Gas Or Electric?

[tommyt654]

Heres a couple of pics of our electric flatop the second picture was taken about 15 seconds after removing the kettle, notice all four burners are on and at their high setting,waaaay tooo hot to touch, These are easy to clean ,but I have learned how to properly use a stove for cookin i.e., not setting the temps to a point that they boil over onto the surface of any stove I use and staying in the kitchen while cookin rather than walking away or getting distracted from the task at hand. A good cook rarely if ever overcooks or burns his or her foods and lids are designed for keeping foods in there place and to keep the contents from spilling onto the cooktop surfaces. I learned a loooong time ago about cooking from having to clean up my mess and others whom were not as learned as I. If you do decide Cabman to buy any or either remember unless your the cook in the kitchen its best to stay out of the kitchen, that old saying "Too many cooks spoils the broth" also applys to cleaning up behind ones self as wellOne other note regarding the cleaning of stoves and flatops like ours, Until you have to finally remove that top on your gas or electic coiled stove and really get in there to do a thorough cleaning I'll stand by our flatop as to the ease of cleaning. I'd suggest you take a look under those stovetops and spend a few (hours,days,weeks) trying to do a thorough cleaning of it, then get back to me on that

[JimD]

I'm not sure I am seeing enough to know if your cooktop is really clean but it seems to be. As I stated earlier, my son has a bad habit of letting stuff boil over and not cleaning it (after the top has cooled at least a little). So I have a very thin layer of mostly if not totally carbon that is tightly adhered to the cooktop. Scrubbing does not easily remove this - at least if you let it build up. Maybe a razor blade scraper will help, I haven't tried that yet. The burners my son does not use do not have this.

I think the "easy to clean" is in my experience a function of how consistent you are with cleaning. If you do it fairly often, I believe a smooth top is pretty easy to keep clean. If you get stuff on the top, allow it to burn, and then use it again without cleaning, I think you will build up a problem that is not very easy to deal with. That seems to be my problem with the one burner area. The residue is about the same color as the cooktop so it is not terribly obvious but with the right light you can see it. It does not seem to make any difference in the function, just doesn't look great when you see it and it is much more than a simple wipe or scrub to get it to go away.

Jim

[Russianwolf]

Our house was piped for gas when we bought it, but the stove was trash. To answer your question, I'm not sure the size of the piping, but it's code approved as we had to have inspections. I was all ready to hook it up, but the gas company wouldn't allow it. We decided at that time to go with all new appliances...a gas stove, water heater, and dryer, and ordered a 120lb horizontal LP tank. We have no complaints about the stove, except LOML thinks that the gas burners for the stove heat up the kitchen too much.

She's thinkin' that a smooth top electric might be better, or one that doesn't get hot. Is that an induction type?

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I'm betting that's a 120 GALLON tank. think about it, we use 20lb tanks on portable gas grills.

[jking]

I want to clear up something about this. Flat tops have easier and more simple access of course. Easier to clean - not necessarily, and absolutely not for the un-initiated. Getting to it, yes, but cleaning off - no. Grease and other liquid/food spill over items get trapped between the pan and the flat top. It has been harder for us to clean the bottom of the pans since having the flat top. Gas flame and electric elements did not create as difficult "cook on' residue as we are experiencing with the this flat top. The "cooked on" residue has no place to go but the flat top or pot/pan.

Spills were harder to get to on element and gas tops but at least they (spills) were not confined to the top and pot. AND when there is a boil over, you can't just pick up a cleaning towel and wipe it off when the flat top is hot.

I like to cook, so I am not looking at this from a "wife's" want or wish but from practicality. I don't have the induction type and it might be different. Still, the lack of having a place for "spill over" to go to creates a mess when it can't go anywhere.

I do find it interesting the differences of opinion we can have on some things. The things Hank considers a negative, I consider a positive. But, it's mostly based on our experiences. I have not had much difficulty cleaning our smoothtop stove. We basically wipe it off once it's cooled down. I've found once a week with the cleaning scrub (it seems similar to Soft-scrub, but, it's made specifically for smoothtop stoves) keeps the top clean. Occassionally, we have to use the razor blade scraper to remove something. The exposed coil electrics I've had required alot more work to keep clean. The area under the burners & the drip pans were especially difficult. I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to buy new drip pans every couple of years. I've not had any problems with keep the pots and pans clean with either. Hanks experience sounds like it's been very different.

We have very few boilovers with our smoothtop because it responds much quicker to temperature adjustments than our exposed coil electric did.

All that being said, if I could choose, I would go with either a gas or an induction cooktop. The gas burners heat things up quicker than an electric & heat adjustment responds much quicker. The induction cooktops are supposed to be almost instantaeous.

