gas vs. electric (rental, house, neighborhood)

[Squidlo]

Originally Posted by Cbink

The thing with induction is that you need perfectly flat pans and any type of wok based cooking is nearly impossible.

I was a huge gas fan. It was cost prohibitive to run a gas line to the kitchen at my home compared to the purchase of a new induction cook top. (1500$ for cooktop, new gas top + gas line = no bueno).

I have a 3 burner gas back up stove in the garage in the event of a major power outage so I am covered there.

Now about cookware.
I have a cast iron wok Amazon.com: Bodum Chambord Enameled 37cm 14-1/2-Inch Cast Iron Wok with Glass Lid, Red: Kitchen & Dining that works great on my induction top. All my cast iron works well. You may need to buy some new pans for induction.

The best part is only the pan gets hot. My whole kitchen doesn't get blasted with all the waste heat from electric or gas cooking. The cook top wont get burned on glop because it doesn't get hot. It is super easy to clean. I was worried about the top scratching, so far zilch.. It still looks new. So yeah I am converted. I love induction.

Does everything I loved gas for.

[Cbink]

Originally Posted by Squidlo

I was a huge gas fan. It was cost prohibitive to run a gas line to the kitchen at my home compared to the purchase of a new induction cook top. (1500$ for cooktop, new gas top + gas line = no bueno).

I have a 3 burner gas back up stove in the garage in the event of a major power outage so I am covered there.

Now about cookware.
I have a cast iron wok Amazon.com: Bodum Chambord Enameled 37cm 14-1/2-Inch Cast Iron Wok with Glass Lid, Red: Kitchen & Dining that works great on my induction top. All my cast iron works well. You may need to buy some new pans for induction.

The best part is only the pan gets hot. My whole kitchen doesn't get blasted with all the waste heat from electric or gas cooking. The cook top wont get burned on glop because it doesn't get hot. It is super easy to clean. I was worried about the top scratching, so far zilch.. It still looks new. So yeah I am converted. I love induction.

Does everything I loved gas for.

I understand what you're saying and it does have advantages for things like only the pan getting hot but I cook a lot of meals either in large skillets or woks and the heat was centralized to only the flat portion of the pan, meaning for a wok, there was very limited hot area to cook with which prevents the wok from it's intended flash cooking method to more of a steaming method. With gas, the heat goes up the sides and the sides also get very hot - I never managed to replicate that with an induction top.

Maybe I'm just biased. I grew up with gas and it's always been my preference. I've owned electric, induction and gas stove tops and I just prefer to use gas. I find it does everything I want with minimal fuss. Maybe I did need more new pans for induction but at this point I'm quite heavily invested in pans and wouldn't want to replace them as I've spent several years getting quality cookware.

I did have issues scratching the induction top, but I'm a pan shaker and probably did most of the damage that way. It wasn't really really bad, but it was definitely noticeable.

[Squidlo]

Originally Posted by Cbink

I understand what you're saying and it does have advantages for things like only the pan getting hot but I cook a lot of meals either in large skillets or woks and the heat was centralized to only the flat portion of the pan, meaning for a wok, there was very limited hot area to cook with which prevents the wok from it's intended flash cooking method to more of a steaming method. With gas, the heat goes up the sides and the sides also get very hot - I never managed to replicate that with an induction top.

Maybe I'm just biased. I grew up with gas and it's always been my preference. I've owned electric, induction and gas stove tops and I just prefer to use gas. I find it does everything I want with minimal fuss. Maybe I did need more new pans for induction but at this point I'm quite heavily invested in pans and wouldn't want to replace them as I've spent several years getting quality cookware.

I did have issues scratching the induction top, but I'm a pan shaker and probably did most of the damage that way. It wasn't really really bad, but it was definitely noticeable.

