Gas Or Electric?

[leehljp]

The stove top is actually ceramic, not glass. I suppose it is possible to scratch it, but it would take something fairly hard to scratch it. Cast iron won't scratch it, but if you got a little pebble, piece of a broken ceramic cup, or something like that between the pan and the top, I suppose it might scratch it.

Keep in mind the recommended cleaning method for cooktops is to scrape them with a razor blade or paint scraper.

Yes, it is, but to some old timers ceramic and glass are so close together that it is like calling a refrigerator - an ice box, or calling a theater - a picture show!

Scratch ceramic tops? Yes, yes and yes - with the razor blade scrapers and used improperly! Not by me, but someone else in our household! :roll eyes:

By the way, anyone here (specifically male) ever tried to tell a female (related by marriage) who took 2 years of "Home Ec" in high school, . . . how to "properly" use kitchen appliances and tools/utensils/knives? Did you give up?

[woodturner]

Scratch ceramic tops? Yes, yes and yes - with the razor blade scrapers and used improperly! Not by me, but someone else in our household!

Interesting. I wonder if older tops were glass rather than ceramic? Our GE is about three years old and has a ceramic cook top. I haven't intentionally tried to scratch it, but have used cast irons pans on it as well as razor blades and paint scrapers to clean it without causing any scratches. The manual cautions against using carbide scrapers on it, but normal metal pans, including both steel and cast iron, and scrapers are not hard enough to scratch it.

Found an interesting link from Kennametal showing that ceramic has four to eight times the sliding abrasion resistance of metal. That's probably why metal pots and scrapers don't scratch ceramic cook tops.

Ceramic is four to eight times more resistant to scratching

[cabinetman]

By the way, anyone here (specifically male) ever tried to tell a female (related by marriage) who took 2 years of "Home Ec" in high school, . . . how to "properly" use kitchen appliances and tools/utensils/knives?

It depends on what she has in her hand.

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[cabinetman]

The manual cautions against using carbide scrapers on it, but normal metal pans and scrapers are not hard enough to scratch it.

You're entitled to your own opinion, but I disagree. Normal metal pans (?) especially cast iron can scratch ceramic.

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[tommyt654]

"By the way, anyone here (specifically male) ever tried to tell a female (related by marriage) who took 2 years of "Home Ec" in high school, . . . how to "properly" use kitchen appliances and tools/utensils/knives?"

No ,but I did throw away all the metal utensils in the kitchen drawer after I bought a new set of pots and pans

[billwmeyer]

I quickly banned cast iron skillets when I got married. My skull is not that thick! We still don't have them and we have been married 40 years. She still has the rolling pin though.

Bill

[Uncle Hook]

My wife and I are going to renovating our kitchen and we are leaning towards an induction cook top. I would like to switch to gas but she wants to stay with electric as she thinks it is less messy and cleaner than a gas stove top. We currently have a flattop ceramic top stove that we clean with an abrasive product called Creamabrite.

We are in our early 60's and believe an induction cooktop will be safer as we age. The stove top wont heat once the pot is removed from the stove even if the power is left on by mistake.

[dbhost]

What about setting up an LP tank?

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Hadn't thought of that....

[cabinetman]

Hadn't thought of that....

Our tank (120 gal) is a horizontal one, above ground, about 2' in diameter, about 6' long, and was provided and is serviced by a private gas company. They top off every 3-4 months. In 12 years we have never run out of fuel.

Call a provider and get some details about placement requirements for your area.

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[jackellis]

We had an electric range and oven at our old place but we have gas now and I prefer the latter.

One point about the relative energy efficiency of gas vs. electric. Even the most efficient conversion of fuel to electricity is only about 55% efficient, and on average it's in the range of 40%. Gas cooking that converts 50% of the energy in the fuel to usable heat is actually very good. Burning gas or coal to make electricity that is then used for cooking converts less than 30% of the energy in the fuel to usable heat.

Cost is another matter. Power companies pay the wholesale price for gas, which is about half the current retail price (depending on where you live). I know propane is much more expensive than gas.

[woodturner]

One point about the relative energy efficiency of gas vs. electric. Even the most efficient conversion of fuel to electricity is only about 55% efficient, and on average it's in the range of 40%. Gas cooking that converts 50% of the energy in the fuel to usable heat is actually very good. Burning gas or coal to make electricity that is then used for cooking converts less than 30% of the energy in the fuel to usable heat.

Do you have a reference for those numbers? They seem very different from the numbers I have seen and cited previously.

For gas cooking, 50% efficiency is about right, no disagreement there. Electric resistance heating (e.g. electric stoves) are essentially 100% efficient - all the electrical energy is converted to heat. Power plants burning gas typically operate at an efficiency in the range of 80% efficiency or better, coal is in the same range.

Think about newer gas furnaces that achieve 97% efficiency, while an open flame gas range achieves only 50% efficiency. A power plant is essentially just an efficient gas or coal-fired furnace.

[cabinetman]

The majority of replies lean towards gas over electric without regard to costs or efficiency statistics whatever they are.

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[Mr__Bill]

Being a non engineer I would think that the issue of efficiency for a kitchen range would have to do with how fast the pan and contents were heated and not the efficiency of the conversion of fuel into heat.


Bill

[cabinetman]

Being a non engineer I would think that the issue of efficiency for a kitchen range would have to do with how fast the pan and contents were heated and not the efficiency of the conversion of fuel into heat.


Bill

Exactly.

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[woodturner]

Being a non engineer I would think that the issue of efficiency for a kitchen range would have to do with how fast the pan and contents were heated and not the efficiency of the conversion of fuel into heat.

It's both factors, really. From my earlier post:

"Efficiency" in this context is the ratio of output energy over input energy:

Efficiency = (energy transferred to the pan)/(energy consumed)

An open flame, such as on a gas stove or a wood fireplace, is not an efficient way to transfer heat. While the combustion process itself releases about 80% of the energy available in the gas, the inefficiencies of the heat transfer to the pan reduce the overall efficiency to the 50% range.

Similarly, an electric range is essentially 100% efficient at converting the electricity to heat. However, that heat still needs to be transferred to the pan. On an electric stove, the pan is in contact with the heating element, and metal-to-metal conduction is much more efficient than radiation or conduction of heat through air, so the efficiency loss due to the heat transfer is less and the overall efficiency is therefore greater.

As others have noted, though, it's really a subjective evaluation or "opinion", and some people just prefer gas, in spite of the lower efficiency and greater safety risk. Professional cooks typically prefer gas burners and electric ovens - the gas burners allow faster change in temperature of the pan and more variable temperature control, while the electric oven provides a more stable temperature than can be achieved with gas.

But at the end of the day, it's really all subjective personal preference.