Gas oven vs electric oven

[Guava]

I'm in the final stages of choosing a range for my new house. I am choosing between a gas range with a gas oven, or a gas range with an electric convection oven. Having never used a gas oven before, my inclination is to go with the electric convection oven. Of course, it'll cost more. Any advice and insight or comparisons?

Thanks.

 

[Psiguyy]

My opinion is a self-cleaning electric convection oven is the way to go. For one thing, the technology has been proven over a period of decades. Second, the temperature control is better in electric ovens.

Gas could be a better choice for you if you stick with the high end brands. Some of the best are self-cleaning. I'm talking pyrolytic cleaning here, not continuous self cleaning. Their thermostats are getting better and better at maintaining an even heat. The biggest advantage, depending on where you live, is that natural gas can be cheaper than electricity. If you bake a lot, it might make economic sense to go with gas.

The downside to gas ovens? The best gas ovens with self-cleaning and convection features will be EXPENSIVE. You'll pay a lot more for gas with these features over what it would cost if you went with electric.

There are also reports that the self-cleaning feature in gas ovens can be problematic. Some say the gas ovens don't handle the high temperatures of the self-cleaning cycle as well as the more mature technology of electric ovens.

Me? I like electric ovens. Much easier to clean up a major spill. Much less heat vented into the kitchen. Better temperature control so cakes and pastries come out better when using electricity to bake in an oven designed for home use.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Ditto what Psiguyy said. I have to vote for self-cleaning electric convection ovens, too. My apartments just took out our gas stoves and replaced them with electric ... I HATE the electric stovetop but I do love the electric oven even if it isn't convection.

 

[middie]

i prefer gas but that's just my opinion

 

[Andy M.]

I've cooked with both and self-cleaned both types. I'd say that, for home use, they're interchangeable.

I currently have a gas oven as part of a gas stove which cost me less than $1,000. The all electric version of the same stove was in the same price range.

As PSIguy stated, the current crop of gas ovens are accurate. Gas is much cheaper to operate.

If you choose high quality products, either should make you happy.

 

[ReelChef]

gas or electric

Well electric is convenient. But if you like to bake gas is better natural gas contains a large amount of water. This means your breads and pastries will have more time to rise before the crust forms resulting in a lighter texture.
Self cleaning or not is another issue . I am used to cleaning my equipment so I don't mind a cleaning them myself.
Personally I like Jenn Air gas ranges with the modular stovetop grills.
Stainless looks nice but fingerprints show up very easily and so do scratches.
The other important feature is a great kitchen is hood vent with at least 400cfm of air removal ability.

 

[pst1can]

Gas Stoves vs Electric

We just moved into the city from an out lying area where when we first moved in we had electric. I hated it...after so many years in the restaurant business I am sold on gas. It heats up quicker...cools quicker and there has been many a power outage and we can still cook...just can't use the convection fan. I find the convection makes most baking and roasting very "even" so you are not spinning trays to change the hotspots. Love our gas range and cook and bake as often as possible because of it. Thanks Pst

 

[cafeandy]

i like to cook with gas on the stove top and bake with electric.

electric ovens have less extreme temperature spikes and gas oven generates a lot of moisture.

that's why we have a gas cooktop and electric ovens in our kitchen at home.

 

[Psiguyy]

I'm with andy on this one. I prefer electric ovens. Dry heat is the way to go. You can always add moisture to an oven, but you can't elminate it from the home gas oven.

I think you also need to look at energy costs. In a lot of places, electricity is cheaper than gas, so if you live in one of those areas, no question. Get the electric oven.

Natural gas is not as cheap as it used to be and the experts are saying natural gas prices are going up to record levels this winter.

 

[bege]

Just this. How many chefs or fry-cooks on TV, do you see using electric? Think about it. When I was learning to cook and bake, many long years ago, don't ask, my mother had electric. You had to be sure to remove the food from the hot burner to a cold one. Responce was slow. I know that electric has improved on that. I have had gas since day one of my marriage. We now live in (northern Florida) hurricane country (power outages) and I can use my burners, but my oven is electronically controlled. My "hold-out " daughter has just now converted to gas. I just found this out yesterday, and she just lives 6/10 of a mile from me. This is a result of power outages. Thanks to IVAN and JEANNE.

