BS: Electric vs. Gas

Subject: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: SINSULL
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 08:43 PM

Every bakery I have ever been in, and there were thousands in my ingredient sales days, used gas. BUT my new home has an electric oven and stove. My first batch of cookies were cremated. The rest survived by careful monitoring and a reduction in the temperature but just barely.

Anybody have any suggestions for revising my recipes to survive electric? I have never burned a cookie before in my entire career.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 09:21 PM

Sinsull-
Get an oven thermometer, and use it to calibrate your settings. Electric oven thermostats are excwllnt for keeping a constant temperature, but usually pretty bat at maintaing the temperature they're set for.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: open mike
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 01:45 AM

get rid of it and put in a gas one---that way when there is a power outage you can still cook..heating is one of the poorest, most inefficient ways to use electricity....

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: GUEST,Dylan
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 05:09 AM

Gas will always beat lecy due to the fact that you dont waste energy heating up the ring or element which can still hold a residual heat for a long while where as with gas its as soon as you turn it offthere is nothing left to store the energy in. And every thing tastes better with gas

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Snuffy
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 05:24 AM

Gas guitars are quite good, but gas amps are still crap.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: mack/misophist
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:21 AM

Over the years I've known quite a few serious cooks and none of them liked electric. Dick Greenhaus is correct as far as it goes but misses the fact that as soon as you turn off the gas,the heat is GONE. An electrical element takes a while to cool. One can learn to cook with electricity but gas is better.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: maire-aine
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:29 AM

On the other hand, I was raised, and learned to cook with, an electric range/oven. I cannot imagine trying to cook any other way. I gave it a fair try though. When I moved into my house, it came with a gas stove, so I tried-- really. But within two months, I'd sold the gas and bought an electric. The only time I burn things is when I'm not paying attention. If the phone rings or something, I just turn the heat down. But open-mike may be right-- why force yourself to re-learn your whole way of doing things?

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:56 AM

I'd much prefer a gas stove, but when I looked at the cost of running a new gas line to my kitchen I settled for another electric a couple of years ago.

For most baking/oven work, there is little difference - if you get accustomed to the preheat timing needed. Since this varies from stove-to-stove, whether they're natural gas, propane, electric, charcoal or whatever - it's something you need to "learn" when you're getting to know your new tool.

In most electric ovens, the heating element cycles - either on or off, and when it comes on, it comes on full power. You can suffer from "radiation burns" since the heating element acts like a broiler - radiant heat - on the bottom of the cookie sheet or pan. You can solve this problem by baking on the top rack - placed somewhere near the middle of the oven, and using a small flat, like a cookie sheet, on the bottom rack as a "radiation shield." The problem is also minimized by proper preheating before you put stuff in.

On an electric, if you really want to use the broiler (top heating element) as a broiler, you need to use the "half-cock" on the door, to hold it open a couple of inches, since otherwise the element will shut off and you'll be baking, not broiling. Most gas broilers will keep running with the door shut - although again, you're baking, not broiling if that's the way you run it.

Top "burners" also take some learning, if you're used to gas, since you can't "see" the heat. The knob settings do not sense the temperature of the "burner." They switch on/off in response to a small heating element in the knob to give a sort of "power control," but the actual "burner" temperature will depend on how large a pot you put on the burner - and on what's in the pot. The same pot, with the same contents, takes a different setting on each of my four top burners (2 sizes) to hold at "simmer."

The electric top heaters also cool a lot slower than with gas, so you need a place nearby to move the pot off the burner if you want to stop heating quickly. (Move it back after a few moments when the burner cools to its new temp, if necessary.)

It's a learning process, but you can get there.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:59 AM

I learned on and for years had gas cook tops and ovens. Then I started renting apartments with electric appliances. Had to learn to cook all over again. Then rented apartments without appliances and had my gas stove for awhile at least. Then married Tom and moved into a house with an electric stove/oven.

The complicating factor is, of course, that every oven (especially electric ones!) is different. Each time we've gotten a new stove, I've had to adjust baking time. None of them seem to be calibrated. You can easily adjust to the burners when you finally figure out that electric coils take longer to come to temperature, but keep the temperature for some time after they're turned off. Ovens, on the other hand, are all over the place.

But . . . remember some skills from baking in wood ranges. Oven temperatures were not exact, just Slow, Medium and Hot. Go by smell and appearance. On my electric oven, I've learned that I set the temperature about 25 degrees below what's called for in the recipe and check the appearance of the cake/cookies/breads, etc. a few minutes before they should be done. Catch shortbread just as the edge turns slightly golden, use a finger or a toothpick or something to test the middle of other things.

It's all experience. I can usually tell by smell when I need to start checking doneness by other means.

You'll figure it out!

