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some texas redneck posted:On top of what Ashcans said, the plug for an electric stove is at least a couple of inches deep. Electric stoves often can't sit flush because of that. And if the house was originally set up for a gas range, the outlet box for the stove may be surface mount, which brings it out a couple of more inches (minimum). I'm familiar with that, I dropped my outlet by 6" because of that, so it was in the drawer space instead of centered on the range. I also pulled the range out of the corner so I could get a little elbow room when cooking and mount a microwave above it. I'm adding a couple of wifi light switches for some lighting control action, and in the process I am replacing every light switch to a decorators switch. Today I pulled open the switches for the kitchen and dining room lights. Two three way switches in a double gang, already tight. There are 5!!! Feeds into this box. The single light over the sink is tapped here, and one of the other three ways feeds back to it and out again for the light. I was able to clean up a little bit, but I have bigger plans for this wall coming up so I just jammed it back together today. I spent an easy 29 minutes studying it.
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Dec 1, 2015 07:19
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couldcareless posted:We are in a similar boat where we have gas run in the house, but only to the upstairs furnace and nowhere else. I've just learned to like our electric range and plan to upgrade to an induction top when money is good. Induction is awesome, way more efficient than electric (but that may just be the lovely electric plates I'm used to). However you have to be aware that you may have to replace some of your cooking pots in the switch, as it only works on magnetics metals. To know if your pots work with induction, stick a magnet under it (not on the sides, they don't matter) ; if it sticks, you're good.
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Dec 1, 2015 13:52
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nota posted:Induction is awesome, way more efficient than electric (but that may just be the lovely electric plates I'm used to). However you have to be aware that you may have to replace some of your cooking pots in the switch, as it only works on magnetics metals. To know if your pots work with induction, stick a magnet under it (not on the sides, they don't matter) ; if it sticks, you're good. Definitely something I kept in mind when we were making our registry years ago. We are all set with our newer pieces, might have the odd ball gumbo pot that was handed down to us that might not work, but from what I understand, some tops can have a standard electric coil in addition to inductive ones, so that would eliminate the issue.
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Dec 1, 2015 13:58
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Cook everything in cast iron. 
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Dec 1, 2015 14:03
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I love gas because I can see exactly how much flame I have, and therefore adjust by eyeball to fine-tune how much heat I'm getting. I think induction would be pretty cool but it would probably take me years to re-calibrate my visuo-temporal heatmometer brainparts.
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Dec 1, 2015 19:33
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One major advantage of induction is that it puts FAR less heat into the air than any other heat source, so is better for cooking in warmer weather. The ideal stove would likely combine gas for the oven and half the burners with induction for the other half.
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Dec 1, 2015 20:31
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Couldn't you just get a flat iron disk to go on a burner so that it would get hot and you could put any pot you wanted on there in a pinch?
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Dec 1, 2015 20:32
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AlternateAccount posted:Couldn't you just get a flat iron disk to go on a burner so that it would get hot and you could put any pot you wanted on there in a pinch? Yes.
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Dec 1, 2015 20:44
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Good lord, the heat response would be horrendous, why bother at that point? "Ok, got my rice at a boil, time to turn it down to a simmer." *ten minutes later solid disk of iron finally cools down enough to allow a simmer*
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Dec 1, 2015 20:51
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DrBouvenstein posted:Good lord, the heat response would be horrendous, why bother at that point? The correct response to this is "get a rice maker"
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Dec 1, 2015 21:25
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you wouldn't need a very thick piece of iron; you're looking to transfer the heat, not store it. Make it just thick enough that it won't melt on an inductor set to 'high" and you'd bee good to go. and for something where REALLY rapid temp control is needed like making sauces... physically remove the pan from the burner? wow
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Dec 1, 2015 21:28
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DrBouvenstein posted:Good lord, the heat response would be horrendous, why bother at that point? Sounds like my electric stove, to be honest. Gotta replace that thing with a gas one eventually.
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Dec 1, 2015 22:31
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Alereon posted:One major advantage of induction is that it puts FAR less heat into the air than any other heat source, so is better for cooking in warmer weather. The ideal stove would likely combine gas for the oven and half the burners with induction for the other half. Why a gas oven? My understanding is that electric ovens are superior because humidity is less controllable in a gas oven. They sure are cheaper, though.
