# Cooking with Gas: Your Humble Opinion... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963 "2006-02-24T19:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/1 "2006-02-24T19:48:13Z")
This is an opinion poll of sorts which is why it is here. For those dopers who have experience cooking on a natural gas range and on an electrical range, which do you prefer? Mrs. Prefect and I are in the market for a new stove since our current 10 year-old range’s Ceran top shattered and will cost us %66 of a new stove to replace. I have been intrigued with natural gas ranges, but have no experience with them. I have heard they are the cat’s ass for cooking once you get the hang of it. As a collorary, is there anything to look out for? Must have features, must not have features? thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/2 "2006-02-24T19:49:50Z")
Cat’s ass. Only way to go. The only feature I can think of is that it should be self-lighting. You shouldn’t need a match. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/3 "2006-02-24T19:51:26Z")
Well, my experience with electric ranges is they’re much slower to adjust to the desired temperature than gas. Plus, there are a lot of fun things one can do with an open flame. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/4 "2006-02-24T19:51:49Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Cat’s ass. Only way to go. > > The only feature I can think of is that it should be self-lighting. You shouldn’t need a match. Electric ignition seems to be standard for the models we are looking at. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/5 "2006-02-24T19:57:25Z")
Gas is way better IMO. Also, I’m not sure there is any such thing anymore as a gas stove you have to light yourself. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/6 "2006-02-24T19:59:09Z")
Gas is the best. Period. Only good thing with electric would be one of the sealed-glass surfaces, since that’s the easiest thing in the world to clean. But other than that ease of cleaning … gas. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/7 "2006-02-24T20:00:54Z")
Absolutely gas. Every gas stove I’ve had we ended up lighting the burners with matches sooner or later - something always mucks the self-ignition. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one with a pilot light for the oven - evidently they don’t make them anymore. They’re all electric ignition with cutouts to prevent gas from flowing if the power is off. ☹ Definitely look for a sealed top - makes cleanup much, MUCH easier. I also recommend the ones that have touching grates so that you can slide pans from one burner to another - very handy if you’re playing musical pots while you’re cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/8 "2006-02-24T20:02:31Z")
While I love gas now, it was hard for me to learn it after spending my formative years growing up with electric. There WAS a learning curve for me. Now, though, I wouldn’t go back to electric burners, but I do prefer electric in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/9 "2006-02-24T20:03:02Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Gas is the best. Period. Only good thing with electric would be one of the sealed-glass surfaces, since that’s the easiest thing in the world to clean. But other than that ease of cleaning … gas. Even those sealed glass units have their cleaning issues. And that whole shattering business too ☹ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/10 "2006-02-24T20:03:32Z")
Gas. I can’t tell what the hell I’m doing on an electric stove. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/11 "2006-02-24T20:05:32Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > Absolutely gas. > > Every gas stove I’ve had we ended up lighting the burners with matches sooner or later - something always mucks the self-ignition. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one with a pilot light for the oven - evidently they don’t make them anymore. They’re all electric ignition with cutouts to prevent gas from flowing if the power is off. ☹ > > Definitely look for a sealed top - makes cleanup much, MUCH easier. I also recommend the ones that have touching grates so that you can slide pans from one burner to another - very handy if you’re playing musical pots while you’re cooking. Really? My family had a gas stove for at least ten years, and it always performed beautifully. We never had to light it with a match or even get it repaired. Then we moved, and are now stuck with a crap-ass electric, which doesn’t work very well and is harder to clean. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/12 "2006-02-24T20:06:18Z")
Gas, absolutely. Much easier to clean, cheaper in use, responds much faster. I moved into an apartment with state of the art induction-cooking system. While I’m used to it now, I still miss my gas-stove. Don’t go for a fancy stove. Oldfashioned is best, all modern extras are just gilding the lily. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/13 "2006-02-24T20:06:41Z")
A good gas stove is far superior to an electric range. My parents were actually prety good with letting me use our stove while I was growing up (one of my favorite things was boxed mac adn cheese, and they realized it was a lot easier to just teach me how to use the dam stove myself.) It was an electric, but then when I was about 12 or so we added an addition to our house, put the klitchen in there and got all new appliances, including a fancy gas stove. Good GOD was that so much better. You can actually go right from a boil to a simmer. My current apartment has an electric range and I realzied after having been spoiled with gas for the last ten years how horrible they truly are. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/14 "2006-02-24T20:11:57Z")
Has anyone recommended gas yet? Ok, then I will. Gas. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/15 "2006-02-24T20:14:22Z")
With gas prices like they are now, don’t you “gas gas gas” people spend more money? Or does it not really matter? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/16 "2006-02-24T20:15:05Z")
Gas. And frankly, it’s not even close. I just moved into an apartment with electric for the first time and I pretty much hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/17 "2006-02-24T20:16:10Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > With gas prices like they are now, don’t you “gas gas gas” people spend more money? Or does it not really matter? It doesn’t matter. A gas stove doesn’t use THAT much gas. And its clear superiority makes it worth it. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/18 "2006-02-24T20:16:35Z")
So, gas it is then 🙂 Let’s get specific then. [This is in our price range](http://www.frigidairecanada.ca/english/products/ranges/Free%20Standing%20Gas/CFGF366DS) well, not really, but we gotta have a stove. We installed a dishwasher after Christmas which necessitated about $1200 in kitchen maintenance. Which means we can’t justify too much more than a grand, before installation. We can get this stove for $900. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/19 "2006-02-24T20:17:03Z")
Gas. And, it’s not even close. I’d rather cook with crappy pans, crappy knives, and crappy utensils while wearing a hair-apron rather than cook on electric. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963/20 "2006-02-24T20:19:14Z")
My mom likes electric better, because you can turn off power to the burner, and it will stay warm for a bit while you set the table. I think this is a dubious advantage. GAAAAAAASSS!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-with-gas-your-humble-opinion/345963.md?page=2)