Thank you. That's what I'm tending toward.

There's a lot less difference nowadays than there used to be, to the point where it has been suggested that the old saw about gas being moister than electric is the opposite of the current reality.

Both work fine. A lot of ovens nowadays are engineered more toward energy savings and manufacturing inefficiencies than cooking quality. For either fuel, heated convection (the current variety, not what was available 10-15 years ago) can make up for a lot of internal variations in oven temperatures.

The very best ovens sold are electric, and are the most precise. There aren't nearly so many choices for gas. Once you're below the ultra high end, however, the differences are considerably fewer.

Check out the Appliances forum for more information.

Thank you, so much for so much help. I truly appreciate it.

Depends on a lot of considerations:

1. Electric requires less exhaust air / make up air.

2. Reliability of power in your area.

3. Depending on the placement of heating elements, there may be differences in broiling and baking for each electric oven design.

4. Electric may require a more experienced service plumber if something goes wrong.

dcarch

Like Annie, my wall ovens are electric and my cooktop is gas...love them all.

(Just recently replaced the gas wall ovens.)

If you suffer many power outages, a gas cooktop/stove is nice to have but need to make sure it is useable without elec power.

I prefer gas all the way around - especially for broiling.

I prefer gas, but where I live, there is no choice! We have propane, and it's against the county regs to cook with propane indoors. Can't use it for the fireplace either! So, we use wood burning. Evidently propane doesn't float. It stays low and can kill you.

Aside from that, since I was stuck with electric, and we did an entire kitchen remodel, I chose induction. Do I like it? Absolutely!

Benefits are that you get to buy all new pans! It reaches a boil much faster!

Cons are that it's hard to go in-between their presets. You choose the level based on what they have and I have not found a recipe book for induction. Also, it doesn't seem to cook OUTSIDE of the designated burner. There are hot and cold spots. Also, I can't find a two burner griddle for pancakes. I purchased several. They don't work.

I vote for gas!

"---- and we did an entire kitchen remodel, I chose induction. Do I like it? Absolutely!---"

There are electric ovens. I am not sure there is electric induction ovens.

dcarch

Thanks so much for getting back to me.

I have had gas-range-envy my entire adult life. I've got to try the gas cooktop before I move into the 21st century. I'll have electric ovens.

I hope your kitchen turned out to be your dream kitchen.

dcarch, they do exist. I was referring to my cook top. I've seen stand alone induction electric, but not sure if the oven part is induction. Anyway. I vote gas!

stick to your guns, Suzi

I've used both quite often. We cook for 6-10 people (big family!), only eating out 2x a month. So... in my experience, if you know how to cook, the only real difference is gas cooking is pretty "universal" between ranges, whereas the electric range requires a little more finess, and assume it'll take a month or two to really get to know YOUR cooktop and/or oven. i.e. how quickly it heats up/cooks down, if it cooks a little high/low, etc.

Suzi, Induction cook top yes. I just want to make sure that the OP's question about electric vs gas oven is clear. I am not sure there is such an appliance as induction oven for baking around.

dcarch

I often hear people talk about "induction ovens" when they really mean convection ovens.

Terminology:

Oven = a cavity which heats up using direct or indirect heat, into which pots or trays of food, dough or batter are placed to cook in the surrounding hot air.

Cooktop = appliance built into a countertop with elements conveying direct heat for cooking in pots on the surface

Rangetop = similar to a cooktop, but also includes the apron front of the cabinet, and the controls are on the apron, like the top portion of a range. The only version I know of which isn't gas are the Gaggenau Vario 400 dominoes (15" units meant to be used in combination), which have the knobs on the apron, but are actually cooktops.

Range = combination appliance housing both cooking surface and oven

In some parts of the U.S., and possibly elsewhere, the word "oven" is used to refer to a range, i.e., both cooking surface and oven cavity in one unit.

Stove = either range or cooktop in modern usage. Originally meant the thing you burned your fuel in which may or may not have had a surface for putting a pot on or an oven cavity built next to the firebox.

Convection = the movement of air, usually due to a differential in heat. In current cooking equipment, it is used to describe a cooking mode in some ovens where the air is moved either by a fan, or by the shaping of the oven according to the tenets of analytic geometry. The fan is more common. "European" convection has a heating element for the air that is moved by the fan, which provides a very good cooking environment when it's engineered properly.

Induction = using magnets to make ferrous (iron or steel) materials heat up. It is possible to do induction with other metals, but residential cooking appliances don't and won't in the near future--that's a lot harder. Cookware for induction that has other materials in it also has iron or steel slugs or layers. Some multi-media pans are very good and work very well with induction. Some don't work well. Many whine. Many people over a certain age can't hear the whine or aren't bothered by it the way kids and teens are. Some dogs seem to react. Some don't. Induction works by using the magnetic inductors to make a field which reacts with the iron in the pan. The pan heats up, but the only heating of the cooking surface comes from the heat of the pan, and generally is localized under the pan. A slight warmness may come from the electronics. Induction is very energy efficient. You can clean as you go, and even put down paper under your pot to catch splatters. Powerful induction elements can heat your pot very fast, and most have boosters to throw extra power at a big pot to get it started. When there are at least 17 power levels (1-9 with half steps), most people feel like they have the same amount of control and sensitivity as with gas. Many people find 10 levels to be inadequate, but that is a common thing to find on induction ranges.