Totally get it.
I tend to like only a small part of my wok to be blasting hot. I pass things through the area to get them seared and hold them on the sides to keep them warm while I finish the dish. You wont be flipping a cast iron wok around much that is for sure. I understand the investment in cookware. I am replacing my many years old bachelorware set. (The key with induction is to have a bottom with ferrous content iron/steel). I have gotten a few enameled cast iron pieces for basic cooking. I recently picked up a Circulon Symmetry 8 inch skillet that is non stick, metal utensil, dishwasher safe and works on induction. Honestly, I would prefer some lighter, easy to maintain pans if the Circulon stands up to a month or 2 with me.

[NTT]

I love to cook and would love to have a gas cook top. Sigh... I ended up with an electric coil cook top. At least, it's not induction. I don't like induction cook top for its picky cookware reason.

[crone]

Been using Le Creuset all my life so the flat bottom for induction was never an issue.

[piyf]

I've had both and I would like gas more if it were easy to clean. I like to keep my stove top clean and it's a chore. I would buy a flat top electric in a heart beat. Yeah I know, gas is soooooo much better but I won't die if it takes a minute or 2 longer to boil water.

[Bad Haggis]

Originally Posted by shlobb13

hello friends,

do most people in the houston proper area an electric or gas range?

Houston proper covers 600 square miles.
Be aware that a great number of homes built in the 70s and 80s are 100% electric. Some are all electric except for the furnace and water heater and that applies to somewhat newer homes. Sometimes the stove is electric, sometimes gas, depends on what the original owner wanted. If they had the option and chose.electric sometimes the plumbing will be there already, same goes for the clothes dryer. So you can upgrade in this case. Sometimes you'll have to get the plumbing altered.

If you're doing window shopping on HAR it should tell you and if not, the picture of the kitchen will.

Personally I prefer electric induction except for cooking meat. But I am not big on cooking. Gas is cheaper to run but the equipment costs more.

[Squidlo]

Buying a spec built or used home and wanting a gas range as a gotta have is tough. I shopped for months until I gave up and settled for a home (1975) that I was willing to pay for the gas line to the kitchen. My home had gas fireplace & gas heat ......electric cooktop doh!

During my research on cook tops I found out about induction and it just made sense to me. I installed a new induction cook top when I redid the kitchen.

Another great benefit of the all glass top was touch control. Wow! no knobs & very precise temp control. Like I said before, super easy to clean. Its just a sheet of tempered glass. My only fear was my old cast iron skillets damaging it. So far its perfect like the day I installed it.

[Cabot]

Originally Posted by piyf

I've had both and I would like gas more if it were easy to clean. I like to keep my stove top clean and it's a chore. I would buy a flat top electric in a heart beat. Yeah I know, gas is soooooo much better but I won't die if it takes a minute or 2 longer to boil water.

I found with a regular ceramic glass top (as opposed to Induction) it's the lack of precise control that is the problem. It stays hot after it's turned off. Also, if something should boil over it is cooked on pretty quick and you have to use a special cleaner to get it all off completely. I hated the blasted thing, cleaning a gas hob is a breeze compared to that. Just personal preference I guess.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Cabot

I found with a regular ceramic glass top (as opposed to Induction) it's the lack of precise control that is the problem. It stays hot after it's turned off. Also, if something should boil over it is cooked on pretty quick and you have to use a special cleaner to get it all off completely. I hated the blasted thing, cleaning a gas hob is a breeze compared to that. Just personal preference I guess.

I just changed to ceramic glasstop after years of electric coil and the last few with gas.

For cleanup, ceramic wins hands down. I've had no problem with the cleaner and scrubber designed for that--cleans up easily. There are no crevices and such for boilovers, etc. to gunk up.

For actual cooking, gas wins hands down--just cooks faster and better, and for that reason, I miss it. But I don't miss the cleanup!

Another bad thing about ceramic glasstops is that lighter pans slide all over the place, so I've gone back to my Lodge/LC cast iron cookware, and it's been much better. Even some of my heavier Calphalon pans tend to move too much on ceramic.