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gas or electric stove?


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We will be buying a new stove in a few months, and are trying to decide whether to get gas or electric. Dh is worried about gas blowing up the house, but I told him that is very rare.

 

What would you recommend, and which brands?

 

Thanks.

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We never had any problem with the gas presenting a dangerous situation. Supposedly, people who cook a lot prefer gas. I wouldn't know about that.:) It was nice to have instant heat and not wait for the burner to heat up.

 

I am currently enjoying my electric, glass-top stove. It is SO easy to clean.

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I LOVE cooking with my gas stove. It is just so superior for cooking - everything heats faster and I can control the heat much better.

I do not love my particular brand of stove because I have had it less than 5 years and I've had to have the igniter in the oven replaced twice and the handle is broken (from normal use). I would recommend avoiding MAYTAG.

But if you like to cook, get a gas stove. :001_smile:

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I have had both, and really do not have a preference. I cook a LOT - every night, for a lot of people. I would probably prefer gas if I had used it a lot (only had one for a couple of years), but I grew up cooking on electric and have a glass top electric now that I LOVE.

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we've had both, and I much prefer the gas.

 

The stove top we have uses an instant start (I think that's what it's called). That means there is no pilot light. Until you turn the knob no gas is released. The danger with the older kind is that your pilot light would blow out and gas would be leaking.

 

But I will say that I grew up with a gas stove/oven and that was never a problem.

 

I will only add that I hate electric stoves. They stay hot when you turn them off, and it seems harder to control the heat while cooking.

 

HTH

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Dual-Fuel, baby!!! :D Really, take a look at "dual-fuel ranges". They offer the (far!!!) superior cook-top performance of gas, but the quick, even oven heating of an electric convection oven. I've had gas and electric over the years, and this really is the best of both worlds by far.

 

There are a range of models / brands / prices available now.

 

And no, gas just doesn't blow people's houses up. :)

 

ETA: BTW, what I just replaced was a glass-top electric. I *loathed* it. If I had to pick one *or* the other, it would absolutely be gas. But since there are so many dual-fuels available now, there's no reason to *need* to pick. :)

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I've had both, and very much prefer the control I have with gas. I currently have a double oven duel-fuel (gas stove top w/6 full size burners and a griddle, one gas oven/broiler and one electric oven-- I do a lot of cooking! ;)). We have a Five Star-- they make an excellent range but they are pricey. Good luck!

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When we redid our kitchen, we put in a gas (propane) cooktop and double electric convection wall ovens.

 

I've had a regular electric stove, a smooth-top electric stove, and have always coveted a gas stove. There's simply no comparison...I don't think I could ever go back to electric.

 

Ria

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As is evidenced by the replies, it's a matter of personal preference. Whereas Ria said she doesn't think she'd ever go back to electric, I don't mind in the last that electric is my only option. I'm reminded each time I'm at my mother's home how much I dislike gas stovetops.

 

Btw, do you have the option up there to purchase green power?

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If I had the option (my kitchen isn't gas ready), I'd buy gas.

 

I grew up with gas. I've had electric since I moved to WA. It took me a while to get used to things taking forever to heat up and to remember to take the pot off the burner if it needed to be removed from heat as turning it off continues cooking. Sometimes it's hard to find a place to put a burning hot pot/pan if you are using all of the other burners. Even after 16 years, I still have an issue with nearly burnt food from turned-off burners not cooling fast enough. I also have a tendency to accidentally place plastic (bowls/utensils) or oven mitts on still hot but turned off burners.

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Gas. Think about it. God forbid the electricity goes out and you have not cooked yet but it is time to start cooking. If you have gas you can cook regardless of the electricity. When we lived in Miami and Hurricane Andrew hit, we went 1 week without electricity. Because we had a gas stove and oven we were able to have nice family meals. That made a lot of difference in helping to try to make things feel alright again. Now in TN we have an electric stove and everytime the electricity goes out, we're stuck with something that doesn't require cooking or heating.

