Gas versus Electric Stoves – which is better ?
If you’re in the market for a new stove for your kitchen, you need to consider the differences between gas versus electric cooking. Let me just say straight off, there really isn’t a clear winner – both have their advantages and disadvantages; taking a look at both will help determine which type of stove is the best for you. Each type has benefits and drawbacks, so which one is right for you will depend on what you’re used to, how you prefer to cook and of course, what your budget is. In this article, I’ll explain the key pros and cons to help you decide.
Pros of Gas Stoves
- No waiting to heat up first
- Easy control of temperature
- Quicker cooking time
- Can be lower running cost
Quicker start: The biggest plus in using a gas stove is the ease of cooking. Turning on a gas stove gets you an instant, constant flame that you can easily control – you don’t have to guess if the stove is on or off, hot or cold, or if it’s on the right setting.
Temperature control: Simmering your food is a breeze on a gas stove. The flames produced by a natural gas stove also cook food more quickly and evenly because the flames spread themselves along the bottom and sides of the pan.
Quicker cooking times: Less time standing there stirring your food to get it properly cooked is a plus. For busy homeowners who enjoy their cooking, these are big advantages.
Lower running cost: An often overlooked advantage to using a gas stove is the cost of operating it. If your home is already using natural gas – which offsets the startup costs – your operating and energy costs will be lower with a gas stove than with electric.
Disadvantages of Gas Stoves
- Uneven distribution of heat
- Takes longer to heat up
- Messier and trickier to clean
- Requires installation
- More expensive (to buy and set up) than electric.
Uneven heat: You don’t always find fans in gas ovens, which makes it harder for the heat to circulate evenly around the cavity. This means that a gas oven will usually be hotter at the top than at the bottom. Some people like this temperature gradation, which you can use to your advantage when cooking different dishes at the same time, but it can make it tricky to get batches evenly baked.
Slower to heat up: Gas hobs are generally slower than electric hobs – especially electric induction hobs – to heat up large pans of food. So you may find yourself hanging around a bit longer to get your dinner going.
More difficult to clean: Gas hobs, with their raised burners and pan supports, are more fiddly to clean than flat ceramic or induction hobs, as there are more dirt traps for food to get stuck in.
Requires installation: Installation is very important. As with any gas-powered appliance, you will need to enlist the services of a qualified professional accredited by the Gas Safe Register (previously ‘Corgi registered’) to install a gas or dual-fuel cooker, which can up the costs too.
More expensive to buy and set up: Perhaps the the main disadvantage to using a gas stove is the price. Gas stoves are typically both more expensive to purchase, and more expensive to hook up, particularly if you don’t already have a gas line going to the kitchen.
The other major drawback to using a gas stove is the gas itself. If a burner doesn’t turn on immediately, the stove is still releasing gas into the air – a big problem is a burner gets left on, but unlit.
Pros of Electric Stoves
- More even oven temperature
- Multifunction cooking
- Easier to clean
- Faster cooking times
- Better for grilling
- Cheaper to to purchase and install
- More stable and flexible work surface
More even temperature: Electric ovens tend to offer more-even heat distribution throughout the oven cavity, as most have fans to help move the hot air around. This means it’s easier to achieve consistent results, especially when cooking large batches.
Multifunction Cooking: Some electric cookers have a multifunction oven. This means that you can cook using different heating functions simultaneously. For example, you can use the grill and fan at the same time, which can work well when a less-fierce heat is useful, such as when grilling a thicker piece of meat.
Easy-to-clean hobs: whether it’s electric ceramic or electric induction, the cooking surface of the hob will be flat. This makes it less fiddly to clean than the burners and metal pan supports on a gas cooker. And if your hob has touch controls rather than dials, there’s even less scope for grime to get trapped.
Induction cooking: if you opt for a model with an electric induction hob, you should get speedier cooking times – induction hobs are quick to heat up the contents of a pan and are usually better at simmering at low temperatures too. And, while electric ceramic hobs can’t quite compete, they are still generally quicker to cook than gas hobs overall.
Better grilling: over the years, our tests have shown that electric grills tend to do a better job of browning food evenly than gas grills do. Not every electric grill is great, but they generally tend to outperform gas models.
Easier to clean: Most electric stoves sold today have a sleek, glass cooktop which enhances the style of the stove itself. This glass top is easy to wipe clean of most spills; no need to remove a burner ring or wipe up a hardened spill from on top of a gas nozzle.
Cheaper to purchase: Electric stoves are fairly easy to operate, and less expensive to purchase and install, which makes them good choices for people who don’t spend as much time in the kitchen.
Flexible workspace: An electric stove also offers the most stable work surface for pots and pans – again, a big plus for amateur cooks to consider. They also offer additional storage space beneath the oven, which gas stoves do not.
Cons of Electric Stoves
- Higher running costs
- Hob stays warm longer
- Slower cooking
- Vulnerable to power outages
- Higher running costs
Higher running costs: Electric cookers cost more to run than gas cookers, so your annual energy bill may be slightly higher than it would be with a gas cooker.
Heat retention: Electric ceramic hobs tend to hold on to heat longer than gas or induction hobs. So if you leave your pan on the hob when you’ve turned the power off, it may keep cooking for a while. They can also be slow to heat up.
Slower cooking: While electric stoves are fairly easy to use and operate, they cook food more slowly than gas stoves do. They can also be a problem for bakers in small kitchens, as spilled sugar on the glass top is nearly impossible to remove once it becomes heated. The glass also stains easily, which can detract from the look and style of the stove.
Power Outages: If you live in an area subject to frequent power outages, your stove will be inoperable during those times. Due to the amount of electricity that an electric stove uses, even some backup generators will not be able to handle the draw. This use of electricity will also cost you more to operate the stove, than the energy used by a comparable gas stove.
Higher running costs: For many people, the cost of purchasing and installing the stove typically ends up tipping the balances in the gas VS electric stove debate. With those things being equal, however, look to your lifestyle and comfort level with the stove to help make the right decision for you.
In Summary – how should you decide on buying a gas or electric oven ?
In truth, your choice of buying a gas or electric stove is likely to be influenced by
- your previous experience of cookers
- what your kitchen is already set up for
- your own personal cooking preferences
If you use an electric cooker, you’ll use fewer units of energy but, because electricity costs more than gas per unit, this will still end up costing you more.
Once you’ve decided whether to go with gas or electric, it’s worth considering what other features are important to you. Check out our stove buying guide explains what you get at different price points, the different layout options available, how to make sense of cooking capacity and what features to look out for.