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RANT: I really hate the modern kitchen

J

jagec

Lifer
So we have these electric stoves...cool looking, none of that dangerous "gas" stuff...too bad they cost much more to operate, and don't heat evenly because (surprise!) your frying pan is slightly rounded at the bottom, so it only touches a couple coils. Of course, on top of that stove you put a nice, thin, light frying pan with that great TEFLON coating so nothing sticks to it...except stuff DOES stick to it, possibly because of the hot spot caused by a thin pan and uneven heating, and you don't dare scrub at it to dislodge anything. Finally, you have to use those plastic spatulas to keep from scratching the stuff. They work great...until you actually try to cook with them, in which case they melt at the end, looking like crap and leaving bits of plastic in your food.

Gimme a GAS stove with a CAST-IRON frying pan and a METAL spatula, any day of the week. It may take a little longer to warm up, but it's worlds better in every other way.

That is all.
 
1/10.
+4 because gas is better than electric.
-1 because electric can actually be cheaper than gas (I get a special rate from the electric co. since my neighborhood has no gas service).
-1 because where in TFM does it say that you can't use your cast iron pan on your electric stove?
-1 because decent plastic and silicone cookware will not melt.

Not using crappy cheap cookware would eliminate most of the problems listed.

 
I have a glass top stove, and I bought all "flat" teflon-tech cookware to go with it. So it all sits flat on the glass top. They don't offer gas here.

On the downside, the glass top is a serious pain to keep clean, involving hours of polishing\waxing a week.

And I've never had a problem with my teflon cookware metling, or my plastic spatulas.
 
sounds like you just need better pots instead of cheap thin pots.

cuisinart chef's classic ftw! (steel bottom, steel interior, aluminum core, very heavy, very even heating) (thanks karenmarie!)

(ikea 365 blows, cheap pots at target/walmart blow, a lot of the farberware pots blow, etc)
 
Originally posted by: jagec
So we have these electric stoves...cool looking, none of that dangerous "gas" stuff...too bad they cost much more to operate, and don't heat evenly because (surprise!) your frying pan is slightly rounded at the bottom, so it only touches a couple coils. Of course, on top of that stove you put a nice, thin, light frying pan with that great TEFLON coating so nothing sticks to it...except stuff DOES stick to it, possibly because of the hot spot caused by a thin pan and uneven heating, and you don't dare scrub at it to dislodge anything. Finally, you have to use those plastic spatulas to keep from scratching the stuff. They work great...until you actually try to cook with them, in which case they melt at the end, looking like crap and leaving bits of plastic in your food.

Gimme a GAS stove with a CAST-IRON frying pan and a METAL spatula, any day of the week. It may take a little longer to warm up, but it's worlds better in every other way.

That is all.
Click to expand...

Yes, gas >>> electric. You're absolutely right. After that your rant pretty much runs into a brick wall.

The words "thin and light" do NOT belong in the same sentence as "nice" when it comes to cookware. And if your frying pan isn't flat on the bottom, throw it away. Go buy some better cookware, like All-Clad or Le Creuset or Calphalon or something. And if you bought silicone spatulas with the red handles (i.e. the heatproof ones), you wouldn't have melted plastic in your $5 pan.

/end rant about rant
 
Originally posted by: Nebor
I have a glass top stove, and I bought all "flat" teflon-tech cookware to go with it. So it all sits flat on the glass top. They don't offer gas here.

On the downside, the glass top is a serious pain to keep clean, involving hours of polishing\waxing a week.

And I've never had a problem with my teflon cookware metling, or my plastic spatulas.
Click to expand...

I must agree with the remark of the glass stoves: they do take ages to clean, but they do look better as well, don't they?

Also, the other big disadvantage is that if you want to turn down the heat on a electrive stove, it takes some time for the heat to die down on the plate, and therefore it's a PITA when you are boiling pasta, for example, and you wanna turn the heat down, slightly, so that stuff doesn't stick.

My mom was also telling me how stuff on a stove is more prone to sticking because of the same issue I outlined above: that it doesn't cool down fast enough, as well as the heat being directly in contact with the pan (though I don't know how that makes any sense).

edit: also forgot to mention that it is impossible to make things like rotlis (Indian) on it. Don't know why, don't know how to make one, but my mom can't make them on it. I'm thinking it's because you need to puff the rotlis on a direct flame after cooking them, so they don't stick.
 
Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Gas>>>electric.
Click to expand...

I just bought my first house in 10 years. Since my last house I've had electric and I had forgotton just how much gas >>> electric!
 
Gas vs electric: Induction heating for the win. Electric convenience, instant heat response, and the ability to hold low temperatures steady (which gas really sucks at). Gas price increases have eroded energy savings.

Heck, if you don't want induction heating, learn to be a good cook (where you are at the point that you don't need a crutch) and lift the pot for a couple seconds for the coil to cool. Or, good quality thick heavy pots/pans eliminate that argument since the metal is a buffer (no difference between gas and electric heat speed changes). And gas ovens/stoves still cost a lot more to begin with than coil stoves.

Teflon pans: You got crappy ones. Newer ones let you use metal utensils.

Plastic spatulas: silicon or teflon for the win. Why are you using low temperature plastics for high temperature uses?
 
Originally posted by: dullard
Gas vs electric: Induction heating for the win. Electric convenience, instant heat response, and the ability to hold low temperatures steady (which gas really sucks at). Gas price increases have eroded energy savings, and gas ovens/stoves still cost a lot more to begin with. Heck, if you don't want induction heating, learn to be a good cook (so you don't need a crutch) and lift the pot for a couple seconds for the coil to cool.

Teflon pans: You got crappy ones. Newer ones let you use metal utensils.

Plastic spatulas: silicon or teflon for the win. Why are you using low temperature plastics for high temperature uses?
Click to expand...

Yea, but they suck at cooling down! So that sucks.
 
Originally posted by: logic1485
Yea, but they suck at cooling down! So that sucks.
Click to expand...
Induction cools instantly. And I edited for those who don't want induction: learn cooking skills.

I will give you the wok argument. Woks don't heat well on an electric stove.
 
Originally posted by: dullard
Originally posted by: logic1485
Yea, but they suck at cooling down! So that sucks.
Click to expand...
Induction cools instantly. And I edited for those who don't want induction: learn cooking skills.

I will give you the wok argument. Woks don't heat well on an electric stove.
Click to expand...

yeah but aren't induction far more expensive then gas and electric?

i have been watching shows "kitchen renovation" etc and they seem to like it.
 
Originally posted by: waggy
yeah but aren't induction far more expensive then gas and electric?
Click to expand...
Induction is about the same as a high-end gas or coil. You are right, if you go for completely low end, induction price > gas > electric coil. Maybe, my first post was confusing the way I wrote it.
 
I will never buy a house with an electric range, oven, drier, water heater, or furnace. All five of those should be gas of some sort, whether natural gas or propane I doesn't matter, but they will be gas. I hate electric heating.

ZV
 
Electric is not your problem. You need better cookware. For the most part, I only use All-Clad Stainless and a 4 generation old cast-iron skillet.
 
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