Giving up on gas and going back to electric

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Don't let the fear of another fluke cause you to subject yourself to the horror that is the electric range.

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It seems to me that people tend to disparage electric ranges when they haven't actually used the new generation of them. I hear all kinds of blanket statements about gas ranges being better than electric, but I can say from personal experience that the electric range I have now is way better than many of the gas ranges I've used, and it's just an old style coil one. It gets hotter, heats up faster, and holds a nice low heat forever without any hot spots. I use fairly high end gas ranges at work -- Viking and Wolf -- and I'd take the electric Whirlpool I have in my apartment over either of them. Any day, no contest.

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I'll ditto this. I have a mid-range GE electric coil range, and it's a much more efficient beast than the circa 1984 Whirlpool electric coil range that it replaced.

I still wouldn't mind a gas range, but we don't have a gas hook up in our condo.

[Dave the Cook]

I still wouldn't mind a gas range, but we don't have a gas hook up in our condo.

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See, I would mind a gas range. I was in the same situation as you -- a condo without a gas hookup. As it turns out, the furnace is gas, and we could have brought the line outside the house to the kitchen (lots of people in the complex have done this).

But I didn't know that (actually, hadn't thought about it) at the time, so I went electric. I'm not going back; you'll have to pry my range out of my cold, dead Orkas. It's faster to heat under real working conditions and way easier to clean (not to mention you can tell when it's clean) than most consumer-level gas cooktops, and gets every bit as hot. Also: no hot spots.

[Chris Amirault]

I could deal with a few hot spots. But cold spots in the center of a pan: they really, really suck.

I too sing the praises of electric. Unlike Dave, Cheryl, and and Janet, however, when our electric range started going kaput I went with a midrange gas range. I've figured out how to deal with its various difficulties, but I'd toss it in a second for a cheaper electric range.

I think Janet's right: just about everyone I know who "must have gas" either hasn't tried the new ranges or has a fetish for the flames licking the sides of a pan. I get that fetish -- I had it and I've promptly lost it. I want the heat on the bottom, not the sides, and I want it even, not licking around like a sophomore playing "Spin the Bottle."

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

That easy to clean thing with the electric helps too. My mom has always had gas ranges, and I always hated cleaning those... it was sure fun to stick a hot dog on a fork or a skewer and get it nicely charred though.

[Marlene]

I cook with gas at home and with a ceramic cooktop at the cottage. Each has it's benefits.

I'm not in the camp of loving how easy it is to clean the ceramic cooktop. Scrappers, special cleaners etc annoy me. I do love how there are no hot spots and how much faster a pot of water boils on an electric range. I don't love how long it takes for burners to cool down, rendering it harder to put a pot back on the burner.

On the other hand, I don't really mind cleaning the gas cooktop. It's easy enough to take the grates off and clean. I love the responsiveness of gas, and how things immediately stop boiling if I turn the burner down. I do get some hot spots with gas though, but now that I've learned how to work with it, I don't find it a huge issue.

For me it's a toss up. If I moved again (when hell freezes over), I wouldn't be upset if I couldn't have gas. They make some very good electric ranges these days, with Kitchenaid being at the top of my list for those. I would have put a kitchen aid in my cottage kitchen, but I needed a range with two ovens, and last time I looked, Kitchen Aid didn't make one. If they do, I'll be replacing this one in a flash.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

I opted for the electric coil range rather than the ceramic cooktop one just because I didn't want to have to fuss with special cleaning procedures. With my coil range, a few squirts of 409 and a sponge generally does the job, unless something spills in the drip pans.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . .

I'm not in the camp of loving how easy it is to clean the ceramic cooktop.  Scrappers, special cleaners etc annoy me. 

. . . .

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A scraper is a decent spatula. Special cleaners amount to Bon Ami or Bar Keeper's Friend, which you already have around. You can get more specialized, but you don't have to. I bought a putty knife, and I like the jeweler's rouge sort-of stuff that Weiman makes, but neither is essential. And it's not like gas ranges don't benefit from oddments like stainless steel sponges and ammonia.

