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I grew up learning to cook on a gas stove, and spent the first 20 years of my adult life cooking with gas.
I've been living in all-electric homes and using an electric stove for the past 20 years, and I will never go back to gas! I don't have a fear of gas, but why would I want to deal with the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, having to buy/test carbon monoxide detectors, and the disgusting gas smell when you turn on a burner, if I can get the same results with electric?
I have no trouble controlling the temperature on the range. Everything cooks evenly. I've had a smooth top range for the past 12 years and I absolutely love it. So much easier to clean, and I can put other appliances on the stove top when it's not in use - crock pot and rice steamer, for example - and have them under the vent hood.
If the power goes out, we can use our outdoor grill.
OP, I'd recommend a NuWave oven over a toaster oven. I've had one for over 6 years and it's fantastic.
I miss my smooth top range so much. I'm a messy cook and the electric burners or the plates underneath would get burnt on stains so the smooth range was such an easy clean up, and never worried about a fire.
I have no idea what will happen when I cook with fire. Maybe this will teach me to be less of a messy cook with the concern of starting a fire.
I've always had electric stoves, (except when I was a kid but I didn't cook then) but now unfortunately we have natural gas. I'm intimidated by gas stoves. The gas guy told me cooks prefer gas over electric because it's easier to control, but that's not what I worry about. I worry about explosions or leaks that could kill us. So i'm going to try and find a way around this. My husband will grill and I will use the slow cooker. I may even get another George Foreman grill and toaster oven (although I worry that will catch on fire as well). My only problem is, I like to make casseroles on the weekends, and I also love to bake. I think I will be very limited if I try to avoid using this thing. I might break down and use this thing, but until then I will find a way around it.
Do any of you cook on gas stoves/ovens? Have you had any accidents? What's good/bad about gas ovens? Do toaster ovens do just as well with baking and casseroles?
Thanks in advance.
I posted something similar when I first moved in to my house that had a gas stove. I was terrified of it. LOL Especially if it didn't catch right away and I would turn it off as I was certain it was going to explode.
Now I am like whatever with it and LOVE it so much. I can't believe I even thought that electric stoves were better.
I can tell you that the threat of leaks are minimal as it stinks so bad. You will catch it right away, if not get a gas detector/monitor. I use a spaghetti noodle (just light up a dry uncooked noodle) to light up a burner if it gets stuck. (I have a little used burner where the lighting mechanism is faulty) and it's fine.
The oven does tend to burn a bit from the bottom but I use a large pizza stone to regulate the heat from the bottom. Works like a charm.
Just use it, honestly I was very much like you in the beginning and now I love it. Biggest drawback I see though is that it heats up the kitchen. Great to use in the Winter for this reason. I don't use the oven at all in the Summer.
I miss my smooth top range so much. I'm a messy cook and the electric burners or the plates underneath would get burnt on stains so the smooth range was such an easy clean up, and never worried about a fire.
I have no idea what will happen when I cook with fire. Maybe this will teach me to be less of a messy cook with the concern of starting a fire.
Tips on keeping it clean:
I foil the metal jackets around the burner. Remove foil and add new foil whenever it gets dirty. I had to razor the smooth top to get it clean more frequently. The gas foil ones? I change them out about once every 10 days. So for me it's easier/cleaner with gas stoves.
If there are food crusted on your metal jacket thingie, just remove, place in sink. Sprinkle baking soda liberally all over it, coating it really well. Then mist or sprinkle vinegar (I keep straight vinegar in a spray bottle) all over it. IT will foam like mad and then settle down. let it sit for a few minutes and use a brillo pad, it will come right off. The foil it! Use the heavy duty foil too.
I would never cook using electric. I always grew up with gas and even in my own home now it's gas. In fact I never worried about gas explosions. I do have an electric dryer as opposed to gas only because it was easier to hook up. Don't worry yourself you will be fine. No accidents have happened to anyone I know, myself included.
When we were 'house hunting' a few months ago we found the perfect house, my husband and I both loved it -but it had an electric range and it would have been impossible to run gas to the kitchen. I wouldn't buy it because of that even though everything else in the house was just what we were looking for. I'm an avid home cook and I absolutely love having a gas range - I think almost anyone who cooks on them for awhile would not want to go back to an electric range.
Location: Los Angeles>Little Rock>Houston>Little Rock
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We will soon be moving into a new house that has an electric stove. As soon as possible I will be replacing it with a dual fuel stove. Gas cooktop and electric oven.
You are lucky indeed to have gas! We changed out the brand new electric cooktop in our house for gas immediately after moving in. We like gas so much better. Yes, it is a bit messy compared to a flat surface electric cooktop, but we don't mind. I do a deep cleaning of it every few months, (scrubbing the cast iron grilles and burners) and we surface clean it every week or two.
If you decide you do want to change at some point, you can check to see if you have electric range/oven connections and then it is a simple change. Either look on the wall behind it for a large 220V plug, or look in the breaker box for a double pole breaker, hopefully marked "stove" or "oven". Good luck with it and I hope you end up enjoying it.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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As others have said, gas is so much better. Really. I had never used one until I bought my first house in Connecticut, which had gas. I WAS TERRIFIED! But the cooking was fabulous -- it was even and controllable. I never thought I'd like using gas but, after a few days, I loved it. When I bought my second house in Connecticut, I was so disappointed to see that it had an electric stove, with no possibility of converting to gas.
As the old commercial said (not about gas stoves, but it *does* apply): Try it! You'll like it.
personally i find it easier to clean a gas range
if a pot overflows and burns something onto a glass electric cooktop there is a good chance you'll never get it out without scratching the glass
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I think I will be very limited if I try to avoid using this thing. I might break down and use this thing, but until then I will find a way around it. 
