Electric Cookers And Gas Cookers: Another Look At Their Respective Pros And Cons
When choosing a cooker, the first consideration for many people is safety. Are electric cookers safer than gas cookers? The quick answer is yes, but there is more to the story than that, and which cooker is right for you depends on your purpose, circumstances, and even geography. Both types are available in freestanding home models, with two- to six- burners and built in oven. Both have revolutionized cooking around the world and both have advantages and disadvantages.
Let us examine the safety issue first. Gas is highly flammable. If a leak develops, a mere spark from just lighting a cigarette could cause a life threatening explosion and could burn down your house. Electric stoves, when left running, waste power and overheat your kitchen, but pose little risk otherwise. These considerations take on additional urgency in homes with small children who are old enough to climb and get into things.
In the West, of course, direct gas connection, innovative designs, safety valves and automatic shut-off features make gas cooking safer than in the developing world where gas is not supplied by fixed lines but by canisters that must be attached, detached and ignited with great care. In places like this, where direct gas connections are unavailable or only affordable for the wealthy, and electricity is unreliable at best and often nonexistent, gas cookers are often the only option for many people. Cooking with gas also reduce deforestation caused by the demand for firewood in places where electricity is expensive or difficult to obtain.
Portability is a deciding factor as well. For transient workers, campers, and people put out of their homes by wars and natural disasters, portable gas stoves mean hot, nutritious meals and boiled water that is safe to drink, two things that make an enormous difference in disease prevention and quality of life.
The debate on electric cookers versus gas cookers in the West rages on other grounds. Many chefs and other culinary professionals prefer doing their thing with gas because they feel the flame allows for more precision than an electric surface.
With gas burners, you get the required temperature almost immediately, whereas with its electric counterpart, you have to wait for the element to heat up or cool down to the desired temperature, creating a larger margin of error for home cooks. It is common in Europe for chefs to use a combination cooker, with an electric oven built into a gas stove.
Concerned about the environmental impact of your appliances? Gas burners could be the greener option, depending on how electricity is generated in your locality. If your locality burns coal or produces nuclear waste in order to generate power, then gas is probably the cleaner option for you.
Before making a decision on weather to purchase a gas cooker, an electric one or other cooker, you have to figure out your needs and priorities. What is most important to your household? Is it precision cooking, for delicate sauces and souffles? Fire safety? Portability? Environmental impact? Once you have answered these questions, the decision should be easy.
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