. . . . I do love how there are no hot spots and how much faster a pot of water boils on an electric range.  I don't love how long it takes for burners to cool down, rendering it harder to put a pot back on the burner . . . .

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If you've got one of those gas ranges with grates that look like they're carved out of raw iron ore, you can't put a pot back on it, either. Those grates (which you have to wait on while they absorb heat before letting the pot or pan get some) hang on to BTUs like Bret Favre at Lambeau Field in deep December. Electric or gas, the solution is simple: put the pot somewhere else.

That easy to clean thing with the electric helps too. My mom has always had gas ranges, and I always hated cleaning those... it was sure fun to stick a hot dog on a fork or a skewer and get it nicely charred though.

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I have no comeback for this except that, in the cheap-to-moderate price range, electric ranges have much better broilers. Draw up a couple of stools, open the door and toast some marshmallows. At least you won't have to lie on the floor to do it.

[Lisa Shock]

I am shopping for a new stove, and must have electric because there is no gas service in my area, and my hubby refuses to set an LP account just for the stove.

A salesman at a fairly high end chain store, one that stocks Wolf and Viking, told me that cast iron and copper cookware can scratch ceramic cooktops, leading to their breakage.

Two years ago, I got a wonderful set of copper pans, and I have a lifetime's collection of cast iron I love.

Anyway, I noticed that most of the better electric stoves had ceramic tops. The coil stoves didn't have features like hidden oven elements or 2-oven configurations.

Am I destined to have a cheap coil-top in my future?

[Dave the Cook]

If you'd told him you had aluminum cookware, he'd probably have told you that it would scratch the surface, too.

But they can't, because the ceramic is harder than any of these metals. What can happen, if you slide pans around the top, is that the ceramic can abrade the metal, leaving "skid marks," if you will: microscopic bits of the pan's metal left in the grain of the ceramic, like wood dust in sandpaper. But this is theoretical, though the manual for my range does warn about it (aluminum and copper, not cast iron). In practice, I use stainless, aluminum, copper and cast iron (and enameled cast iron, for that matter), I'm not particularly careful, and I'd never had a problem.

[Lisa Shock]

If you'd told him you had aluminum cookware, he'd probably have told you that it would scratch the surface, too.

But they can't, because the ceramic is harder than any of these metals. What can happen, if you slide pans around the top, is that the ceramic can abrade the metal, leaving "skid marks," if you will: microscopic bits of the pan's metal left in the grain of the ceramic, like wood dust in sandpaper. But this is theoretical, though the manual for my range does warn about it (aluminum and copper, not cast iron). In practice, I use stainless, aluminum, copper and cast iron (and enameled cast iron, for that matter), I'm not particularly careful, and I'd never had a problem.

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Thanks!

[Dave the Cook]

You're welcome!

None of this is to say that ceramic cooktops can't get alarmingly filthy. I'd be happy to post a pictorial on cleaning, if peeps are interested.

[dougal]

If you'd told him you had aluminum cookware, he'd probably have told you that it would scratch the surface, too.

But they can't, because the ceramic is harder than any of these metals. ....

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Ummm.

One can scratch ceramic hobs/cooktops.

But it counts as 'abuse' to do it.

Here's a quote from a (typical I believe) user guide (the emphasis is mine)

To avoid damaging your appliance

o The ceramic glass can be damaged by objects falling onto it.

o The ceramic glass edge can be damaged by knocks from

cookware.

o Cast iron and cast aluminium cookware with damaged bases

may scratch the ceramic surface if they are dragged across it.

o Pans should be lifted on and off the hob surface and not

dragged.

...

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Data...Manuals/MG2.pdf see page 7 to 8

Take a heavy/full pan with jagged edges on its base and drag it over the ceramic - and you will get scratches.

If its got a "smooth" base (you wouldn't mind dragging it over your skin) then it should be fine.

If its rough, or got sharp bits, then it needs sanding and/or polishing anyway, before it hurts people...

