots- I have some cheaper ones where the handles heat up, and some better ones that don't.

[undercoverbrother]

Gas, we now have an electric.

It sucks balls.