Those of you who’ve used both, what do I need to know about the difference?
Look at the flame to judge heat, dials mean nothing
Gas ranges are a pain in the ass to clean.
When installing a gas range you need to make sure you have an overhead vent that vents to outside air.
You should have a vent regardless of the fuel type.
With an electric stove, it doesn’t matter if the vent exhaust goes outside. For gas stoves it’s recommended that the gas byproducts are removed from the home. Sorry if this wasn’t clear.
https://www.prolinerangehoods.com/blog/do-gas-ranges-require-venting/amp/
I’m looking at it from a humidity and grease particulates point of view.
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Check that the supplier offers cleaner-/hotter-burning propane gas.
Be aware that the flames from a gas burner can go up around a small pot if they’re turned up to high, so always double check that your pot is centered and the flames are on the bottom of the pot only and not going up the sides, to prevent accidents.
For similar reasons, don’t leave wooden spoons in pots or pans unattended, my mom has a couple wooden cooking spoons that have burnt divots in the handle from being left in a pan or pot.
And maybe be a touch more careful when adding liquids to oil or using spray oils, they can and will flare up, unlike an electric where you can slop oil all over the surface and be mostly fine with just some smoke.
One perk i haven’t seen mentioned yet… gas ranges still work when the power is out. If you live in outage prone areas, this can come in handy.
Will your oven run on gas too? I recommend an oven thermometer so you know if 350 is really 350.
Pot handles get hot on gas stoves
I went from electric to gas a couple years ago moving to a new apartment.
The most jarring part of the transition was the fumes. You can really smell the pollution.
The dial means nothing… the flame gets a bit bigger/smaller, but there really isnt the same level of granular control as an electric.
I find myself constantly worrying about bumping the handles.
Bitch to clean…
Overall, not impressed & cant wait to go back to electric.
Induction is the best of both. No pollution, fast, and a glass surface to wipe clean.
I personally own a Wolf DF304. Arguably the best 30" duel fuel range on the market in the United States. It is spectacularly good and far far better than any other range or cooktop I have used in my 13 year + in the cooking hobby. I absolutely love the thing and I love cooking with gas (pardon the cliche) .
With that said:
Go buy an induction range/ cook top.
They are far more responsive than gas (which is gas’s one real advantage over conventional electric), far more efficient, and they are far better for your house’s air quality.
Gas range/cook tops had their day. Today there is an actual superior technology available and it is worth its cost.
You absolutely must have a GREAT exhaust hood over a gas range.
I’ve got a gas stove, and and a recirculating OTR microwave, as opposed to one that vents. So it’s running all the grease and fumes through a charcoal filter.
Due to the placement of the stove and kitchen, I’m unable to swap to a real exhaust hood. Are there any solutions that don’t involve buying a new stove?
I would look into running an exhaust to the outside. A business, or handyman that does kitchen remodels would probably be able to give you options.
The latest research done on indoor air pollution is concerning and I personally think that having gas stoves exhausted outside is very important and worth the investment.
I don’t think gas gets as hot as electric—only really matters for a tea kettle though.
When you kill the flame, it just stops. You don’t need to jostle pans around to not burn your rice. Or remember which burner was still warm.
Cast iron on a gas range is cooking bliss.
You can cook corn tortillas right on the hob if you want to get them toasty :)
I think it depends on the kind of gas stove for if it gets as hot, definitely agree to an extent, for gas stoves a lot of the heat is lost anyways due to dissipating into the air and not into the pan.
But I suspect if you’ve got one of those jet wok gas burners you’re getting pretty darn hot.
That’s a good point. I know they have crazy jet gas things for woks, but I felt like the regular hobs I’ve used have taken a little longer to boil water than on our electric. It wasn’t a big deal, I just expected the opposite when I first fired it up
Ymmv, my impression was always that gas is much faster to boil water or cook almost anything, than electric resistive burners.
Yeah, also the efficiency of electric just heating the surface that the pot is directly sitting on probably helps transfer the heat to the pot faster even if it isn’t actually getting hotter than gas.
I’m quite happy with my electric I think the only thing that would be better is if I had an induction burner for when I want it really hot really quick.
That’s why I love induction so much. It’s on instantly, and it’s off instantly
Temp responsiveness is just immediate. Don’t have to wait for the coils to heat up/cool down, kind of makes cooking more fun :)
I’ve used Gas Range, Electric, and Induction.
I love induction the best, Gas comes near 2nd (better in some cases), and electric dead last.
Electric is the worst, it heats up unevenly, takes a lot of time to heat up as wll.
Gas is good, especially for non-flat cookware like woks. It just heats up the room more, and is less efficient in heating up stuff.
Induction is the best, it directly heats up the pan so it’s the most energy efficient of the bunch. It is loud though because of the fans.
I hope you have many options for gas suppliers. Didn’t realize I only had one when I made the choice for gas and now I’m stuck with the only one in the area and they suck. Propane is nice but a broken tank can really be a pain.
I have gas and am planning to switch to electric since it’s cheaper for me and eventually would like to get rid of gas all together…only thing that use it now is water heater, stove/oven and dryer…don’t use the gas heater since it’a pretty useless…
You are going to love it. Gas is so much nicer to cook on, having flame control and immediate feedback. There’s nothing you really need to know, as such, you’ll figure it out quickly.
You are probably going to fail some dishes at the beginning, it’s okay. To know how hot it is, look at the flame underneath the pot, not all dials are reliable. It’s my favourite way to cook meat, as it actually turns the heat down when you reduce the flame, unlike resistance electric that takes ages or induction that works as long as you haven’t been cooking too long. Get yourself an electric kettle or you will need ages to get warm water for your pasta.
Get yourself some gas detector and get in the habit of opening the windows to ventilate. Take the normal recomanded precaution around open flames, turn the gas off at the arrival when you leave the house for longer than 36 hours.\