One reason against gas that doesn't apply to everyone is the location of the controls. Every gas stove/oven I've seen has the controls on the front where they are easily reached by little hands. When we bought our stove, my wife probably wouldn't have allowed gas for that reason alone. We have actually had to remove the knobs from my mom's stove sometimes when we're visiting because curiousity got the better of one of our boys.

[BrazosJake]

Gas, hands down, electricity is the least efficient way to heat anything. After your central air, the oven uses more watts during usage than any other appliance (obviously, other things like your dryer use more kws cause they're used more)

Plus ng should be cheaper than electricity.

It's amazing, I live on top of the Barnett Shale formation, but nearly all that gas goes out of state.

[cabinetman]

I'm betting that's a 120 GALLON tank. think about it, we use 20lb tanks on portable gas grills.

Somehow I thought it was lb, not gal. You are probably right.

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[tommyt654]

"I'm not sure I am seeing enough to know if your cooktop is really clean but it seems to be"
I'd eat off of it Jim, Its that clean, now there is what they refer to in the manual as a glazing stain that all glasstops get, but it is so minor that it doesn't show up unless your in the light just right, kinda like the rainbow images you would see in a soap bubble, not apparent in all light spectrums or all angles, but I would have no problems eating right off my cooktop. Now maybe some of ya'lls I might not from what I hear about food crusting up on the tops and such,but we really keep the home clean,even with a dog inside all day. Once I get the new shop up and start makin sawdust again you'll get the picture. I hate dust,dirt,grime, etc.drives my wife crazy about how particular I am about the kitchen,but she has learned over the yrs and now cleans up behind herself like I do, not havin squids at home anymore helps considerably and they are fanatics about cleanliness as well.Hmm,Wonder where they got that from

[woodturner]

Gas, hands down, electricity is the least efficient way to heat anything.

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

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

A gas burner can achieve efficiency in the range of 50% - the problem is both that the combustion efficiency is only 75% or so and that the output is not "focused" and heats the room as well as the pan, so much energy is lost before it gets to the pan.

An electric range element, on the other hand, is 100% efficiency in that every bit of electricity produces heat at the element. Some is lost in transfer to the pan, so overall efficiency is in the range of 90% - but still nearly twice the efficiency of gas.

It used to be that gas cost less than electricity, but that has changed, and in some areas at some times gas costs more than electricity per unit of energy produced.

If efficiency is your goal, electricity is better - the power plant burns the gas under controlled conditions to maximize the efficiency, and the electricity itself is essentially 100% efficient.

[leehljp]

I do find it interesting the differences of opinion we can have on some things. The things Hank considers a negative, I consider a positive. But, it's mostly based on our experiences. I have not had much difficulty cleaning our smoothtop stove. We basically wipe it off once it's cooled down. I've found once a week with the cleaning scrub (it seems similar to Soft-scrub, but, it's made specifically for smoothtop stoves) keeps the top clean. Occassionally, we have to use the razor blade scraper to remove something. The exposed coil electrics I've had required alot more work to keep clean. The area under the burners & the drip pans were especially difficult. I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to buy new drip pans every couple of years. I've not had any problems with keep the pots and pans clean with either. Hanks experience sounds like it's been very different.

We have very few boilovers with our smoothtop because it responds much quicker to temperature adjustments than our exposed coil electric did.

I didn't go into detail on ours. First, we purchased ours in early 2006 and within about 4 months we were back in Japan. We cleaned it after each cooking. Our daughter just moved back to my hometown to a job that opened here, so we had a built-in "house sitter" that does not clean regularly and allowed it to become stained in the last 4 years while we were in Japan. LOML does clean regularly and I do religiously after cooking. LOML and I both share cooking duties depending on who has the most time or the least tired or the want of a certain dish. AS to the flat top - LOML complains often of the white top! You can't see this on the black tops. We keep a bottle of the soft scrub beside the stove. It is never hidden and used after each cooking - after the top cools.

I am not as prone to having spills as my daughter or LOML. At this age, one just takes what one can! (Hope she doesn't read this ) And I do clean the top as soon as the top cools down - whether she cooks or I cook.

LOML cleans the kitchen well except for the stove top, and leaves that to me . Quite often we cook enough for two meals (or more) intentionally and for soup, stews, chills and gumbo, we make enough to freeze some for quick meal supplement later and for when the girls come back for a visit.

For larger pots and amounts, the more likely there will be spills from large spoons dripping. This is where we have the most problems, besides splatters from skillets. We use small amounts, tablespoon or two of olive oil generally for the skillet. And as to the pots, When even a few drops or quarter teaspoon of liquid spills on the flat top element or the oil splatters in the early stages, it will be cooked on well and almost black before it can be cleaned. It is not worth it to take the pot off, wait for it to cool down, then clean and then start the cooking process again.

In this family, (and inherited LOML's family), the cooking process was to be throughly enjoyed and the food to be sampled while cooking. Drops happen and are messy when they fall beside the pot.