Linn (looking forward to some of your lemon squares one of these days)

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 10:03 AM

My own preference is for a gas cooktop and an electric oven. Had them, used them, loved them.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 02:21 PM

The trick is to use monitoring devices. You should have an oven thermometer which shows the temperature inside the oven, and a food thermometer which shows the temperature inside your roast. Best for the latter is the kind that has a probe you insert into the food, with a wire running to the readout, which magnetically attaches to the outside of the oven and usually includes a timer/alarm.

With those two things, you should be able to control any oven, gas or electric. The internal temperature of the food is a much better indicator than, say, the "minutes per pound" rule (for birds and roasts, anyway. I'm not a baker, so no experience to share).

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: NicoleC
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 04:50 PM

I learned on electric, but the transistion fo gas was fairly easy for mee. I still prefer electric, as it doesn't leave a layer of gas scum all over your kitchen and I dislike the residual taste the gas leaves in the food.

Many good points above. The only one I can think to add is that with electric, you have to be more careful about where the foo goes in the oven. Keep it in the very center of the oven.

For baking breads and such, I couldn't do without my trusty unglazed quarry tile. 89 cents at your local building supply store -- wash and cure it as you would an iron skillet. I makes a great baking platform, and the improvement is bigger in an electric oven than a gas one. Mine cracked in half when I cured it, but I just leave it in the oven anyway and it doesn't affect it's workings.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 07:28 PM

gas & open flame is 'sort of' more dangerous, but easier to adjust/regulate in many ways......as has been noted, you just calibrate things and change a few habits. Our oven, also, needs to be set maybe 25° lower than recipes say...

(We found a 'layered' cookie sheet that has some sort of insulation between the layers, so that the cookies get a heat circulation closer to the way a gas oven operates...that might help!)

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 07:37 PM

Thanks for the input. I found that lowering the temperature, changing the shelf heights and adjusting the baking time produced good results. I can't afford a gas installation or new stove so I will make do. Ridiculous thought when you think of all the women thrown out of their homes by war who are cooking whatever they can scrape up over open fires.
Happy holidays, all. Stay safe and healthy.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:09 PM

I'm happiest with the combination of a fan assisted electric oven and gas hobs/ rings. I think yu get the best of both worlds that way.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 08:20 PM

I should add that Pip favours the all electric rings and the damn slow solid ones that take ages to respond to changes of settings at that. She is the better cook than me by a long way... I guess some of it is what you are used to. For me, if cooking on a ring, unless I can turn heat on/off quickly I get in a mess...

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: GUEST,John Gray / In Oz.
Date: 22 Dec 02 - 09:02 PM

Ever tried using a wok on an electric stove ? Absolutely futile.

FME / JG

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Troll
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 10:12 AM

I had to cook for six months on an electric stove after thirty years on gas.
I couldn't WAIT to get back to my gas range.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Grab
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 11:35 AM

Something I found from our new fan-assisted electric oven - it seems to be about 20 degrees over cal. We have to set all temperatures 20 degrees lower to get stuff cooked right. I think this is actually a general issue with fan-assisted ovens, since they're more efficient at cooking than normal ones.

Oven temperatures are rarely if ever accurate though, since they're usually set by a dodgy mechanical thermostat. This is particularly true with older ovens, where the thermostat is crap and out of calibration, and the oven insulation is all knackered so the heat doesn't stay in. One of these days when electronic thermostats (as used in better home central heating systems) become standard on ovens, we'll all be able to cook at a standard temperature for the life of the oven.

I love our electric cooker - halogen hob, so "instant heat". Highly recommended, and it's just a single glass top so it's dead easy to clean. And all the controls go up to "incinerate", so there's no problems getting stuff as hot as you like. :-) As an example, on the gas cooker in our last house, I did fried chicken on setting 4 (out of 5) - on our new cooker, I still use setting 4, but now the dial goes up to 7!

Someone earlier said that using gas meant you could still cook when the electricity was off. In fact, most modern gas cookers I've seen have electronic controls, so you can't cook anyway if the electricity is off (as my mum found out 2 years ago). :-(

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 Dec 02 - 12:02 PM

I use a wok on an electric stove all the time -- you just have to anticipate temperature changes and also know when to REMOVE it from the heat.

I'm so used to electric ranges now that I can't even pop popcorn well on gas.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 05:26 AM

Wok on an electric stove ?
No problem:.
Most woks come with a circular trivet which can be used to support them just above the heat source. Our local Tesco store now sells woks with a single (long) handle so that they can be lifted on and off the heat source just like a frying pan (without putting your hands directly over the burners).

Personal preference? Gas stove. If supply is a problem use butane.

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Electric vs. Gas
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Dec 02 - 05:46 AM

Grab,

I believe you are right about the reason for the need to reduce the temperature with fan assisted ovens.

For those who like the quick change of heat, the halogen hob does sound like a good alternative to gas but I have heard that you have to be careful with them and that some pans, e.g. aluminium can cause problems with the surface and that others can be too reflective to absorb sufficient heat to be efficient.