Many people find the prospect of cooking on a gas stove intimidating, but cooking with gas is actually quite simple and can produce mouth-watering meals with complex flavors. If you’re curious about why so many people prefer gas stoves over electric, we’ve summarized five of the top reasons people tend to prefer gas stoves.
What’s The Difference Between an Oven, a Stove, and a Range?
A range or stove refers to a kitchen appliance that contains an oven (the heated metal box in which you bake bread and lasagna) and a cooktop/stovetop (the surface burners you use to boil water, make soup, and sauté or pan-fry foods). The words stove and range are interchangeable, while the word oven refers only to one part of a range or stove. Whether you call this essential kitchen appliance a stove or a range might vary depending on your regional and cultural influences.
5 Reasons Professional Chefs and Foodies Prefer Gas Stoves
1. Precise Cooking Temperatures
Gas stoves respond almost instantly to temperature changes, so it’s easier to achieve an exact temperature when you’re cooking with gas. Since the control knobs on a gas stove reduce or increase the height and intensity of the cooking flame within seconds, you can visually confirm when the flame is at your desired level when you’re cooking on a gas stove. That kind of precision just isn’t attainable with an electric stove.
2. Faster Cooking Times
When you cook on a gas range, you apply a flame directly to your pot or pan, which means pan-fried dishes tend to cook faster and with better results than you’d achieve with an electric range.
3. Customizable Stovetop Options
A gas stove is customizable in ways that an electric stove isn’t, so you have a better chance of creating your ideal cooking surface with a gas stove. Gas stoves come with standard grates designed for universal use, but you can add a griddle to your gas range if you frequently cook foods like pancakes, omelets, or crepes. With a gas range, you can upgrade to professional grates or add a continuous middle grate or transitional grates if you want to slide pans from one burner to another without lifting.
4. Better Cookware Options
Gas ranges tend to be more versatile than electric ranges, particularly when it comes to your cookware options. Specialty pans like woks are designed to be used on gas stoves; if you want to cook restaurant-quality meals, you can add a Wolf® Wok Grate to your stovetop to achieve the perfect stir-fry (the Wok Grate allows the stove’s flames to reach the wok’s curved underside so you can cook every morsel to perfection).
With a gas range, you can cook with cast iron, ceramic, or stainless steel pots and pans without worrying about damaging your cooktop.
5. Visually Appealing
Gas ranges are sleek, classy, and more stylish than standard electric ranges. Wolf® stainless steel gas ranges look gorgeous in any kitchen and function as both a professional-grade appliance and a statement piece.
*Bonus Advantage of Gas Stoves for Homeowners: You can cook on a gas range even if a hurricane or snowstorm knocks out your power, which means you can still make coffee. And food, of course.
If you want to discover more reasons people love cooking with gas, stop into your local appliance store to talk to one of their gas range experts. Garner Appliance & Mattress has three convenient Triangle locations, so stop by and check out the selection of ranges in our Garner, Raleigh, or Clayton store today!