response 16 of 60:

Aug 29 23:41 UTC 2001

I'll have to look at the manual to see what I've got.  I thought I 
knew until you guys threw out so many options. ;-)

response 18 of 60:

Aug 30 20:19 UTC 2001

Hey, I walk up to it, make my unborn veal in white truffle sauce, and move
on to other things.  I let others worry about details. ;-) 

response 20 of 60:

Sep 1 16:18 UTC 2001

The only electric stove I've ever liked is the one we have now. It is 
from around 1948. It is very narrow, about 22 inches, but since I seldom 
use more than two burners at once, everything fits. The control settings 
are S, VL, L, M, H. I love having a "simmer" setting! Best part: the left 
rear burner space is a sunken slow cooker! It has a ceramic coil in the 
bottom, and holds a pot (with cover) that is flush with the cooktop. I 
gave my crockpot to Goodwill.

response 22 of 60:

Sep 11 02:49 UTC 2001

I've always cooked on electric stoves until I moved into this house, 
which has a gas stove (but an electric oven). I like the adjustability 
of the gas burners, but as someone pointed out, the lowest setting 
seems to be too high to really simmer stuff. Also, the heat output at 
the high end seems to be lower than the electric burners as it takes 
longer to boil water on this stove. Overall, it's probably a wash.

response 24 of 60:

Sep 20 22:50 UTC 2001

If you use an electric stove on city power, fuel is being burned to produce
heat, the heat is being converted into motion, the motion into electricity,
and the electricity is being turned back into heat.  A gas stove just burns
the fuel and is done with it.  Are gas stoves really more wasteful?

response 26 of 60:

Sep 21 16:47 UTC 2001

When I take my teakettle of the (electric) burner because the water is
boiling, the burner stays red-hot for a couple minutes after I've turned the
burner off.  That's wasted heat.

response 28 of 60:

Sep 23 14:41 UTC 2001

I don't like electric stoves.  An electric frying pan or an electric 
crock pot or wok or bread machine can be very handy, but gas is best 
for ordinary stovetop cooking, at least for my money.

response 30 of 60:

Sep 29 23:08 UTC 2001

All kinds of stuff.  One thing that makes gas better is that you can 
turn it down instantly.  Roaring flame to nothing in less than a 
second.  No pasta boilovers, for example.  Also, there are infinite 
gradations of adjustment, all visible to the eye merely by looking 
under the pot or pan.  I can tell by the way the olive oil smells 
whether the heat needs to be adjusted a tiny bit up or down.  The 
difference between tender golden bits of garlic at the end of cooking 
the veal medallions, and darker overcooked bits mixed in with the 
medallions might be a slight reduction of the flame.  You sort of look 
at it and nod.  If you have any kind of cooperation at all going on 
between hand and eye and nose and brain, all this is essential.  (Also, 
when the power goes out, I'm still cooking.)

I understand that some people are inexplicably married to electricity.  
They are welcome to their obsession.  I wouldn't think of trying to 
convert them.

response 32 of 60:

Sep 30 16:44 UTC 2001

What we usually cook requires either the highest possible heat (pressure
cooker brought to pressure) or the lowest possible heat (simmering the
stir-fry) which electric seems to do okay.  I solve the boil-over problem by
removing the pot from the burner.  The gas stoves that I have used at friends'
houses don't get as hot or as cool - maybe yours is much better quality.
I agree that it is nice to be able to adjust instantly, but the range of
temperatures on these gas stoves is not as great as on electric.  My primary
objection to gas is the need to breathe methane and carbon monoxide.
We have one thermostatted burner on one of our stoves that claims to offer
lots of fine adjustments but unfortunately it is one of those solid burners,
meaning it takes a lot longer to heat up or cool down.  The electric frying
pan  offers the same control, but faster.  
        I cooked one year on a completely non-adjustable alcohol burner.  Took
a bit of getting used to, but still a lot easier than cooking over a wood
fire.  It did not provide a very hot flame but you could fry an egg on it.
The fuel was much cheaper and more readily available than camping fuel. It
had the added advantage of putting a little heat in my unheated drafty room.
        Has anyone tried cooking on a woodstove?

response 34 of 60:

Apr 30 11:48 UTC 2002

From my understanding, as was said earlier, yes, gas stoves are 
superior in heat control, and so its obvious strength is in sauteing 
and the like.

However, you can't can fruits and vegetables with a gas stove-- 
something I suspect not many Grexers do (and md doesn't sound like one 
of them-- resp:30).  I forget precisely why this is, but perhaps it's 
because of what Sindi said in resp:23 in that you're heating the pot 
directly.  Anyway, a friend of mine just told me that you need an 
electric stove for things like that, which probably means steam 
juicing is out, too.

I don't have to worry here in Washington, where we have 
hydroelectric.  This has been a new reminder that Michigan is gas-
powered. 

response 36 of 60:

Apr 30 14:14 UTC 2002

I dont have any trouble getting a good rolling boil in large pots of 
water on my gas stove (which is one of the cheaper models) but it does 
take longer than 5 minutes. It helps to keep the pot covered when 
bringing the water to boil *shrug* 

response 38 of 60:

Apr 30 15:56 UTC 2002

First priority is roof, then plumbing.  After that we can start on the
kitchen.  Floor has to be replaced, window as well from the water damage from
roof leaks.  Then all the old cabinets and counters go.  Stove will come in
about the time the new cabinets do so that they can be planned around it. 
Since it is commercial quality I don't anticipate any problems with boiling
anything.  The slowest (the simmer) burner is something like 15,000 BTUs. 
I think the wok burner is about 24,000.  Ovens are both conventional and
convection.