Electric stove tops...need advice

[Ronnie61]

We are looking at buying a House in the villages. I haven’t cooked with electric in the last 35 years. I remember it seemed like it took forever for the burner to heat up, and then when I wanted to lower it, the heat wouldn’t go down fast enough. Are the new electric stove tops significantly improved? I see fast boil settings, do those work? If you moved from has to electric, what were the pluses and minuses. Any advice on the features I should insist on in an electric stove top?

[xkeowner]

We also used gas for many years prior to moving here. An option we took advantage of which my be available to you depending upon the village is called propane in ground (PIG). Several of our neighbors here in the Village of Hemingway have them. We have ours connected to our gas range in the kitchen plus a grill and a smoker outside. It is refilled periodically and our monthly "budget" bill is $25 per month and we usually get to skip a month or two during the year because of excess credit balance. Don't recall the installation/set-up cost but Suburban Propane took care of all of the permits and installation.

Now hopefully someone will provide an answer to your real question about electric cook tops.

[villagetinker]

You may want to look at Induction type cook tops, from what i have read, these mimic gas ranges, and they heat the PAN, however, your cookware must be rated for this type of range, also these tend to be more costly. I am looking at possibly getting one when our existing electric range dies. I love gas cooking....

[Seacoast1]

I’ve been cooking on an induction cooktop for the past 25 years......yes, 25 years. I love it! I can’t wait to replace my stove in TV with one. IMO induction is far better than gas. You can place a paper towel between your pan and the burner, and only the pot and contents will heat; the paper towel will not burn. The burner shuts off automatically when a pan is removed. Water boils in seconds and returns to boiling immediately after food is added. Yes, you need special pots that are magnetic. I bought most of mine at TJMaxx and Sam’s Club. You can’t go wrong with induction cooking. And oh.......did I say I love it?


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[graciegirl]

Electric heats quickly and cools down slowly. You can take your pot off the burner to cool it down. It is just heat, and you can adjust your self to it. I also clean our glass cook top with a Brillo pad. It is impervious to almost anything.

[dewilson58]

Electric heats quickly and cools down slowly. You can take your pot off the burner to cool it down. It is just heat, and you can adjust your self to it. I also clean our glass cook top with a Brillo pad. It is impervious to almost anything.




Agree.


Technology has changed from 35 years ago.


Go for it.

[photo1902]

Having had a gas cooktop and now electric, I find the food tastes the same to me :)

[perrjojo]

I love my magnetic induction range. Just as others have said...it is almost like gas cooking.

[NotGolfer]

We have electric and it's changed from years ago. Back then I didn't care for gas...the tops were hard to clean and also messy. I think that's changed however. It all depends on what you favor...I like electric.

[DeanFL]

All things equal, since I'm the cook (but NOT bottlewasher) in the family, I would certainly prefer a gas cooktop. But only standard choice when building here was electric. We have a Samsung unit with glass cooktop. It heats up very quickly and has lots of features - the quickness of 'heating up' depends upon the type of pan; a thicker bottom takes longer. But all in all, pleased, and it works just fine.

Again would prefer gas/propane, but.

Oh yeah, even with the electric top, sometimes after meal prep I get gas anyway.

[DAVES]

We are looking at buying a House in the villages. I haven’t cooked with electric in the last 35 years. I remember it seemed like it took forever for the burner to heat up, and then when I wanted to lower it, the heat wouldn’t go down fast enough. Are the new electric stove tops significantly improved? I see fast boil settings, do those work? If you moved from has to electric, what were the pluses and minuses. Any advice on the features I should insist on in an electric stove top?

Background-I like to cook but hate to clean up so I,"let," my wife clean up. Perhaps the reaso I am not allowed to cook very often.

I grew up in a home with the old open coil electric stove had only low medium and high-late 1960's. When we bought our previous home we had a gas stove. Now our villages home does not have gas so we have the glass top electric stove and a double oven.

Given a choice, I vastly prefer our previous gas stove. While our current electric stove is not the old low medium and high type, it is continuously steplessly variable. You cannot see the gas flame to judge the heat and they way it gets less than full heat is to cycle on and off. Even with good heavy pots, it tends to burn your food. You can, I have, learned to deal with it. I would still vote for gas cooking, if we had the option.

[Velvet]

Gas stove... no comparison! I have a Bosch stove at the moment, what a dream, totally consistent reliable oven settings, flames on top are super adjustable and middle burner has a very very hot flame. It is such a pleasure to cook with this stove. And I love to make great food. Very easy to clean up, everything comes off and goes into dish washer too.
My past electric stove was ... meh... wouldn't get hot enough to wok vegetables even. Almost had induction stove once but chickened out.

