The kitchen stove is a visual and functional focal point in many kitchens. And there are several options from which to choose. This week’s mini lesson will give you an overview of many of those options, including, ranges vs cooktops, plus gas, electric, induction, convection, and dual fuel cooking. This lesson should help you choose the best stove for your new kitchen.
Let’s start by talking about the very basic differences between cooking with gas versus cooking with electric.
GAS VS ELECTRIC
Electric ranges and cooktops are less expensive than their gas counterparts, however, electric units are more expensive to operate.
Controlling the heat on an electric burner is more difficult than with a gas burner and electric coils take longer to heat up and much longer to cool down.
Electric burners actually heat water faster than a gas burner unit. Induction burners, which we’ll discuss in moment, can boil water faster than either gas or electric.
Gas ovens bake moister, but electric ovens bake more evenly.
Most serious cooks tend to prefer gas, but if you only cook occasionally or have a tight budget, an electric stove might be the best choice for you.
COOKTOPS VS RANGES
A cook top is a cooking surface that’s built into the top of the counter and is usually paired with a separate wall oven.
Cooktops are available in 30 and 36 inch models. One of main advantages of using a cooktop over a range is that the space beneath the cooktop that would be occupied by the range oven, is open. That open space is often used for storage drawers where you can conveniently store your pots and pans.
Some people distinguish a cooktop from a rangetop. A cooktop usually has a sleeker design with the controls on top and a rangetop looks a little more industrial, or professional, with controls on the front of the unit.
The heat output of gas units is measured in BTUs. The BTUs vary from model to model, but the output generally falls somewhere between 5,000 BTUs for low heat on a small burner and 18,000 BTUs for high heat on a large burner. High end cooktops and ranges have BTUs that go lower and higher for more precise cooking.
The heat output from electric cooktops is measured in watts. Output varies from stove to stove and burner to burner, but most people buying electric units aren’t serious cooks so they are not all that interested in the specific heat outputs of electric stoves. Instead, they are usually more interested in the different types of electric cooktops surfaces.
Smooth top (glass-ceramic cooktop) surface: These cooktops are made of smooth glass-ceramic with heating units under the surface. This type of cooktop is prone to scratches, and not all cookware is safe to use on the surface, but the smooth surface looks sleek and is easy to clean.
Electric coil surface: Electric coil stoves are economical but notorious for uneven cooking because it’s hard to keep the coil perfectly level. In addition, electric coil stoves are slow to heat and slow to cool and more difficult to clean.
Next, let’s talk about the newest kid on the block...
Induction cooktops: Induction burners use the heat created from electromagnetic energy to cook your food. An element that creates an magnetic field is located just below the surface of an induction cooktop. When you put a piece of cookware containing iron, a cast iron skillet, for example, on top of that magnetic element, it causes a vibration that converts to heat.
Induction cooktops are safer than gas or electric burners because they don't use flames or direct heat -- induction burners only produce heat while iron containing cookware is in direct contact with the element.
Induction cooktops are also more efficient and heat things quicker than other types of burners. Many induction models can boil a large pot of water in 6 minutes.
The main downsides to induction cooktops are that you can’t use just any old cookware on an induction stove and they tend to be more expensive than comparable gas and electric units.
Ok, that was cooktops… If you don’t want a separate cooktop and wall oven, you’ll want to choose a