How To Choose A Gas Cooktop And Gas Oven

At times you’re having difficulty thinking what food to cook and serve your family, this is an important decision to make so as buying a stove. This will influence your home cooking and keep up with the hungry demands of your family.  Assess your needs and compare all the options so you can choose the right stove for your kitchen.

Gas cooktops and ovens come in a variety of styles and sizes. Which one should you choose for your home? Ask these questions to yourself before you shop for an oven or range:

What type of home cook are you? Do you love baking pastries or do you stick with the stove top? Do you take cues from Top Chefs?  Be realistic about the features you need and will use to keep yourself from wasting money on upgrades you’ll never use.

What type of appliances does your kitchen accommodate? Do you have a built-in wall oven and separate cooktop, or do you only have a space for a range? Stick with what will fit into your current set up unless you’re up for renovation to accompany your new appliance purchase.

What type of power outlet do you have? Check if you have a gas line or just an electric outlet.

What’s your budget? 

• $500 – $1,000: You can perform basic cooking functions. Your range of options will be black, white or bisque and a couple of stainless steel cover models within this price range.
• $1,000- $3,000: You have more options when it comes to cooking modes, style and finish, such as stainless steel.
• $3,000-$6,000: You can start to get fancy with options like dual-fuel power, slide-in design, and convection fans.
• $6,000-$10,000: In this price range emulate professional-grade appliances you see in commercial kitchens. For ranges, you’ll see all-stainless-steel construction (not just a finish on doors and control panels), models that are wider than the standard 30 inches to accommodate six or more burners,
• More than $10,000: You can get a customized appliance. There are a number of colors, finishes and built-in features like steam function for baking for the Ovens and Ranges in this group

Cooktops over Ovens

Gas Cooktops

This gives you total control over heat. You don’t have to wait for the element to warm up and temperature can be adjusted instantly. Electric induction cooktops can boil large pots of water faster than Gas cooktops

Advantages:

• Perfect choice for those who prefer the food cooked in the open fire.
• Instant heat and accurate cooking temperatures that allow you to use high heat for stir-frying and immediately follow with low heat for slow simmering.
• With the centralized gas flame, this can help even heat distribution which reduces scorching
• Have relatively low heat emissions as the gas flame immediately disappears when turned off
• Any type of pot or pan can be used.
• Enamel surface ones are easy to clean and less expensive than stainless steel surfaces.

Gas Ovens

Flavors are often better preserved as oven allows for a small amount of water vapor, helps reduce the likelihood that food will dry out.

Two varieties of the gas oven are available:

Fan Forced- or convection ovens

• Heat is dispersed throughout so several dishes can be cooked together with the same temperature.
• The use of the fan means heat circulates quickly, no preheating required.
• Cooking times are faster at a lower temperature so food retains natural juices.
• Simply switch off the fan, for conventional cooking.

Conventional ovens

• Heat souorce varies between top and bottom of an oven
• The heat source is stationary, there are three different heat zones all at the same time
• The heat source at the top of the chamber, the top level is hottest and ideal for baking, the middle section is a moderate temperature zone, the lowest part is cooler and best for long, slow cooking.

Pick what works best for you and your needs. There are a lot of extras that you can select to add some convenience to your cooking. Just remember that all you really need is a stove top that heats pots and an oven that will cook your food evenly.