34 replies to this topic

[kelautz]

A wonderful story / science lesson, Dave, thanks.

For years I cooked on a 26" GE electric coil stove, and did just fine, thank you very much. A heat source is a heat source is a heat source, and one merely adjusts to the situation.

Now I cook on an O'Keefe & Merritt white enamel and chrome 50's era gas beauty. I love the burners, they're the best gas burners I've ever used. The burner adjustment valves are exquisitely sensitive and variable, for one. I have many other verses to the song of praise for this particular stove.

I would not purchase one of the wildly popular "commercial style" gas ranges designed for home use. The ones I've cooked on have terrible burners, especially if they are sealed burners, are really hard to clean, and in general are way over-rated, IMHO.

However, in contemplating my next kitchen, I think I'm going back to electric of some sort for three reasons: efficiency, safety and cleanability. (Not coils, though).

Now here's what I want, four burners, two halogen and two induction, all in the same flat surface. Does anyone know if such a beast exists?

[Dave the Cook]

There's a relationship that develops between cook and stove and I've had a hard imagining a bond developing with most other stoves (gas or electric) I've seen. I guess it is about magnetism after all

Good point, but I believe that over time, you'll learn to love -- or perhaps hate -- whatever you get. Humans are odd in their proclivity for developing emotional relationships with inanimate objects.

However, in contemplating my next kitchen, I think I'm going back to electric of some sort for three reasons: efficiency, safety and cleanability. (Not coils, though).

Now here's what I want, four burners, two halogen and two induction, all in the same flat surface. Does anyone know if such a beast exists?

Indeed it does. Electrolux and Frigidaire both make such a cooktop. Despite the fact that they're part of the same company, the units have different configurations. Here's the Electrolux, and here's the Frigidaire.

Miele doesn't have a hybrid, but they do let you pick and choose from various elements, called Combisets.

Bertazzoni makes an interesting -- some might say odd -- combination of a single gas burner, an electric griddle and two induction elements. See it here.

ETA: Samsung has two hybrid ranges. Here's one of them.

[judiu]

FWIW, I have had excellent luck with Samsung appliances. Never had a problem to get service for, so I can't comment on that issue, but I DO love 'em!

[Priscilla]

Now see, I first heard that story as a three-generation ham-and-pan parable in the early 1980s, something my then-boss took an especial liking to at a management seminar and then "shared" at the next staff meeting. I think we safely ascribe it to the Urban Folklore file.

Dave, this was such an interesting read. Where I live it's propane or electric, and propane is about 8000 times cheaper, and not too bad to cook on, but I would not kick one of them modern, smooth-top, easy-to-clean electric ranges outta bed for eating crackers.

The activity of cooking is perhaps the truest proof of the it's a poor worker who... well, yes, you know the rest. It's really up to, or down to, the cook, ain't it?

[Dave the Cook]

Dave, this was such an interesting read. Where I live it's propane or electric, and propane is about 8000 times cheaper, and not too bad to cook on, but I would not kick one of them modern, smooth-top, easy-to-clean electric ranges outta bed for eating crackers.

It's interesting -- and can be very frustrating -- that propane actually holds more energy than natural gas (methane). Frustrating because most manufacturers optimize their ranges for the latter, and make poorly designed conversion kits for the former, resulting in worse performance.

Nevertheless, as you say:

The activity of cooking is perhaps the truest proof of the it's a poor worker who... well, yes, you know the rest. It's really up to, or down to, the cook, ain't it?

And yet here's Josh Ozersky blaming his tools. He's upset because his smoothtop won't accommodate his warped pan (warped? what's up with that?), exhibits a complete lack of understanding of heat transfer, and piles one mistake upon another until he finally ends up with an unsatisfying plate of scrambled eggs. Then he trots out the familiar litany of praise for gas with the warning "You still have to know how to cook," even though the egg experience casts doubts on his mastery. Then he libels, if not every smoothtop fan, at least me:

And if it [the gas cooktop] gets dirty and messy, as pasta water spills over onto burners, and sauces drip, that's O.K. too. People who are freaked out by the sight of food in kitchens give me the creeps. They are, of course, also the target consumer for these [smoothtop] ranges.

Not content to assault the motives of electric-range owners, he goes on to insult anyone who's ever used a thermometer, and finishes with:

I dream of a world where people cook dead animals over live fires, where grills are licked by wood flames and pans by gas ones. Where people love to cook as much as they love to eat, and where the world allows them to do one as expressively as the other.

I like wood fires. I also love to cook, and I can't see how my choice of ranges -- or Josh's misplaced anger -- makes any difference in my "expression" (whatever that means). Finally, I usually like Ozersky's writing; The Hamburger: a History was a ton of fun. But based on how he cooks, I think I'll stick with reading his books and avoid a dinner invitation.