 

[choclatechef]

I would go with the gas cooktop and the electric convection oven if I were you. That would be my ideal!

 

[buckytom]

i'm a gas stove kinda guy. much harder to use a wok on electric stovetop, and i just like being able to see the flames to adjust the applied heat to the pan.
my parents had an old chambers stove when i was growing up; the same kind rachel ray uses on "30 minute meals". it was an awesome stove, the burners had an extremely high output. it also had a really neat griddle and elevator like broiler on the left side of the stove top. you'd crank a handle, and the griddle lifted up raising the broiler pan underneath.

 

[Psiguyy]

I find home gas cooktops too anemic. I prefer a good electric burner to a 15,000 btu gas burner. 15,000 btu burners are just not hot enough for me. Add 10,000 btu and I'd be happier. Jump up to 30,000 btu burners and I'd have a smile on my face all the time.

I can boil a pot of water on an electric burner in half the time it takes to boil that same amount of water on a dinky gas burner.

Gas does have one advantage over electric. You can use warped pans on gas burners. Warped pans on electric burners makes life difficult.

In regards to temperature control, there is on problem. It's like a french chef cooking on a hot top. You move the pan off the hot spot. Same with electric. You turn the heat down. If the temperature doesn't drop fast enough, you simply move the pan off the burner.

 

[drwoood]

I definately prefer gas stoves to electric stoves because of the better contol over heat with gas. My experience with stoves in the houses I heve lived in is that they generally dont get hot enough.

I would strongly recommend a gas oven because they are much more efficient. Producing electricity is 30-40% efficient, so the gas or coal that is being burned to produce the electricity is about 2.5-3 times greater than would be required to produce the heat directly with gas. Unless the electricity is from a renewable source the greenhouse gas emissions will be much greater with an electric oven.

 

[Robo410]

I truly like dual fuel...gas top/ electric convection infrared ovens. Home stoves, even Pro style like Viking, Wolf etc, have to restrict the temp to meet code so 17,000 to 15,000 is top btu regardless. But types of pans can really boost cooking efficiency. copper for fast heat up and cool down, iron for long slow and steady.

 

[jaymonaghan1]

I just bought a duel fuel stove. I was temped to go all gas because it was about $200 cheaper. What swung my thinking is that while the burners had manual turn knobs the oven was all electronic so there was no manual valve short of pulling the unit away from the wall. I just don't trust electronics and I could see something going wrong.

Incidently the kitchen aid all gas is self cleaning and has a convection feature .

 

[Guts]

I would go with the gas cooktop and the electric convection oven if I were you. That would be my ideal!

Ditto!

The trend seems to be, get the oven away from the cook top. Put the oven in a out of the way place and use a cook top type of burners. After all who wants to stand in front of a oven and cook while it's on for hours.

 

[comebhappy2]

convection ovens rock! moist cooking and saves electricity

I absolutely LOVE my convection oven. It cooks with hot air and very little electricity. It's the size of a microwave but everything I cook in it comes out moist and tender. Plus because it is hot air rather than direct heat it's difficult to burn anything in it.

I only need a small countertop for my needs but I'm sure you can find a larger model. I really love it. My electric bill dropped enormously after a month of using it as well.

 

[SteveP]

For the oven - electric. Preferably built-in at waist level.

For the stove top - electric (modern ceramic glass flat top). For the following reasons:
a. It's much, much easier to clean (unless you have a maid who does it for you)
b. When running it doesn't produce loads of water vapour and carbon dioxide
c. You can control it just as easily as gas

It's like the change from typewriters to wordprocessors and laser printers. Some people resisted at first, but eventually they saw the truth.

 

[keltin]

I’d rather have gas myself, but then again, you can’t make Cheech and Chong tortillas on a gas stove!