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Dec 1, 2015 22:48
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Yeah I think you have that backwards. Electric for the oven, gas for the cooktop is the way to go. I would rather have a decent electric cooktop versus a lovely bottom barrel gas stove though.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:06
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Armacham posted:Yeah I think you have that backwards. Electric for the oven, gas for the cooktop is the way to go. I would rather have a decent electric cooktop versus a lovely bottom barrel gas stove though. Yes duel fuel, which are pretty pricey. I have a gas oven and it's been pretty good, although it's only a year old.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:08
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Screw gas. I have tasted the freedom that is cleaning a smooth sheet of ceramic and I'm never going back.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:18
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Yeah I'd kill for a flat top stove.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:33
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Are the new ones still susceptible to cracking if you put a big cast iron dutch oven (flat bottom) on them? I know that was a Thing about five years ago but I wasn't sure if they had made them better by now.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:36
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moist turtleneck posted:Are the new ones still susceptible to cracking if you put a big cast iron dutch oven (flat bottom) on them? I know that was a Thing about five years ago but I wasn't sure if they had made them better by now. Yes. You need to lift, not slide on those stoves.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:40
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Baronjutter posted:Yeah I'd kill for a flat top stove. You can have mine. Sure, it's easy to clean but it's poo poo if you like to cook.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:42
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I have a non-induction ceramic cooktop and the manual says cast iron is not recommended unless "designed specifically for glass cooktops." I would be worried about it scratching the cooktop more than anything. All my pots are stainless steel anyway.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:45
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Zhentar posted:Screw gas. I have tasted the freedom that is cleaning a smooth sheet of ceramic and I'm never going back. Yeah, the fact that it takes a whole 30 seconds to get it as good as new means that it is always spotless, unlike the gas burners I grew up with, where you were looking at at least 20 minutes, more if you wanted it perfectly clean. Motronic posted:Sounds like my electric stove, to be honest. My brother used to have that problem. Turns out he never noticed the burners had covers  .
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Dec 1, 2015 23:53
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I guess there's some major downsides, I have mostly all cast iron, I just hate cleaning the stove.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:53
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nota posted:My brother used to have that problem. Turns out he never noticed the burners had covers D'Oh! But this doesn't have covers, it's a flat top. And it seems to be worse than regular coil type electric stoves as far as temperature changes, presumably because of the additional mass of the flat top over the burners. So in that vein....yeah, it's probably like running a coil type with covers on it. I mean, I'm used to it so it's all good now. But I still know it sucks because I've spent most of my life cooking on gas ranges. It would be awesome to find a gas range with one induction "burner" on it for heating big pots of water, but I'm guessing anything like that is going to be super expensive. Any one more thing......no no no no gas ovens. They are really not good. Got to be an electric convection oven under the gas range for me.
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Dec 1, 2015 23:58
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Motronic posted:D'Oh!
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Dec 2, 2015 01:00
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I HATE my glass cooktop with a fiery passion. It sucks for cooking and sucks even worse for cleaning. I swear every little boil-over leaves a stain that takes a good five mins to clean. Just give some good iron burners with stainless steel underneath and I'll be happy. Anythings spills? Just wipe it off and you'll be good. Wipe it down with baby oil afterwards to keep some shine. After working in restaurant for so many years it's really hard to get used to crappy electric elements again.
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Dec 2, 2015 01:50
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ExplodingSims posted:I HATE my glass cooktop with a fiery passion. It sucks for cooking and sucks even worse for cleaning. Are you using the special cooktop cleaner? Mild abrasive that gets that stuff off quick. Crappy construction, the fact that I didn't remember there's a gas stub that would have cost a pittance to run up to the stove from an older installation until I was in the shop and determined to come home with a stove.
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Dec 2, 2015 01:58
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StormDrain posted:Are you using the special cooktop cleaner? Mild abrasive that gets that stuff off quick. And use a razor to scrape it clean first. Five minutes is enough time to clean off months of buildup.
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Dec 2, 2015 02:31
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Enourmo posted:you wouldn't need a very thick piece of iron; you're looking to transfer the heat, not store it. Make it just thick enough that it won't melt on an inductor set to 'high" and you'd bee good to go. I use a 4 11/16" box cover for the one (aluminum) pot that doesn't work with my induction top. Crappy construction: I was at work today and needed to fill a bucket. I was directed to a spigot that hangs down from the rafters; all solid copper pipe. Turns out that used to be an exterior wall a couple of additions ago, and they just cut the wall out, but left the hose bib dangling. Fifteen feet or so of copper pipe without a pipe strap to be seen.
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Dec 2, 2015 02:53
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nota posted:Yeah, the fact that it takes a whole 30 seconds to get it as good as new means that it is always spotless, unlike the gas burners I grew up with, where you were looking at at least 20 minutes, more if you wanted it perfectly clean You grew up without MAPP, that and a wire brush cleans a Man Stove in under a minutes. 
