Do Chefs Prefer Baking With Gas Or Electric Ovens?

Do Chefs Prefer Baking With Gas Or Electric Ovens?

If you regularly enjoy a homemade pizza or an avid home chef looking for a high-quality oven, you might want to consider which type of oven chefs prefer using when baking.

There is no reason why you cannot cook your favorite restaurant recipes or like your favorite chef.

All you need is the same cookware as your favorite chef, and you will be well on your way to making top-tier recipes. So, which ovens do chefs prefer using; gas or electric ovens?

A survey done by the Propane Education and Research Council, show that, 96% of professional chefs prefer cooking with gas ovens to electric ones. Results  shows that gas ovens offers, better heat control, Fast response speed, versatile, easy to clean and maintain.

The study showed that chefs preferred gas ovens because they offer better cooking control and energy efficiency for stir-frying vegetables or various searing meats.

The flame from gas ovens heats all the sides of the pan evenly, enabling easier and fast cooking.

Gas ovens also make tastier food as they ensure the food maintains all of its nutritional content.

Since you will prepare meals for your loved ones several times a day, it’s vital to invest in the right appliances.

In particular, your stove and oven are likely to be the most used appliances in the kitchen as they play a significant role in your overall cooking experience.

So, let us find out the critical differences between gas and electric ovens and why chefs prefer using gas ovens.

Why Do Professional Chefs Prefer Baking Using Gas Ovens?

Professional chefs prefer using gas ovens because they are easy to clean, easy heat control, and high response speed, among many other reasons.

Let’s check out the benefits of using gas ovens.

• Fast response speed

One of the primary reasons professional chefs prefer using gas ovens is that they respond quickly when heated.

Professional chefs need to have quick turnovers when making fresh and beautifully made food for their clients.

It’s beneficial to use a gas oven(Amazon Link) as it takes only a few seconds to ignite and reach higher temperatures.

Similarly, gas ovens take seconds to cool down, making them very energy efficient. Such quick response time makes it easy to cook delicate substances, like sauces.

This kind of control can make the difference between a too runny sauce and one with perfect consistency.

• Effective heat control

Another impressive feature of gas ovens is their efficient heat control.

Unlike electric ovens, where you need to remove the pan or tray as it heats up or cools down, gas ovens offer instant heat control.

Directly linked to its instant response time, once you crank up the heat in your gas oven, the flame heats the pan instantly.

As a result, you can easily experiment and avoid burning your meals.

When it comes to electric ovens, you might need to move your pan away from the burner to prevent it from burning.

But with gas ovens, you do not need to do so, making it a more convenient option for professional chefs.

• Applicable for use by a wide range of cookware

Other than impeccable heat control and rapid response speed, gas ovens are also ideal for using a wide variety of cookware.

One of the major drawbacks of electric cooktops is that users have to use cookware that is nice and flat to benefit from even heat distribution.

If you often buy new pans, then this electric oven feature will not cause any effect.

However, if you are like most professional chefs, your pans are likely slightly bent or warped, meaning they will not lie flat on the cooking surface.

If you use such bent or warped pans on electric ovens, you are likely to experience cold and hot spots, making cooking various meals evenly a real hassle.

Luckily, gas ovens ensure even warped or bent pans receive the same heat across their entire bottom surface.

So, whether you use a large skillet that has become warped over the years or woks, gas ovens will ensure well and evenly cooked contents.

• Simple to maintain

Generally, it’s relatively easier to repair and maintain gas ovens than electric ovens. Most electric hobs and several of its other components have become phased out over the years.

If they are still in the market, they are pretty expensive to repair and maintain.

Even the modern electric ovens that come with digital controls are quite costly to maintain, even though they may seem more convenient to use.

For instance, an electric hob’s control panel is quite expensive to buy and hard to find.

Furthermore, if it becomes damaged, you will probably need an oven engineer to repair the entire panel and not the one or two failed buttons.

Do not forget that you will still need to pay for the services of the oven engineer.

When it comes to gas ovens, their spare parts are more readily available and easier to replace.

Furthermore, it’s cheaper to repair most of its components and troubleshoot them than an electric oven.

Additionally, you can also repair the gas oven yourself, but enlisting the services of an engineer is also cheaper than that who fixes the electric oven.

In most cases, you will only have to call your gas provider to relight the pilot light

• Easy to clean

We all know cooking can be a messy affair, especially if there is more than one cook in the kitchen. Notably, electric ovens are messier than gas ovens.

When cleaning such electric ovens, you must use a special cleaning agent to wash or scrub the burnt food on the unsightly burner while not scrubbing out the surface.

Alternatively, experienced chefs prefer using gas ovens because of their easy-clean features.

You remove the steel grates, soak them in the sink and wipe off any foods or crumbs left on the stovetop.

Multipurpose cleaning spray can also be used to remove any stubborn cook-on spills.

