It's been a long-standing legend that "real" cooks use gas-powered stoves. But before you go empty your appliance budget on a new one, you might want to consider if an electric stove better suits your needs. The truth is, when compared on seven different categories, the electric stove wins over gas four times. Click through to discover when it's better to have an electric stove and decide—finally!—what's right for your kitchen.
Peter Aitken put together a list of to dispel several common kitchen myths, including the idea that gas stoves are "better" than electric ones.
The truth is that gas and electric stoves each have their own selling points, and it's up to you to decide which best suits your needs. Here's a handy list to decide what works:
Response Speed
Gas stoves respond immediately when you turn the heat up or down. Electric Stoves are much slower, but can get a boost when you move your pan off the heating element. Even still, gas beats it every time.
Winner: Gas
Simmering
High-end gas stoves have improved in their simmering skills. But electric stoves give you slow, even and worry-free simmering.
Winner: Electric
Escaping Heat
Gas burners produce hot air that flows up and around your pan. That means the room (and your pan's handles) can get very hot when cooking with gas. If you use a pan on an electric stove that completely covers the heating element, almost all of the heat will go into your meal.
Winner: Electric
Boiling Speed
In comparison tests, gas stoves are slower than electric stoves to boil a large pot of water. It might have something to do with all of that heat that escapes from gas cookers.
Winner: Electric
Choice of Pans
Electric stoves are only heat efficient if you're using pans with reasonably flat bottoms (This is especially true for flat-top stove models). Gas stoves, however, maintain their heat transfer no matter how your pan is shaped.
Winner: Gas
Use with a Wok
Woks are the quintessential "not flat" plan. So it's no surprise that woks don't work so well on an electric stove top. Woks are designed for cooking over an open flame. Plus, they're sure to wobble around on an electric stove. Sure, you can cook your stir-fry in a flat-bottomed pan, but a round bottomed wok over a gas burner would be best. Will this decide which stove you should buy? Only if you're a "Stir-Fry Friday" kind of family.
Winner: Gas
Cleaning
With a gas stove, you'll need to worry about food stuff getting into your burners. Coil electric burners are easier (but not easy) to clean. But if ease-of-cleaning is a deal-maker for you, you can't beat a flat-top electric stove.
Winner: Electric
(Image: Flickr user stevendepolo under license from Creative Commons.)
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Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
how about commentary on energy efficiency?
second.
@tarynevelyn unfortunately, no so. As the blog post stated, escaping heat is greater with gas. Energy is energy, whether it's gas or electric so electric is more efficient because more of the heat generated actually makes it to the pan.
I've been a fan of gas for quite a while, though I have certainly noticed its weaknesses. However, after watching the documentary Gasland, I may choose electric when/if I next get to choose. It's a striking look at where our natural gas comes from and what we're doing to our environment to get it. I encourage everyone to watch it.
And where do induction stoves fit in? Both in energy and how well they cook. I would imagine there are quite a few people who have given some thought to switching from the standard electric to induction cooktop.
I like gas just because it seems to heat up more quickly. They're a pain in the ass to clean, though.
Gas.
A couple of the points are slightly biased.
Simmering, it is a small learning curve.
Escaping heat, small problem, good thing in the winter.
Wok, I cook with a Wok but again like Simmering I don't see this as a make or break argument
Also Gas stoves are prettier.
i have used both and honestly not a fan of gas. could be the crappy stove we had but i could not get it to keep anything on a low heat. yes it would heat up nice and fast, but i couldn't get a low constant heat.
also not a fan of coming back to the apartment, realize the pilot light went out and smelling a bit too much gas in your kitchen.
Also is that factored into the energy efficient part? since gas has a pilot light, and it is always lit, it is always burning fuel. yes a small amount, but it seems like that would add up.
for me, ease of use on electric wins
I didn't even know there was a choice. I was always under the impression that if you have gas hookups, you get a gas range. If not, you get electric.
@charmac, I think the issue is somewhat more complicated. While more heat may escape the pot on a gas stove, the heating element uses the cooking fuel directly rather than through a series of transformations. In order for an electric element to heat your pot, a fuel (which might be natural gas) must be converted to heat, which is converted to mechanical energy, which is converted to electrical energy, which is transferred through the grid to your stove, where it is then converted back to heat. All of these transformations always have losses in energy (except converting electricity to heat). For example, according to the below website, the efficiency of a natural gas power plant is usually about 40%, meaning that only 40% of the natural gas energy is converted into electricity.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electric-Power-Utilities-2405/2008/12/Natural-gas-power-plant.htm
@ donkey, True, but if we're going to go that far back, we should take a look at natural gas extraction as well which is a very extensive proposition requiring hundreds of thousands of wells all across the US. I'm aware of the inefficiencies of the grid and the fact that these inefficiencies vary greatly depending on where you are. Furthermore, a great deal depends how that electricity is generated. Natural gas plants are among the worst, but account for a very small percentage of US electrical generation. I have no figures on the amount of energy (electrical or otherwise) required to produce a given BTU of heat via natural gas extraction, but I very much doubt it's less than that of electrical production.
Regardless, in light of the lack of quantifiable information for both types of heat generation, I think looking at simply the range top makes sense. And I think my point still stands.
"I have no figures on the amount of energy (electrical or otherwise) required to produce a given BTU of heat via natural gas extraction, but I very much doubt it's less than that of electrical production."
Yeah, I'm pretty good at thermodynamics, and I want to see your work on that.
You may proceed from the assumption that electric is more efficient than burning natural gas, but absent some real numbers I'm extremely skeptical.
I have cooked on both. Many people still remember the horrible coil electric cook-tops when they think "electric." Design and efficiency have improved greatly! I had a glass-top electric cook-top (it is just a shiny black square when not in use). It was such a snap to clean! Also, you can regulate the temperature more easily than with a gas. I'm back to gas because I had no choice (In Italy only stand-alone units come with a 36" gas forced-air oven).
For the oven, it's no contest. I was so fed-up with waiting 30 minutes to pre-heat the oven! So my ideal cooking set-up would be: cooktop with one induction and several electric burners and oven with forced-air gas.
Here is my first google result on efficiency.... for goodness sake, look it up!
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/efficient-cooking
Is everyone insane? Have a gas stove after years without one, and am finally cooking again. If electric stoves are so great, why does every professional use gas. Note: Electric oven is superior, but gas burners offer control that electric cannot.
I cook on the induction range that came with my house and I hate it. I've never liked these things.
I also cook on a professional gas range at my lodge every week and it's awesome.
ProTip: Turn the heat off if you're making rice. Leaving it on low will scorch it. Just let it sit. Trust me, it'll come out fine.