Eight simmers and a Scorch

[david_42]

One of the reasons I don't cook much any more is the electric stove. Each "heating" element has nine settings: simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, BURN! What's even worse, is it isn't actually simmer, it's burn, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, burn. I have nice heavy cookware, so this insane cycle is damped out, but I can make and drink a cup of coffee before the pan is hot enough to fry an egg. I put propane into the house two years ago, but propane stoves are hard to find and pricey. Not to mention tearing the kitchen apart to run the pipe.

All of you who brew with electric stoves have my sympathy.

 

[eriktlupus]

i will never ever again cook on an electric stove, for much the same reasons as david mentions. NG rulz

 

[Chriso]

We have NG hookup in the kitchen sitting right there all innocent-like, but our stove is a 15-yo Electric freebie from my parents, who replaced theirs the week we moved in.

Blah blah gift horse in the mouth, yeah, but god I hate electric. My prior apartment had gas stove, and I was in heaven for the 14 mos I lived there. I want my gas appliances back. Electric can bite my shiny ass.

 

[the_bird]

When we moved from our old apartment (which had a gas stove) to the house (where we had to go electric), I found that my cooking diminished significantly. I just didn't have the same enthusiasm for cooking. I love making a nice, quick, healthy stir-fry, but it's hard as hell to do when it takes forever to get the pan up to temp (and worse, it takes forever to recover heat once you've added your ingredients).

For brewing, worthless for boiling more than maybe 2.5 gallons, max, and even then it's a total PITA to get anything more than a real soft boil. I never saw a big hot break with my couple of mostly-AG batches on the electric stove; I was amazed at what I saw when I finally got the propane burner!

 

[FlyGuy]

Are you guys talking those flat-top glass stoves, or the coil electric stove? I have the standard coil type, and I haven't experienced these types of problems. Stove has good temp control (although admittedly not excellent like gas), and I am now doing full 6.5 gal boils on the stovetop on a single burner with one pot (easily).

Clearly not all electric stoves are equal.

 

[Chriso]

Coil type.

The glass top just SCREAM "burn yourself burn yourself burn yourself" every time I go near them, so if it was a choice between a glass top and fast food for the rest of my life, I'd choose the fast food.

I noticed the same thing as the_bird though. At my old crib, I used to cook each and every day, and I *NEVER* moaned about it and I even did the dishes reg'rly.... These days, I go to the kitchen, open the fridge, stare at the stove, b*tch about how long it'll take to heat up, and wander off hungry.

 

[mr x]

I like my glass top. It won't transfer as much heat as the coils, but does a pretty good job with good range of heat settings. At the girlfriend's, all I use are Le Creuset and cast iron cookware, which really are the medicine for coil elements.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I never cooked with gas until I moved into my current house. I LOVE IT! We're in the process of moving, and SWMBO and I have already concluded that having a gas range in our next place is nearly a requirement.

 

[david_42]

The real bite is I have one of these in the pole barn:

NG and too wide for the kitchen. Love those two-stage burners!

 

[FlyGuy]

Wow -- that's gorgeous.

 

[the_bird]

I noticed the same thing as the_bird though. At my old crib, I used to cook each and every day, and I *NEVER* moaned about it and I even did the dishes reg'rly.... These days, I go to the kitchen, open the fridge, stare at the stove, b*tch about how long it'll take to heat up, and wander off hungry.

It's not that I don't COOK anymore, it's just that I tend to be a lot lazier with it... so I might be more inclined to do up some pasta or something, rather than a quick stir-fry that would usually be a lot lighter and healthier for us.