Gas vs. electric: The great stove debate

Aug 28 00:07 UTC 2001

I recently removed my mostly-new (4 years old?) Maytag gas stove for a 1960's
electric beast.  Why would I give up gas?  Well, the stove is a really cool
high-end stove which fits the space better.

But anyway, to which heat source do people swear allegiance?  I'm not
completely happy to be going back to electric burners, but on the other hand
I was never very happy with the way a gas oven behaves, so the electric ovens
(yes, there are two in this monster) are an improvement.  With gas ovens
there's more air movement due to the combustion, and it typically results in
more burning of food on the bottom of a deep pan.  

response 2 of 60:

Aug 28 01:32 UTC 2001

Gas pollutes, and the last gas stove I used at a friend's house would not let
me turn it down enough to simmer with the pot cover on.  Electric is much more
easily adjusted, and gets hotter.

response 4 of 60:

Aug 28 04:49 UTC 2001

From what I understand, you get more control with gas.  I hate the stupid
things...give me electric any day!!!

response 6 of 60:

Aug 28 16:52 UTC 2001

I like gas for the quick response to emergencies, like spaghetti boiling
over, or something starting to burn.  I also find it easier to adjust,
because I can see how big the flame is, how high it is going, and how
much of the bottom of the pan is being heated.  It takes much longer to
discover the cooking rate of an electric element, and longer to adjust
appropriately.  

For cooking that requires heat control like omlets, or stir fry, gas is
much better.  If the lag time for heating and cooling dont matter
(simmering a stew for example), and you can capture that pre-heating fuel
use by starting the dish cold and slowly warming it, and can let the pan
sit on the cooling burner to capture the heat after it is turned off,
then electric is fine.  It takes longer to get it set to "simmer", but it
does sit there for several hours.  

For most stovetop cooking, gas wastes less fuel.  It is burned directly,
and does not require large powerplants to convert the fuel to
electricity, and then the electricity to heat.  

response 8 of 60:

Aug 28 19:09 UTC 2001

For a half-day simmer I'd just use my crock-pot, so whether the stove can do
it has been moot.

response 10 of 60:

Aug 28 23:18 UTC 2001

re: #8:  I too use direct heat electric utensils instead of my electric
cook top elements.  Crockpot for long cooking, electric kettle for boiling
more than a cup of water, and the microwave for most things that take less
than 8 minutes to cook.  8 minutes is the break even point that I
calculated earlier this year after a discussion about how to measure
electrical usage for ovens and cooktops.  

response 12 of 60:

Aug 29 14:28 UTC 2001

Gas stoves, particularly ovens or stoves with pilot lights, produce a lot of
poison gas - the natural gas (methane) itself and also carbon monoxide. This
is particularly harmful for anyone who already has respiratory problems
(asthma, low hemoglobin = anemia) and for children.  Studies have shown more
respiratory problems in children who live in houses with gas stoves (or with
smokers).  Venting the fumes helps some.  A friend of ours who worries about
everything is still using a gas stove.  We brought over a carbon monoxide
detector and it registered unhealthy levels in his kitchen, even though it
is open on two sides to a large 3-story drafty house.  He now cooks with his
window open.  He has decided that electric fields are more worrisome than gas
fumes, but after detecting strong EMF (ELF) fields all over his house due to
knob and tube wiring, has not bothered to get it changed. Some people just
like to worry.

The older smooth-top stoves were extremely slow to heat and cool since the
ceramic is an insulator.  The newer ones I think compensate by using higher
wattage burners.  Coil units may still be  more efficient.  It helps if they
are kept flat (no depressions in the coils) and contacting the pot (also flat
on the bottom).  Has anyone used induction burners?  

We have electric frying pans, woks and even a pressure cooker.  We tried an
electric pot but the lid fit very poorly and also it was not well
thermostatted and had only two temperature settings - on and off - so did not
work well.  I have not seen any new ones (this was 1940s).  Electric
percolators with the innards removed heat water well.  Our electric kettle
has a much larger spout hole so is less efficient at retaining heat.  
Crock pots do not heat efficiently because the insulation is to the interior
of the heating element.  I have a few 'natural ovens' in which the liner is
non-insulating porcelain enamel coated steel. Low wattage so they heat slowly
but efficiently as there is fiberglass in a double-walled enclosure, into
which you put the porcelain-enameled inner pot.  They come in pot size and
oven size and have temperature controls.  

response 14 of 60:

Aug 29 18:04 UTC 2001

Perhaps the newer gas stoves are less polluting than the older ones?  There
are also ceramic-top stoves with halogen burners, which are instant (though
probably not as hot as the coil type, and the bulbs need replacing).