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Dec 2, 2015 03:35
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This is the only gas appliance I need in the kitchen: http://www.bluestarcooking.com/products/salamander-broiler/salamander-broiler-details
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Dec 2, 2015 03:41
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Motronic posted:It would be awesome to find a gas range with one induction "burner" on it for heating big pots of water, but I'm guessing anything like that is going to be super expensive. My mother has a cooktop that's 2 gas burners and 2 induction or something like that. She remodeled the kitchen within the past 4 years and most of it came from IKEA. IKEA in the UK, mind.
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Dec 2, 2015 05:53
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Splizwarf posted:You grew up without MAPP, that and a wire brush cleans a Man Stove in under a minutes.
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Dec 2, 2015 06:16
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i like nice words
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e:D'oh, I meant to say 3 minutes in the above post. If your stovetop is all metal and that metal can stand the intense heat of a handheld MAPP torch (which yes can be hilariously high but don't just leave the flame in one place the whole time) then you can clean your stovetop pretty much the same way ovens self-clean themselves. Take the torch and heat everything that's not stovetop until it's brittle and crackling, and the wire brush will rip it all right off. Recommended: good ventilation, a STIFF BRISTLE wooden wire brush (it won't catch fire without smokey warning, but a plastic one may melt or fume terribly, suddenly), and turn off the gas to the stove if at all possible. Since you're applying fire to a place where fire should normally go, logic says you should be okay, but logic hates you and wishes you were dead. I don't want to see "burned through gas line under burner on accident, lost fingat" tomorrow. Be careful and use the torch sparingly, avoiding stuff like gas lines, pets, chrome, and plastic/nonmetal parts. The manliness comment was referring to solid metal gas stoves. gently caress the hybrid ones that are like 80% or more plastic with a bit of metal burner, those are uncleanable without witchcraft. MAPP is probably also bad for glass tops, because it really does get much hotter than a propane burner. Honestly, you could probably just use a propane torch, I bet that focused flame tip is still hotter than a stove burner. The point is that you need a roving pinpoint fire source to destroy the buried remnants of organic structure in tough messes (like boiled-over milk  ) and the wire brush is to break up and dislodge the resulting fragile crust. Doing it with MAPP is just Overblown Internet PosturingTM.
Splizwarf fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Dec 2, 2015 |
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Dec 2, 2015 07:03
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Yeah uh definitely do not spot-heat a glass stovetop with a torch like that. The uneven expansion will make the whole thing crack or shatter.
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Dec 2, 2015 07:10
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Yeah, the only times the welding torch got in the kitchen was to make desserts, I'd never have thought of cleaning with it. It would still have taken some time because the hard thing was cleaning every nook and cranny of the three heavy metal structures going over the five burners.
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Dec 2, 2015 12:05
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GreenNight posted:Yes duel fuel, which are pretty pricey. I have a gas oven and it's been pretty good, although it's only a year old. Thanks, I never knew what dual-fuel meant before. I had assumed it could accept either natural gas or propane, or something like that.
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Dec 2, 2015 13:03
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Splizwarf posted:e:D'oh, I meant to say 3 minutes in the above post.
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Dec 2, 2015 16:11
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ChickenOfTomorrow posted:My mother has a cooktop that's 2 gas burners and 2 induction or something like that. She remodeled the kitchen within the past 4 years and most of it came from IKEA. IKEA in the UK, mind. Thanks for the heads up. I've started looking, but so far all I'm finding in the US are higher end cooktops that are 36+" wide that have a "module" bad where you can throw in a couple induction burners, a grill or if you live in the south a deep dryer, and I'm looking for a 30" stand-alone range. I'm gonna talk to the good appliance shop near me because if it exists this dude will know about it.
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Dec 2, 2015 16:37
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Anne Whateley posted:I was thinking about getting a MAPP torch anyway for cooking, and I'm pretty sure my stove is all enameled metal. I know I can turn off the gas at the wall. I'm still not sure I have enough nerve to give this a shot, but it would be so nice to have a clean stovetop (it had some old blackened stuff when I moved in, so it's never been really clean despite trying every stovetop cleaner they make). The stiff wire brush doesn't scratch the enamel? Is there one you recommend? Eh, for enamel I dunno. Steel will probably damage it, brass might, copper probably won't, but whatever you get, test it someplace people won't usually see. You could make a terrifying cleaning/anticarjacking brush from a dozen feet of 14 or 16 gauge copper wire: run most of it in loops around your hand like you're coiling it up for storage (maybe about 10 inches to a foot per loop), squish it flat, stick a finger or a rod in each end and twist the whole thing some, then use the remaining wire to tightly wrap from about an inch away from one end to about an inch from the other end. Take wire cutters and nip all the loops on the first end and tease each individual wire out straight, or crimp them all at the tip to make hooks if you want to drag instead of pushing. Now you have a stiff tool with abrasive death at one end that probably won't damage enamel. I think they also make enamel-safe copper wool.
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Dec 2, 2015 19:29
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