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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    New Jersey
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    Gas or Electric Ovens

    We are replacing our stove top with a range, and not sure if we should get gas or electric. (Electric is 30% more. than the gas option).

    We currently have an electric wall oven currently, and have issues with baking cakes. Cookies, turkeys, lasagnes, enchiladas are all fine.

    Anyway, reco's from the Creek appreciated: gas or electric?

  2. #2
    For a stove top, I prefer gas. I've used both and gas is just quicker to heat up and to make adjustments. For an oven, I don't have any preference. I've used both gas and electric and both seem to work about the same (for what I do). I'm not a cake maker, however.

    Mike

    [I don't have any real experience but maybe someone can comment on electric induction stove tops. Those might rival gas for speed.]
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 11-21-2019 at 2:23 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
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    Western PA
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    This is something i am very interested in, but have no practical comparison. I just did a small reno on the kitchen putting in an externally exhausted hood, slide in range, and marble backsplash. I really wanted a thermador dual fuel, but ultimately didnt want to shell out $5k, and frankly, the electric oven was a bit of a concern. Bringing it back to woodworking for a second, i have a 100amp service. AC+cyclone+5hp tool+oven running at the same time is probably enough to trip my main breaker. Woodworking and my pocketbook won out and i ended up with a kitchen aid 900 series slide in. I bought it scratch and dent for $1000, which was a song for a $3500+ new range. It cooks pretty well. The burners are in the 18-20k BTU range, which are good for a home range.

    After all my tossing and turning and research, it looks like gas ovens are better for roasting and electric ovens are better for baking. An electric oven will be very very consistent. If you set the thermostat to 350°, it is going to be 350° throughout. A gas oven might be 365° in the bottom front and 345° in the top left corner. Convection ovens equalize this pretty well, so it is a moot point now, i think. Some experts might disagree. The heat sources do vary a bit in that electric is a dry heat--once again, better for cookies and bread--where a gas heat source tends to be moister. I cant tell you the last time i baked something, and i ended up going with gas. It does make you wonder why every high end range is duel fuel with an electric oven. Maybe they are slightly better, but i dont know if it is appreciable. I keep hearing induction cooktops are worth a look, but traditional electric burners are trash. I dont think anyone will stand up and argue which is better, gas or electric burners. I prefer gas broilers too.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2009
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    Not sure why you have an issue with baking cakes. Fuel type should make no difference, heat is heat. What problem are you having with baking cakes?
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    Lewiston, Idaho
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    Prashun,

    When we remodeled our kitchen in 2015, we replaced an electric range with a gas range with two built-in gas ovens (both are full temperature range gas ovens, one is not a warmer oven) and an electric wall oven. Thus wife has 3 ovens and on occasions has used all 3 simultaneously. Previously we had an electric range. My wife and I both like the gas range better for the same reason Mike stated, changes in temperature adjustments are instantaneous with a gas range. My wife does most of the baking and has spent the last 3 days doing her Christmas cookie baking. Both gas and electric ovens perform equally well. Locally, the cost of operating the gas range and oven is more economical and recommended by our local utility company.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  6. #6
    We have a dual-fuel, and I think I prefer it over gas ovens I've used (but for no objective or quantifiable reason). As Patrick said, dual fuel seems to be the trend in high-end units.

    If I were buying new, though, I'd go with an induction stove and electric oven.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Las Cruces, NM
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    gas or electric?
    If you are doing this in an older house, do you have adequate electric service for another electric appliance? For example, 100 amp service may be inadequate to support a combination of central AC, electric stove, electric water heater, and electric dryer

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Aurora, IL
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    93
    Gas if you have the option, it has better feel, and potentially more applied power. I have had several gas as well as electric coil and radiant stove tops and prefer gas.

    Electric radiant or restive is very slow to respond as the heat transfer mechanism is rather inefficient. Induction may make up for these inadequacies, but at the cost of a more limited selection of cookware available to work with it.

    Probably negligible on the oven side of things as time constants are large. Gas may or may not heat slightly faster.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Kansas City
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    Grew up with gas, now electric. Gas cooks more evenly and gas cook tops are preferred because they are infinitely adjustable by eye, and they work even if the power is out. Note that the new gas ovens/cooktops require electricity as well, to run the timer and ignition. If not already piped for gas to the oven, it can be expensive to run the pipes.

    Another detail is that pots and pans for electric should be flat-bottomed (for full contact) whereas for gas they are a bit convex so as to sit on the grate steadily.

  10. #10
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    Oct 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    Grew up with gas, now electric. Gas cooks more evenly and gas cook tops are preferred because they are infinitely adjustable by eye, and they work even if the power is out. Note that the new gas ovens/cooktops require electricity as well, to run the timer and ignition. If not already piped for gas to the oven, it can be expensive to run the pipes.
    I have a pretty new gas cook top with electric ignition and the burners will still emit gas even with no power. They would have to be lit with a match or a lighter. The oven is electric so no oven if the power goes out.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Just to qualify, I'm the primary cook in the house and I take my cooking seriously. Range top....no question gas is da best, even with how good induction tops are these days. I'd opt for induction if I was forced to, but much prefer to cook on gas...and I have a lot of BTUs available on our Thermador range.

    Now for an oven, electric is generally considered preferable because in the kind of environment that an oven creates, heating can be more even than with gas. My ovens are gas and they work just great, but they do not have the consistency that "really serious" baking might require, for example. I wanted to opt for dual fuel, but the cost differential was way more than I could afford at the time, so I stuck with all gas. Since you have the option for wall ovens, electric is the way to go for them. A close friend recently re-did his kitchen (the one I did the massive VF D-fir kitchen "continent" top for) and that's how they went. Gas for the range top and electric for the wall ovens. And there are some great choices for features in come of the new wall ovens these days from what I understand.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
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    Mar 2003
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    San Francisco, CA
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    When I last looked at this, all electric ovens had the self-clean cycle, and most gas ovens did not.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Pueblo, CO
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    Be glad you're on the right coast and not the left coast. Just saw an article about some CA municipalities no longer allowing gas for cooking.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
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    Waterford, PA
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    I have an induction cooktop and would never willing go with electric or gas again. The induction (mine's a Wolf) is as responsive/fast as gas without the indoor pollution. I actually can boil water for making tea faster than the microwave! With the ultra tight homes being built today, that is something to consider. My wall ovens are electric and I'm happy with them.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    When I last looked at this, all electric ovens had the self-clean cycle, and most gas ovens did not.
    Jamie, of our two gas ovens, at least one is self cleaning. The other one, I don't think I have ever noticed but it is the lower one which is seldom used. The electric wall oven is self cleaning.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

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