Additionally, given that the surface of gas ovens is lower than that of electric ovens, food does not get stuck as easily as it does on electric ovens.

It is also worth noting that gas ovens have a dryer heat, meaning that food substances do not get stuck on the surface often.

Do Professional Chefs Prefer Cooking With Gas Or Induction?

Although many expert chefs have confessed their preference for cooking with gas ovens over the years, most have become induction cooking enthusiasts.

Many professional chefs opt for glass-ceramic induction cooktops because they are more environmentally friendly than gas or electric ovens.

Induction cooktops are an extremely efficient, safe, and modern cook option that uses electromagnetism to effectively transfer the heat to the cookware on the cooktop surface.

Using the coils located directly below the slim induction cook top’s surface, heat is directed only to the induction-compatible cookware, leaving the rest of your home and cooking surface cool.

As a result, it is impossible to burn yourself while using this cooktop as it only transfers heat to magnetic pans and pots that can be at least the size of a small pot.

The stove is smart enough to identify varied materials, like metal jewelry, stray silverware, and other materials, and melts them away.

As a result, it makes it difficult for substances to stick to their surface.

As such, these cooktops are quite easy to clean as you can leave a takeout container or plastic bag on them, and they will not melt.

Another reason why professional chefs are moving towards induction cooktops because they are more energy-efficient than electric and gas ovens.

While traditional electric ovens use approximately 65%-70% of the heat generated to cook food, gas ovens use 40%.

The other 60% of the heat heats your home, the rest of the stove, and anyone close to it.

When it comes to induction cooktops, they utilize 90% of the heat generated, making them a more energy-efficient solution.

Furthermore, induction cooktops do not utilize gas at all, meaning there is no release of byproducts like carbon monoxide or risk of leaking gas, which is harmful to your health.

These cooktops are also relatively simple to clean.

If you want to remove dried foods from their surface, use a glass scraper and scrape the substances by positioning the scraper at a 20-degree angle to avoid damaging or scratching the cooktop.

Proceed to wipe with a damp cloth to ensure that there is no residue.

Use a cooktop rubbing cream or white vinegar with a non-abrasive scrubbing sponge to remove any remnants of oil and food substances.

Wipe the surface with a paper towel or cloth repeatedly to dry it and prevent damaging it.

Are Gas Ovens Dangerous?

Regardless of the type of heat source you use to cook your food, there is a chance that they can create indoor air pollution during cooking, resulting in a hazardous environment.

Gas ovens often use natural gas and propane, releasing formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and other dangerous pollutants into the air, harming pets and humans.

Various studies show that air can be unhealthy to breathe in when people cook in kitchens with inadequate ventilation systems.

The best way to avoid the effects of indoor air pollution caused by gas ovens is by ensuring that your kitchen has proper ventilation using high efficiency and a properly installed range hood over your gas oven.

Premium quality and highly effective range hoods have a low noise (sones) rating and high cubic feet per minute rating.

It is also vital for owners of gas ovens to enlist the services of a qualified technician to inspect them for carbon monoxide and gas leaks annually.

Another way of improving the ventilation system in your kitchen is by ascertaining that the range hood directs the gas to the outdoors and that you always use it while cooking.

It’s also advisable to always cook on the back burners since range hoods exhaust from this section more efficiently.

If you do not have a range hood over your gas oven, it is best always to use a ceiling or wall exhaust fan when cooking.

You could also opt to open the windows and doors to enhance airflow in the kitchen area. However, be careful that the open windows and doors do not affect the flame produced by the oven.

Tips For Using A Gas Oven

Although gas ovens are more efficient in cooking, users should take several precautions to operate them safely.

Improper use of gas ovens could result in burns, fires, and even carbon monoxide poisoning. Below are some tips to ensure the proper and safe use of gas ovens.

• Do not use a gas oven to heat your home as it increases the chances of carbon monoxide poisoning.
• You could also opt to install a carbon monoxide detector, keep a fire extinguisher close, and even inspect your smoke alarm for better safety management
• Ensure that the gas oven has proper ventilation, preferably using a range hood that vents to the outside
• Use appropriately sized cookware that, when placed on the gas oven, the flame does not flare up around it
• Always pay attention to the food cooking on the cooktop and avoid allowing it to boil over as it can put out the flame. In turn, this increases the risk of an explosion or fire.
• Do not leave any flammable materials, like towels, plastic dishes, or boxes, around the stove burners
• Clean the burners regularly and carefully

Conclusion

So, if you want quick response time, better heat control, and easy cleaning and maintenance that professional chefs enjoy in their kitchens, investing in high-quality gas ovens are ideal for achieving this at home.

Gas ovens are impressive kitchen appliances that come with a long list of benefits. However, they also have their drawbacks, which you should be very wary of.

However, for sure, you no longer have to struggle with electric ovens anymore when making your favorite meals for your loved ones.