Gas -vs- Electric cookers.

electric cooker or gas cooker?

What do you recommend and why?

Depends on whether you are getting an all-in-one unit or seperate oven/hob. According to people who know their stuff on cooking (not me), you should always get a gas hob, because of instant heat and all that malarky. However, electric ovens seem more efficient. Personally speaking, I have electric oven and gas hob and it all works very well..

If you have the option of both have heard people say one of each is keeping all options open i.e. possibly gas hob (if available) and electric oven or vice versa.

Re: A mixture of both

Same here. I have a gas hob and an electric oven.

Marion :hat

Gas or electric?

Gas hob, definitely. I am a serious cook and there is no comparison. Gas is infinitely more controllable and less wasteful. IMO you cannot do a decent stir fry on an electric hob.

I am less opinionated about ovens. Mine is electric, and I am happy with it. There is more moisture in a gas oven, which may suit some styles of cooking.
cheers,
Diziet

boardgas

sorry to bring this slightly off topic...we recently got out second boardgas bill, we have an electric oven and a gas cooker btw.

In the second bill there is an item "supply charge" of about 23 euro, on top of the actual gas consumption which was around 50 euro. We were a bit shocked as we though Gas would be cheaper for heating and all that.

We called board gas and they said we were put on the most expensive option and that they were going to send a leaftlet to explain the available options and that to change from the current one we would need to get a reading fomr the meter...does this sound correct? is it normal for board gas to slap people on the most expensive bracket and wait to see if the coped on? also is this supply charge going to be there every bill or is it a one off? on the phone they didn't say.

also, gas cooker, no doubt, proper.

Re: boardgas

Indeed Bord Gais do have a range of tariffs

[broken link removed]

They dont I think fall over themselves to tell you about them

It depends on your consumption totally - those numbers on the Bord Gais page should give you guidance as to approximately which tariff is best

edited for bad maths !

evil!

thanks evil doctor K!

I've read through the previous postings on the gas vs electric cooker debate and found them to be most useful.

However, my property is for rental (with a possibility that I will live there in a few years)
I prefer gas hob & electric cooker. But, a lot of people reckon that gas could be more dangerous in a rental property?

On the flip side of that, ceramic electric hobs are easily damaged....

what to do???
Dunners.

Why not get the gas fitted and blanked off. Get a cheap, if possible, electric hob fitted for the tennants. Buy a gas hob when you move in.

Nogser

gas

Most chefs prefer gas.A reasonable gas cooker is not more expensive than an electric one.I got mine for €200 and fitted it myself.For the hob it is initially cheaper to buy an electric one,but the difference is small. Electric hobs are easier controlled and therefore preferred by chefs.You don't have to buy a unit with both of them in one piece.
Gas is nearly safe. Most (gas)household equipments are coming nowadays with auto switches that switch off the appliance in case the gas cant burn i.e. it comes out accidentally.And it stinks,a warning smell in case everything goes wrong.
More people are killed by electricity faults than by gas explosions.

Re: gas

A few years ago, when I was renting a house as a student, I only had about 3 hours sleep before an exam and accidently set myself on fire off a gas hob.

I managed to avoid them until I got my new house recently, I would never go back to an electric hob - makes such a difference when cooking.

Gas vs electric cookers

thanks all. Hadn't thought about putting in electric for now and replacing it later with gas - think that might be the best idea overall.