oldrustycars
Senior Cook
I just moved. I hate this electric range. I just had to vent...thank you.
Electric range
- Thread starter oldrustycars
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Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
It takes some getting used to but I'll bet you get used to it quickly. It may crank out more heat than a gas stove.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I guess you can make anything work. The original episodes of the French Chef had Julia cooking on an electric cooktop.
Claire
Master Chef
As a military brat, veteran, military wife, and now wife of a military retiree, I think I've cooked on most electric and gas surfaces. To each his own, and, yes, gas does have its plus and minus. The range I bought when I moved here 8 years ago, a smooth-top electric, is my favorite.
For one, a flame puts a lot, and I do mean a lot more heat into the kitchen that isn't going directly into the pot or pan, especially on high heat. Yeah, you get more heat. But I've lived in places with no (now) air conditioning in the kitchen or minimal, and when it is 90 degrees with about that much humidity, give me electric every time.
The other major thing is who does the clean up? I've had several kinds of gas stoves (propane, natural, and heaven knows what else) and the bottoms of my pots and pans needed a lot more cleaning. But mostly the "wells" (I'm sure there's a word for it) under gas and coil and (don't know what the other is called, a sort of plate looking think we had when I was a kid in Germany) require scrubbing every time something boils over and every time in between. Maybe my mother was a clean fanatic, but we'd pull apart the stoves at least every day and scrub.
So .... for me it is a flat-top electric. For fast on and off, I do what I see chefs do on their ultra-expensive gas ranges on TV in restaurants. Put one burner on warm, one on medium, one on hot, one on ultra-hot, and just slide them around.
... and it takes me all of 5-10 minutes to give it a thorough cleaning no matter what has boiled over.
For one, a flame puts a lot, and I do mean a lot more heat into the kitchen that isn't going directly into the pot or pan, especially on high heat. Yeah, you get more heat. But I've lived in places with no (now) air conditioning in the kitchen or minimal, and when it is 90 degrees with about that much humidity, give me electric every time.
The other major thing is who does the clean up? I've had several kinds of gas stoves (propane, natural, and heaven knows what else) and the bottoms of my pots and pans needed a lot more cleaning. But mostly the "wells" (I'm sure there's a word for it) under gas and coil and (don't know what the other is called, a sort of plate looking think we had when I was a kid in Germany) require scrubbing every time something boils over and every time in between. Maybe my mother was a clean fanatic, but we'd pull apart the stoves at least every day and scrub.
So .... for me it is a flat-top electric. For fast on and off, I do what I see chefs do on their ultra-expensive gas ranges on TV in restaurants. Put one burner on warm, one on medium, one on hot, one on ultra-hot, and just slide them around.
... and it takes me all of 5-10 minutes to give it a thorough cleaning no matter what has boiled over.
Claire, I have gas now and love it, but I 've cooked on smooth top electrics and you're technique is spot on! And given a choice of coil or smooth top, I'd take the smooth top electric.
If you have coils, you can get "burner plates" from Nordic Ware which give you a solid metal disc. Pre-heat a minute and turn off a bit early to use residual heat, but it gives you a much better hot surface than a coil.
If you have coils, you can get "burner plates" from Nordic Ware which give you a solid metal disc. Pre-heat a minute and turn off a bit early to use residual heat, but it gives you a much better hot surface than a coil.
VERY COOL! I am going to have to get one and try it out!! Thanks for the info!
bakechef
Executive Chef
I actually like electric. Many electrics can get hotter and boil faster than most consumer grade gas ranges (not enough BTUs). If I were going gas, I would go with a higher end "pro" style range with higher BTU burners. Since I don't have a high end budget, I will stick with my Samsung convection range, it works quite well. One of my favorite features of the flat top range, is that you can use the residual heat from the stove top to keep things warm.
Claire
Master Chef
Another advantage with the range I now have is that I have five burners, one of which is a "warmer" -- all settings are low. In the winter this is just wonderful. I boil a kettle of water when I wake up, and make a pot of tea (or not, sometimes I just leave it hot water) and it can sit there all day at just the right temperature. I could never get one of my gas ranges to stay at a consistently low temperature, actually had to use something called a "flame tamer" when I wanted something to stay at a low temp for a long time without burning ... or the flame going out and gassing me. Oh, yes, I know it seldom happens, but once, when I lived in an apartment, I'd complained to the management several times that my stove wasn't working right. I could smell it (I used to have a very good sense of smell). Then one day a friend came to visit, knew I was home, and could not get me to answer the door. She got the apartment manager and came in and I was "sleeping" -- passed out from the leaking gas. Finally got THAT stove fixed!
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