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As is evidenced by the replies, it's a matter of personal preference. Whereas Ria said she doesn't think she'd ever go back to electric, I don't mind in the last that electric is my only option. I'm reminded each time I'm at my mother's home how much I dislike gas stovetops.

 

Btw, do you have the option up there to purchase green power?

 

 

I haven't heard of green power, but I'll look into it.

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Gas.

 

We moved into a house that's electric (it's got a glass top, and that is the absolutely MOST USELESS PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY anyone ever invented for cooking) and we're going to run a gas line just so we can have gas again.

 

Depending on how poor we feel after that, we'd like to get dual.

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I have mostly had electic stoves in the homes we purchased. I recently had a gas stove for about 10 years and replaced it with electric when we remodeled last summer.

 

Reasons?? CLEAN UP! I am a messy cook and I hated cleaning that gas stove top.

 

However, I do prefer to cook with gas. I no longer have 4 kids and a dog at home to cook for, so I figured I could get used to electric again.

 

I love my glass top stove! I am much happier with my electric oven over the gas one tho. Bread turns out nicer.

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I've had both, and I prefer gas for the stovetop. We've had a GE for 10 years and haven't had any problems. Much easier to control the heat, and the burner doesn't stay hot. I just put the pieces in the dishwasher when they need to be cleaned. One thing I didn't like was the knobs being on the front of the unit when my kids were younger. I'm not worried about anything blowing up, but we do have a carbon monoxide detector.

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I have been using gas for almost 20 yrs. and most of that time was with a stove that had a pilot light and I really preferred it over the one (electric start) that I have now. I like the fact that when it is off it is off, meaning it doesn't stay as heated as electric eyes. We have a Kenmore and I can't really complain, just don't like the electric starter. Good Luck!

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I have had gas and electric. Right now we have a glass top stove and I HATE it. It takes forever to boil water. The temperature is not constant.

 

Gas is the best to cook with, in my opinion, because you can regulate the heat instantly.

 

If you plan on ever doing any canning, do not get a glass top stove. You are not supposed to can with one because it does not keep the temperature even so it is not reliable. The food may not have been cooked long enough at the right temperature to be safe to be canned.

 

I do like the electric convection oven. But it doesn't make up for the lousy glass stove top.

Edited by Miss Sherry
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It's interesting to me, how many people have lamented electric stoves. I haven't had any of the issues others have mentioned, e.g. regulating the temperature. My range is a Jenn-Air, btw.

 

My biggest beef regardless of the power source is that I dislike coil burners. Over in Switzerland stoves are all flat (I've never seen a gas stove over there) and they're so much simpler to keep clean.

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If you don't have gas hook-up, it will be expensive to get a plumber to run a gas line to your kitchen. It might not be worth it, especially to your dh.

 

But if your *house* has gas, there's just not an oven hook-up, it may be no big deal at all. A plumber can run it for you, but so can a competent handyman. We were afraid it was going to be a big deal when we recently renovated our kitchen, but it was practically a non-issue.

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The smell of gas is only an issue in older houses with older appliances. You cannot smell our gas at all. Our furnace & hot water heater are natural gas as well so gas is in the house already anyway.

 

The real joy of cooking on gas is the responsiveness of the heat. It's just amazing. It's not such a deal when you're cooking just one pot, and can slide it off the electrical burner if the heat's too high for eg. But if you have all 4 burners going & you want to quickly reduce heat, or quickly raise heat (like in reducing pan drippings for eg), it's just so amazingly fast and responsive. Really changes the way you cook.

 

And bringing a pot of water to the boil for pasta for eg is just so much faster. I had to change the way I cook because that used to be the first thing I did - set the pot of water to boil, then go about preparing the sauce and by the time I was done all that, and had made the salad, and had set the table, the pot would finally boil & I would quickly cook the pasta. If I do that now, I end up evaporating the water & steaming up the house!

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