[Chatbrat]

Aside from the stove aspect, a house with natural gas is perfect if you feel the need for a standby generator

[coffeebean]

I have used both gas and electric. Electric still takes time to cool down so you must always have a place to put the pot if you want the heat to stop immediately. A boil over can be a problem if all your burners are in use. Must always have a trivet on the counter to handle that sort of thing. I prefer to see the flame to make adjustments to the heat.

Love cooking with gas and am so glad our current home has natural gas.

[Seacoast1]

I neglected to mention that when cooking on an induction stove/cooktop, if your food starts to boil over, there’s no need to remove the pot from the burner. Simply touch the off button. Induction is instant on and instant off. The burner does not get hot.


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[OrangeBlossomBaby]

To answer the actual question: no, things haven't improved much since the advent of the flat-top electric stove. The glass itself is sturdier than it was, but when it turns off, it still takes forever to cool down. Edited to add: The "quick boil" feature, I haven't noticed any difference.

We have one up north and I hate it. I grew up with a gas stove/oven, and our first home in a condo was a gas stove-oven. Our current home is electric. I hate not having a pilot light, and I hate not being able to just lower the heat and -instantly- have the water stop boiling.

I tolerate electric ovens and ranges. I don't feel that I will ever actually like them.

[paulajr]

One of the first things we did in our new house here was...put in a propane tank and buy a GAS top stove! Electric ranges are for people that don't really cook (IMHO)!

[Bill32]

We have an electric cooktop, seems to work ok.....................but we rarely use it.;)

[pbkmaine]

There are gas lines in the northern part of The Villages - my house in Santiago has gas heat, and there’s a gas line to the stove. I believe there’s gas in some of the new construction down south as well.

[Carla B]

One of the first things we did in our new house here was...put in a propane tank and buy a GAS top stove! Electric ranges are for people that don't really cook (IMHO)!

Our house is all electric and I cook a lot. No, I don't like having electric but food tastes just as good, it's just harder to do. The houses built here pre-2008 have gas lines in the attic and that is one more thing to rattle the nerves when there are thunderstorms, like right now.

[CFrance]

Our house is all electric and I cook a lot. No, I don't like having electric but food tastes just as good, it's just harder to do. The houses built here pre-2008 have gas lines in the attic and that is one more thing to rattle the nerves when there are thunderstorms, like right now.
I forgot about those gas lines in the attic. I think there is a fix for that now. They were to code at the time, but maybe not now. So maybe the gas homes south of 44 have a different configuration. Not sure.

[coffeebean]

This may be a silly question but why are gas lines dangerous in the attic during a thunder storm? I never gave them a thought during thunder storms.

[Viperguy]

Induction is fantastic

[Viperguy]

Induction is the best alternative to gas in my opinion. Way cheaper after you buy the range as there is no wasted energy (heat) and it's way safer. If you're not sure, buy a portable induction burner, they use them in food prep at stores like Sams. They cost under $100 and are fun to use although they tend to be noisy with a built in fan. Our KitchenAid range is super quiet. I keep the portable for those times I might need a 5th burner or to place by my grill on the Lanai for extra stuff. Induction is very popular in Europe where energy costs are so hi and there is no gas.

[Midnight Cowgirl]

Induction is the best alternative to gas in my opinion. Way cheaper after you buy the range as there is no wasted energy (heat) and it's way safer. If you're not sure, buy a portable induction burner, they use them in food prep at stores like Sams. They cost under $100 and are fun to use although they tend to be noisy with a built in fan. Our KitchenAid range is super quiet. I keep the portable for those times I might need a 5th burner or to place by my grill on the Lanai for extra stuff. Induction is very popular in Europe where energy costs are so hi and there is no gas.


I know induction ranges are reportedly terrific but I was wondering how long you have had yours?

What I have read is that as great as they are, induction ranges are prone to repair issues. I was also told it was a good idea to buy a service contract because of the possibility of problems.

Who is the manufacturer of your range? Have you had any problems with yours?

[pbkmaine]

This may be a silly question but why are gas lines dangerous in the attic during a thunder storm? I never gave them a thought during thunder storms.


We have lightning rods on our house because of this.

[eyc234]

Have had induction for 10 yrs here in The Villages and 12 yrs prior in TX. When remodeling in TX did a lot of research on keeping gas or going with induction. Induction won hands down. More efficient than gas, more control than gas and a thousand times easier to clean up. We have had no issues. Also went with convection oven and love the options it provides. We very rarely eat out and the cooktop and stove get a work out. Cookware not that big a problem.
Both appliances are GE.

[Carla B]

Yes, if we change it will be to induction.

[Villagevip]

I have a gas water heater, and a white glass top electric stove that needs cleaning after every use, who does that? Interested in a gas induction stove, in the near future..Which one is top rated, recommended ? Q. WWG1WGA! : )

[photo1902]

I have a gas water heater, and a white glass top electric stove that needs cleaning after every use, who does that? Interested in a gas induction stove, in the near future..Which one is top rated, recommended ? Q. WWG1WGA! : )

What is a gas induction stove?