Induction range = an induction cooktop and standard electric oven as one unit, possibly with convection in the oven. These units draw a lot of electricity, so are usually small (30"), with a single oven and perhaps some limits on the cooktop power and features.

Induction oven = not available in the current marketplace as far as I know. An induction oven uses a big iron slug to heat the oven. The inductors heat the slug, which in turn heats the air. I've only seen them where the slug was at the top of the cavity, but, again, they're prototypes.

Wonderfully informative, thank you very much.

There are many technical limitations to making an induction oven:

An oven needs top heat (broil) and bottom heat (bake). That will make it very expensive to incorporate induction in an oven..

Induction oven offers less efficiency advantage v.s. regular electric oven.

For induction, 1000 watts will always produce less than 3,400 BTUs. That is because part of the watts are used by the electronics outside of the oven

OTOH, an electric resistance oven for 1,000 watts will always produce 3,400 BTUs, (100% efficient) by the law of energy conservation.

I can't think of any reason for making induction ovens.

dcarch

I have a wall oven/microwave combo that is electric. I wanted 2 full size ovens, so I removed my cooktop, top out the cabinet, and installed a gas range in its place. I thought I would use my wall oven more, since it requires less stooping and has a rolling shelf that makes cooking big roasts a breeze. But I guess I'm spoiled by too many years of cooking with gas. The electric oven dries out my foods, necessitating more frequent basting, adding more water to slow-cooked roasts throughout cooking, and generally having to baby my meals more. My gas range is my main oven, and I use the electric wall oven mostly for short term baking, reheating, and holiday overflow.

I think in my own little brain that I have 4 ovens. I have the double electric in the kitchen, then if you cook on the non heat side of the outside Grill, you got another oven. And then, I have my trusty Traeger Smoker. I use that too! Especially in summer. But, my ovens are electric. The broiler on gas is so much better. Just, we opted for a house in the hills with a view, and gave up a lot! You make your choices. Good luck with yours.

Suzi, you may not be able to use gas indoors due to county regs but you are definitely cooking on all burners, and then some !

One last gas v electric item: electric ovens take much longer to heat up.

Some electric ovens take longer to heat than some gas ovens, but it's not true as a rule. Some electric ovens have had a preheat mode which uses all heating elements for at least half a century. Nowadays some electric ovens have super-fast preheats and can be minimally heated (that is, the air at the sensor) in something like six minutes, and maybe 20 minutes (rather than 30-60) for full heat from the sides out. There are many factors in oven heating including ambient temperature, how recently the oven has been used (well insulated ones retain heat in the walls), evenness of heating/location of heat sources/distribution of air, etc., etc. There is no way a blanket statement can tell the whole story. There is a lot of variation oven by oven, but not so much dependent on fuel. One thing to look out for in fast preheat ovens is whether you can turn it off--if you want a cold start, like for brioche or pound cake (egg rising), you'll have to make sure to get an oven that will do that without the fast preheat mode.

Thank you, I hadn't considered all those important factors.

The reason I chose electric ovens is because natural gas is not available where I live, and I doubt it will be in my lifetime. Propane is expensive and prone to wild price fluctuations. Electricity is cheaper and more reliable here, but I've disliked the electric cooktops I've tried. So I bit the bullet and went with just a gas cooktop, but my ovens, my dryer, my hot water heaters, all those are electric.

Annie

I think that's where I'm heading, as well. thank you

Vi, you're very welcome. There's a huge wealth of information in the Appliances Forum, especially real life user info. Oven operation, quality and performance is the most variable of any appliance. Do try to see some live demos and play around with the controls. Find out what the quirks are from owners of current models. There have been huge changes in the way all appliances are constructed (except the old models that they keep making), so relying on past knowledge isn't particularly useful. Good luck with your oven hunt!

Thank you. Once again you have given me some very important information. I didn't know about the 'appliance forum'.

Yes, I figured. I should have linked it in my first message. No harm! A lot of appliance mavens don't know much about cooking. People who cook are the people you need to talk ovens! There are both in the Appliances forum. :) Glad to help any way I can. :)

I'm in that latter category. I cannot wait to get all done and begin baking!!

Late to the party here, but I had gas ovens many years ago and now have electric. The electric ovens have always heated faster than the gas and they are much more stable in terms of temperature for short bakes like cookies and buns.

And then there's the safety factor. I will admit right off the bat that this is purely OCD on my part as I'm certain there will be others who scoff at what I'm about to say. I love my gas cooktop because I can see the flame. You can't see the flame on a gas oven unless you open the door which causes you to lose heat; not what you want to do when baking. It's because I can't see the flame that I've never trusted gas ovens, gas clothes dryers, or most gas water heaters.

When I lived in NJ, we had a gas (propane) furnace. When it was on, you could easily see the flame. We also had a gas (propane) water heater. It was the tankless type that only went on when you opened the hot water faucet or took a shower. Once again, you could see the flame. For that reason and that reason only I would recommend an electric oven over gas.

No scoffing from my end. You hit my primary concern with anything gas right on the nose.

I have an electric true convection wall oven and an all-gas range (which has a gas oven). I like them both and think I could live with either and not really miss the other too much. I do like the gas better for broiling and the electric oven better for baking cookies. In a pinch if I had to select one I would choose gas.