gas cooker or electric?

Hello,

If you had the choice, would you install a gas cooker or an electric one?

Is it fair to say that electric fan ovens are the best type of oven to have because the fan helps the oven to heat up fastest and most evenly? Or do gas ovens have a big jet that heats up even faster?

For the hob, I've heard people say gas is best. Is this because it is adjustable and changes instantly? I'm thinking with electric if you turned the heat up there would be a slight delay before it got hotter and if you turned it down, there would be residual heat for a while?

Or is it just that gas is more powerful and has larger jets so that you can, for example, use woks that electric hobs simply aren't big enough and powerful enough to heat?

How do running costs compare? Electric is said to be the most expensive way to heat or isn't that significant for cooking which only is on for a few minutes each day?

For some years I lived in a village without mains gas so I had a ceramic hob and electric oven. I am currently renting a house which has a freestanding gas oven. I think it must depend on what make and model you have.

I remember having a gas cooker when I was a child and the grill had a row of flames along the back of the grill that came towards you and they were quite adjustable and from memory, it was ok to use and like an electric grill, heated all of the grill pan.

This cooker has the jet/nozzle/burner thing (what is it called?) down the middle of the grill, from which the flames go to either side. It is very like a camping grill and my experience of these is that they are not very good. This type doesn't seem to heat the whole grill pan, just the central part. IME this type doesn't seem very adjustable; I guess because it is already pretty feeble at full power.

Perhaps the moral of this story is to use an electric grill or if buying a gas grill, get a good look at the layout of the jet in the shop before buying?

Thanks, Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen
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Gas, just look at what the professionals use

Reply to
F Murtz

Electric induction beats everything IMHO. As fast as gas and as powerful (eg stir frying). Easy to clean (unlike gas which is horrible).

Main disadvantages: expensive and electronic (risk of going wrong) and needs ferrous based pans.

Reply to
Tim Watts

True - but Gordon Ramsay has minions to clean them.

Reply to
Tim Watts

For me, gas hob with electric fan oven. I haven't really tried new-fangled halogen/induction (what's next laser or plasma?) hobs that some people swear by.

Reply to
Andy Burns

+1
Reply to
Bob Eager

Gas hob, Electric Oven.

but if ye put ya mind to it, probably anything can be done to a sufficient standard in a combination microwave nowadays.

Reply to
Adrian C

My feeling is that gas/electric combined hobs (2gas rings, 2 electric rings) are best (Scholtes make one I believe, together with electric ovens. YMMV.

Reply to
Capitol

+1

Reply to
Richard

Of all the electric hob variations induction is streets ahead of any of them and is almost as controllable as gas. Induction is discrete steps, albeit 10 or so not linear like gas. The big problem with other electric hobs is the thermal mass, the whole system is just too laggy. Whack it up to get hot in a sensible amount of time and you overshoot, turn it down and the cooking temp takes minutes to drop back. Then on low settings the primitive BANG BANG control means that the cooking temperature goes from not cooking to burning, particularly if you have a thick sticky sauce.

Halogen are reasonably responsive but still laggy compared to induction or gas. Trouble is if you don't have pans that cover the element you end up cooking staring into a bright red light.

Induction is still BANG BANG but on much quicker duty cycle so the pan temperature is far more even and there is very little overshoot. Induction also offers a "pan temperature" control option along with "power".

What I don't like about induction is the stupid touch controls that may or may not "see" your touch. What's wrong with a real knob FFS!

Expensive yes but if you don't have gas worth it IMHO. No mains gas here so was seriously thinking of propane tanks outside until I bought a cheap single ring induction hot plate from Lidl to "play with" ...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

+1

Induction hobs can be OK for most things, but none match the power of a large gas burner (anywhere near), can't be used with all pans, unsuitable for a wok, fish kettle, etc. Also, don't expect anywhere near the life of a gas hob. If those limitations don't worry you, then may worth investigating.

Some friends with a tiny flat with a 2-ring gas hob, who liked to cook and entertain, bought a stand-alone table-top induction hob, which complimented the has hob very well, and could be put away when not in use. You could look for a split induction/gas hob if that combination appeals.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Probably an extension of the "easy to clean" idea - but I do wonder why no one offers a choice...

Me too - I'm cooking entirely on a single plug in induction ring (untill we fit out kitchen in October) and that's what sold me - never really thought about it before...

Still going to get a free standing cooker version though - I'm not a fan of built in anything...

Reply to
Tim Watts

That's what we have now - plus a single induction hob. I've used all gas and all electric, and for me, the gas hob/electric oven+grill combo works best. If I had to go all-electric, I'd definitely consider induction.

Reply to
S Viemeister

Similarly, an Andrew James halogen oven gives you a small, storable fan oven. Havn't tried baking or roasting in it, but cooking for two it's certainly faster (therefore cheaper) than a full sized fan oven.

Reply to
newshound

For a small oven you can use a convection microwave.

Cooks well and faster than a normal oven.

Reply to
dennis

I'd choose microwave ;-)

I prefer oven cooking with electric but gas hobs, but I didn;t have the sp ace or the money to get one of thoese duel fuel so went for electric.

I can set a start delay and stop in x mins with an electric oven (not seen that option on gas), but gas honbs seem far for controlable, but you can fa ke electric control by removing the pan from the hob, which is s bit more h assle than just turning the gas down.

Note that this applies to the cheaper standard elctric cookers not inductio n or halogen

Reply to
whisky-dave

+1

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

When we were thinking of replacing our old all electric cooker (which had those solid hot plates) we bought one of those cheap induction plate things to try. It worked but wasn't a great success. Fortunately we didn't let that deter us and went on to get a proper all electric cooker with induction hob (90cm Stoves). The cooker induction rings are far superior to the cheap one. They are faster and much more controllable. It does have touch controls but we find no difficulty with them.

We have had the cooker now for 18 months and we are still delighted with it. My wife has used gas in the past and had to convert to electric some 30 years ago but now wouldn't go back.

It's very clean cooking. (We don't have cooker ventilation or filtration.)

We did have to replace some pans but bought a very cheap set of induction suitable ones as a temporary measure. They are working well and are no longer considered temporary.

Edgar

Reply to
Edgar

Gas hob, run off propane cylinders if there's no mains. Electric oven.

Reply to
Clive George

It will depend upon your style of cooking. I rarely cook anything on the hob and, if I do, it is unlikely to be anything more complicated than a pan of boiling water for pasta or rice. However, I have a main fan oven, a secondary oven / grill plus a combination microwave and all three can be in use for a meal. That makes electric the better choice for me. If you mainly cook on the hob, gas is probably what you want.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
Nightjar

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