A while back a discussion of the implications of moving from gas to electricity generated a great deal of heat if not much light. I am coming up on six weeks since replacing my Jennair dual-fuel range with a KitchenAid electric one. Here are my experiences:
Electric takes a bit longer to get to cooking heat but ultimately gets much hotter. Since I use heavy cookware, i.e. cast iron and hard anodized aluminum, the temperature response is not much different. I have had to move a pan off the burner when it got too hot but that was just learning curve. An infrared thermometer is great help. In short, I have experienced no real downsides to electric. On the upside I haven’t burned my hands on overheated handless. The heat is far more even without the “ring of fire” that a gas stove creates. Yesterday I used a round-bottom wok with a wok ring. It worked much better than on gas. And the quiet is nice too. All in all, I am sold on electric.
The earlier discussion did not influence my decision. I had to go with KitchenAid because I have down-draft venting. I cooked on a friend’s electric stove over Christmas and found it just fine. So, when I had to decide the higher cost of gas plus an expected government rebate made the choice easy. Also, I bought the ductless vent kit so I will no longer be sucking cold air into the house when I run the downdraft ventilation.
It is a glass cooktop with what I suppose are infrared burners. Induction was not available with downdraft and I did not want to have to replace half of my cookware.
