Ovens.... gas or electric?

Eric · « **Reply #20 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 02:29 pm »

I think electric convection is best if you do a lot of precision baking, but I prefer gas for most everything else

hmen · « **Reply #21 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 02:50 pm »

Gas is definitely better for cooking on top of the stove. With electric it takes a long time for the heat to go down once you lower it. If a pot is boiling and you want to turn it down you have to put it on another burner.

Dan Driscoll · « **Reply #22 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 04:00 pm »

Gas for the stove top. If a convection oven is an option, electric. If not, gas for the ove, also.

Andrikos · « **Reply #23 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 04:17 pm »

Gas rocks, there's no contest.
My convection oven has a roast setting... mmmm... I'm drooling.
That said, electic oven is probably better becasue it's a dry heat.
Gas ovens have H2O as a byproduct of the combustion that may prevent from getting as "crackly" roast as the electric oven would get you.
Electic stove tops suck beyond belief but they look cleaner...

beat · « **Reply #24 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 04:34 pm »

Quote from: Andrikos

...That said, electic oven is probably better becasue it's a dry heat.
Gas ovens have H2O as a byproduct of the combustion that may prevent from getting as "crackly" roast as the electric oven would get you...

This is where I think I would rest my decision. There are pros and cons of each. If it has convection I think the differences would be narrower and if not...In my experience with larger ovens, gas has the potential to be less even but wetter (good for meats and such) electric seems to work really well for baking as there is already a ton of moisture that is already being driven off. If I was in the market I'd look into getting an old wedgewood. I used to use "the californian" It was some 40" across, built in rotisserie, griddle, simmer burners, two broilers, that could function as two ovens, plenty of btus and the nicest thing is they are so fixable. The "volume pots

" are rebuildable with simple tools and a little grease. Seriously, they rock.

beat · « **Reply #25 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 05:14 pm »

some ideas,

http://www.antiquegasstoves.com/pages/pictures40.html

of course you can find one cheap and fix it up yourself!

hmen · « **Reply #26 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 08:51 pm »

A hybrid - gas on top and an electric oven is the way to go if you can do that.

EchiDna · « **Reply #27 on:** 14 Mar 2005, 11:58 pm »

for variety, a true hybrid stove?

solid fuel (wood) gas and electric in one....

with bonus hot water heater and space heater for winter

http://www.woodstoves.com.au/

personally we have a gas cooktop with 900mm electric oven... you can fit 5 chickens back to back on the rotissery if we wanted to

and it has a glass splashback that folds down on top of the stove to extend the benchtop when needed... it's the third one down on this list, but in white enamel http://www.lagermania.com.ph/Products/cooking/diamante/index.html

and on the subject of cookware, we just got a new toaster....
one of these beauties: http://www.dualit.com/content.asp?page=/catalogue/productRange.asp?categoryCode=15

awesome toast... can you believe there is a difference between cheapo MIC stuff and this built in England masterpiece of the 1950's? well there is! and it aint subtle like the difference between 14 and 16ga silver wires in your IC's

almost brought us back on topic for a moment! hehe...

Occam · « **Reply #28 on:** 15 Mar 2005, 12:10 am »

I love this thread.... for the last 20yrs I've had a gas oven/cooktop but in addition a Farberware convection oven -
http://store.yahoo.com/brandsplace/0069-t490c.html
sadly, they're only availble now in their 'commercial guise, quite expensive at $400+. My second oven, purchased about 6yrs ago was $100, same size and accessories, but certainly not commercial quality or build.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #29 on:** 15 Mar 2005, 05:19 am »

Quote from: EchiDna

and on the subject of cookware, we just got a new toaster....
one of these beauties: http://www.dualit.com/content.asp?page=/catalogue/productRange.asp?categoryC ...

awesome toast...

EchiDna · « **Reply #30 on:** 15 Mar 2005, 06:09 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42

Quote from: EchiDna

and on the subject of cookware, we just got a new toaster....
one of these beauties: http://www.dualit.com/content.asp?page=/catalogue/productRange.asp?categoryC ...

awesome toast...

I had a feeling sooner or later a Toaster would "pop up"..... [/list:u]

ba da boom tish!

JohnR · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Mar 2005, 01:55 am »

Hey, this is all great info! I didn't realize we had professionals here.

Someone said they liked gas at work and electric at home. Why is that?

BTW so yes, in my case the choice is between all-gas stove and a "dual-fuel." We don't call it that here, but it's actually the most common configuration here in (up-market) free-standing stoves. One store told me I could order an all-gas stove but it would take two months to come from Italy

But there are other brands that stock all-gas. For some reason the idea of a gas oven just appeals to me... The cooktop is definitely gas, in fact I had to get gas plumbing installed and the LPG bottles will be arriving in the next few days...

It seems that both sides have their fans but either way the quality of the unit is as important than whether it's gas or electric. Hey, a bit like tubes and transistors eh?

Can't afford to get more than one oven though

PS I loved the vintage stoves link. But I'm not going near that, got enough restoration projects already ...!

jpsartre · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Mar 2005, 05:46 am »

Do you all have a gas line coming into the house or do you have to use a gas cylinder? Pain in the butt having to swap/refill cylinders.

JohnR · « **Reply #33 on:** 16 Mar 2005, 09:23 am »

Most of Sydney has gas in the street I think, and then the home owner has to pay for the line into the house. My street doesn't have gas though so it's LPG bottles. There are several companies that deliver and exchange the bottles.

I went and had a touchy feely session at the appliance store today... looks like all-gas and a new rangehood will be it! I realized I mostly cook roasts with the oven, and I liked the idea of the rotisserie under the open gas flame.

This way I can still get an electric oven under the bench later on for my nancy pastries and stuff

JohnR · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 Apr 2005, 01:26 am »

Hey, I thought I would just update this thread with the final decision.

I ended up going with separate cooktop and oven. It just seems that you get better quality if you go with separates...

Highland four-burner cooktop, 66 cm wide but fits into a 60cm cutout (which means minimal modification of my kitchen). Australian-made

Bosch hbn4650 electric oven. Got a great deal on this as it is a superseded model. I prefer the looks anyway...

http://www.bretts.com.au/design/html/hbn4650au.html

Also got a new rangehood and dishwasher but I won't bore you with the details