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There's a reason for the expression "now you're cooking with gas."
Yes it began when the alternative was wood or coal. Have you ever cooked on a coal stove? There isn't such a thing as turning the oven up or down a few degrees. Cooking with coal or wood is a real art!
I've got propane cooking, fireplace, and hot water now, but I'm looking at a house tomorrow that has natural gas cooking and hot water. I'm so excited! The great thing about having natural gas available is that if I buy the house and ever decide to add a whole house generator to it like I did to my current house, I won't have to worry about running out of fuel like I do with the current propane setup. With natural gas available there's an unlimited fuel supply, which is fantastic.
Ask the folks who used natural gas during a winter with a region wide long cold spell. Natural gas was in short supply after a week or so. They could not pump it into the region with enough pressure to keep everyone supplied. People found out the priority for gas supplies was Public service buildings, power plants (Many use NG for their surge power generators) and certain Industrial customers (some processes once interrupted can take weeks or months to restart)
Also there are some emergencies where a natural gas fueled generator will be great. But anything that washes out roads, etc can also take out gas lines. If it can take out underground electrical lines the gas lines are just as vulnerable.
My family had a gas stove/oven, so that's what I cooked on for my first 26 years. Then got married, and we had electric for the next ~20 years. When that stove died, we went back to gas. I definitely prefer the gas range--it's so easy to raise and lower the flame, you can see just where it's at, it shuts off immediately--and am bemused by all the nervous Nellies who won't set foot into a house with a gas line.
That said, one thing that the electric stove cooked better than the gas stove is rice. By the way, my experience with an electric rice cooker was also underwhelming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person
There are probably more house fires caused by electrical malfunctions than houses exploding due to faulty gas lines/appliances.
I hear regularly of house fires caused by faulty wiring. Never heard of a gas explosion in a house in my area, as far as I can recall.
We've had propane for over 20 years now, natural gas before that. We are on a "keep full" plan where the propane truck comes by periodically (monthly in winter, less often in summer) and makes sure we don't run out. There is nothing about it that is "a pain" when you're talking about it for a normal gas range (most of which come with adapters to be set up for either natural gas or propane). What ARE you talking about?
As a former personal chef, and cooking for my own family for 30 years before that, if I couldn't have a gas stove, that would be a deal breaker for me in a home purchase.
Yup, we recently moved out of a rental house with electric range. Previously our own home had a gas (propane) range/oven, and the house we just got built does, also.
I knew I disliked electrics based on having used the old-fashoned coil burners before, but I did not realize that the rental’s on-and-off glasstop range was far worse. It was impossible to cook rice well on it (I do fine with gas burners and an ordinary cookpot, nothing fancy). Even pasta required a ridiculous amount of fussing and experimenting. First time I used our new propane range...AH, so easy to cook things right. Fried eggs are a breeze, unlike the glasstopped monster.
I have never found gas ranges higher maintenance than electrics. More cleaning up, maybe, because I actually like to cook with the gas range!
The propane companies have reliably topped up our tanks, so keeping the fuel going is easy also. We had the choice of either buying our own tank or leasing one. I wanted to buy so I could paint it but my DH preferred leasing because this company offers a good rate to seniors,
I am afraid of gas stoves and I keep seeing on the news where a house just explodes because of a ruptured gas line or issue with a propane tank. I'll continue using my electric range.
Gasoline and 'Gas' (LPG) are two completely different fuels.Gasoline is a liquid with some vapors that have to be controlled. Gas is a vapor under normal pressure and stored in a pressurized container to hold a sufficent amount to be useful. Being under pressure makes it very unforgiving when the container has leaks or is mishandled.
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