Incidentally, cast iron, with or without exterior base enamel (as long as its smooth, not damaged or rough cast) is a pretty damn good material for use on an induction (glass ceramic topped) hob/cooktop.

Now, there's an interesting little comment in Lisa Shock's posting

...can scratch ceramic cooktops, leading to their breakage.

Now, in theory, a scratch acts as a 'stress concentrator' providing a point from which failure can occur. But that glass ceramic material is pretty damn tough, and designed to have almost zero expansion on heating, and so, in my (relatively limited) acquaintanceship with the things, I've not heard of even one cracking from a user's scratch. So, I'd say its very much less common than Pyrex shattering from a scratch, when it is later subjected to thermal shock (rapid heating or cooling).

And, with any reputable brand, a new ceramic surface should be obtainable as a spare part should it ever became damaged - though I'm not saying it would be cheap!

[Dave the Cook]

. . . .

Take a heavy/full pan with jagged edges on its base and drag it over the ceramic - and you will get scratches.

If its got a "smooth" base (you wouldn't mind dragging it over your skin) then it should be fine.

If its rough, or got sharp bits, then it needs sanding and/or polishing anyway, before it hurts people...

. . . .

I agree with the second and third sentences; in the absence of someone's actual experience (e.g., "I have a scratch on my ceramic that is definitely a scratch and not a thin streak of metal filings"), the first doesn't make sense. No matter how sharp you get a blade of VG-10 steel, you won't be able to scratch a diamond, let alone a slab of ceramic. You might, with enough force, break it.

The quote from the user's manual is almost word-for-word what mine says. Nevertheless, I think what the manufacturer is trying to do is present the explanation most likely to prevent people from doing a stupid thing.

Now, there's an interesting little comment in Lisa Shock's posting

...can scratch ceramic cooktops, leading to their breakage.

Now, in theory, a scratch acts as a 'stress concentrator' providing a point from which failure can occur. But that glass ceramic material is pretty damn tough, and designed to have almost zero expansion on heating, and so, in my (relatively limited) acquaintanceship with the things, I've not heard of even one cracking from a user's scratch. So, I'd say its very much less common than Pyrex shattering from a scratch, when it is later subjected to thermal shock (rapid heating or cooling).

And, with any reputable brand, a new ceramic surface should be obtainable as a spare part should it ever became damaged - though I'm not saying it would be cheap!

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Good points. I've dropped a nearly-full liter of olive oil on my cooktop from a height of about three feet. The cooktop survived, and even got a soothing extra-virgin bath. (The broken glass did not scratch the ceramic ;-))

The worst damage I've seen done to a ceramic top was when someone spilled sugar directly on the burner while putting sugar in a pot, then proceeded to make candy without cleaning up the spill first. The sugar became one with the ceramic. (I should note that this was one of the first generations of ceramic tops; I've spilled sugar on mine, had it cook in, and removed it with a putty knife. Back then, putty knives and razor blades were no-nos.)

[tsquare]

Been using our ceramic top for two years - heavy use - much coming from cast iron skillets and a dutch oven, as well as ancient (not smooth) steel pans. A little TLC and it always looks ready for an open house. The chef shakes and flips food, no gentle lift of the pans as they move on and off the burner.

Worst thing - flipping a plastic lid onto the hot burner. Spatula got most of it off, a few cleanings later and there is no residue.

[pax]

I have bought a new house which has an old coil type electric range. I tried to cook on it and it was horrible and wimpy. In my current house I have a Viking Pro 6 burner which I have a love/hate relationship with, love to cook on it, hate to clean it.

We are putting in a brand new kitchen. What would you put in?

Also...I hate my Jenn Air convection oven. I find the baking function makes little difference, but I do like the convection roast. I'm looking at things called Trivection and Invection and VectionVection and TurboVection and I am totally lost. Any advice on ovens?

Edited to add...is there any reason I couldn't put a ceramic cooktop up next to a gas one? If I got the four burner version of each.....would that be an advantage?

Edited August 13, 2008 by pax (log)