G vs E

[stoutfellow]

Gas vs. Electricity, that is.

I understand that, for a stovetop, electricity has advantages over gas. There are the obvious safety issues (though, of course, electricity isn't completely safe either); also, at least at present, gas is considerably more expensive than electricity.

Still, I occasionally wish for a gas range. The big advantage of gas over electricity, here, is fineness of control. With an electric burner, you do not control the temperature directly; you control the rate of energy flow into the burner, which (over time) affects its temperature, which (over time) affects the temperature of the thing being cooked. With a gas burner, your control over the temperature is more direct, and more immediately visible. I miss that kind of control.

But there's another issue. If you have a gas stove, and you decide to make scrambled eggs and cheese for lunch, and you put the skillet on the front burner, and you put a lump of butter into the skillet, and you turn on the back burner...

you will not spend five minutes waiting for the butter to melt before realizing your mistake.

Ratznfratzl stove.

Yes, I know it was my fault.
Yes, I know I'm grumbling a lot lately.
I'll get over it eventually.

Comments

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

Having a child around makes the gas nice, too. No heating elements that need to cool down (over time) before being safe to touch. Keeps one from having to leave the vigilance factor upwards of "fanatical." The open flame is easier to spot as "dangerous," as well.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Another gas plus is that while the rest of the electric stove population have rumbling stomachs during a power outage, the gas stove people are happily concocting their normal meals.

Mine is electric, too...

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

Electric, here. And I feel your pain re: skillet on one burner, power to a different one. All too frequent in my kitchen. :-(

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

Been there. Done that. :<} . Still there in fact :<{.

[kd5mdk.livejournal.com]

I had been under the impression gas was cheaper. Hmm. Must pay more attention to utility breakdowns. Then again, I have a friend who has a gas stove and gas water heating, etc and the service to his apartment complex is out. It may get fixed within two weeks or so.

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Although I too, prefer gas to electric, what I really yearn for is one of those entirely flat cooking surfaces, which can, for all I care, be heated by squirrels waving tiny-little candelabra about. But then, I've a Thing about cleaning :-)

On the plus side of electric, if you accidently turn the gas on without engaging the little clicky-lighter-thinggummy (because it is an old stove) and then some time later turn on the burner next to it, you don't remove your eyebrows and most of your hair in the subsequent fireball.

Just sayin', that's all.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

The highrise is electric, the cottage gas. After cooking all summer with gas, it was slower to start cooking with electric. But! When I turn on the electric burner to a specific number, I get that number. I burn bacon & overcook eggs more with gas. You have to listen to the food heat up.