As to 2006 - 2010, we were back in Japan and of course had gas there. Prior to that, we had electric elements in Japan and here in the States also. We did not have the messy stoves there or here before this flat top. And yes, we did have similar spills, but we cleaned well. (Japanese noticed these things, so we were diligent.) The drops under the element or gas burner grate were easy to clean for me as compared to the flat top cooking here.

In wood speak - before this situation, I had sawdust but I cleaned it; however today, the sawdust seems resin soaked and is hard to clean.

[tommyt654]

I wasn't referring to anyone in particular, but here's a few things I have learned about the glass flatops and cooking. When tasting from the pot placing a small bowel under the spoon before removing from over the pot eliminates spillage onto the glass surface, (I learned this neat trick from serving gumbo to a few dignitaries from Spain while workin at Berns) I keep one handy with the spoon inside the bowl and promptly return it there after tasting so its handy, Splatter screens and lids are a must when cooking on these as well as maintaning the proper cooking temps(Splatters from Oil are results of either too hot an oil or the parts to be fried are too cold/wet or still frozen when introduced into the oil resulting in more combustion and splattering) It took me a while to figure them out but its a learning process for all manufacturers I suspect. I also keep a hot damp/wet towel handy in case of any spills as they can be immediately wiped up with a wet or heavily dampened towel and this allows for a clean top. Cook on the proper section of the range. That took me a while as I always liked to think that the bigger the quicker,but I have found using the proper sized pot/burner combo works more efficiently and elimnate a lot of splattering, drips,boil overs etc.We too keep a clean house and are more likely to make mess when we have too many folks in one area of the kitchen, she preps, I cook or viceversa, but we learn to stay out of each others way while working in tandem(Think Lambada in the Kitchen) and overall the glasstops have impressed me more with the rapid heat-up, ease to clean and controls efficiency over a lot of stoves. Trust me I have cooked over a lot of them from open flame grills for 7-10 hours at a time, to prepping stocks for soups, and sauteeing Foie Gras its all fun and tasty, its a wonder I don't weigh more than I do

[leehljp]

That took me a while as I always liked to think that the bigger the quicker,but I have found using the proper sized pot/burner combo works more efficiently and elimnate a lot of splattering, drips,boil overs etc.

LOML most always uses a small pot on the front large burner and finally I have, through gentle suggestions been able to get her to use the proper size element for the pot . . . most of the time.

But this also reminds me of one other items that I did not have problems with on a gas or element electric - the pot or skillet moving around when mixing or stirring in stews, chills or anything thicker than soup. I NEVER had that happen on the others but on the flat top, pots or large skillets swirls around if I don't watch it, and it has been a complaint of LOML also. Whether we are using HD stainless Steel, or a cast iron skillet that I like but LOML loathes! :roll eyes: I rarely use the cast iron because of her dislike and I am afraid of what it might do to the glass top too.

We too keep a clean house and are more likely to make mess when we have too many folks in one area of the kitchen, she preps, I cook or viceversa, but we learn to stay out of each others way while working in tandem

When LOML is cooking, I usually stay out during that time except when she asks me to handle some heavy items. When lots of guests are over (but usually family) I do my cooking outside and she cooks inside.

its a wonder I don't weigh more than I do

Me too and I am very slowly but surely losing weight. I appreciate your insights into cleaning while cooking and I incorporate some of the cleaning and preventative measures as a rule of thumb. But I will say that I was trained by some cajuns whose motto was something like - "focus on cookin' da food, cleanin' will come later. Nobody look at da kitchen, but dey judge you by da food" Still, I personally clean as I go 90% of the time. LOML . . . pure cajun!

[tommyt654]

"cast iron skillets", my favorites when it comes to cookin,they dont spin around at all on a glasstop,but are heavy and hard to roll over foods single handed,but I have not had any problems with that aspect of cooking on glass as of yet, I usually always have 1 hand on the handle as a precautionary measure more so than preventing a pot from spinning, LOML says we should swap recipes

[cabinetman]

But this also reminds me of one other items that I did not have problems with on a gas or element electric - the pot or skillet moving around when mixing or stirring in stews, chills or anything thicker than soup. I NEVER had that happen on the others but on the flat top, pots or large skillets swirls around if I don't watch it, and it has been a complaint of LOML also. Whether we are using HD stainless Steel, or a cast iron skillet that I like but LOML loathes! :roll eyes: I rarely use the cast iron because of her dislike and I am afraid of what it might do to the glass top too.

I've wondered about the smooth top getting scratched over time. Even if you're careful it seems inevitable.

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[woodturner]

I rarely use the cast iron because of her dislike and I am afraid of what it might do to the glass top too.

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.

[cabinetman]

Any metallic bottom can scratch ceramic.

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