I love gas. I have used (but not owned) glass, and I have lived with induction, which is nice, but prefer gas to both.

I like to cook a lot so I find traditional glass top electric ranges too slow for temperature adjustments (simmering, stir frying etc...) In our recent kitchen remodel, we replaced the electric cook top with a five burner gas cook top and love it (I usually have had gas in the past.) HOWEVER, there are many who see induction cook tops (also electric) as the ideal compromise between the speed/power of gas and the easy cleaning of glass tops. There are TONS of threads on induction cooking in the appliance forum. I've listed just one below.

Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: induction cook tops

There is no redeeming quality to a glass electric cooktop, other than cleaning ease. Gas is the only way to go IMHO. I just moved & for now have to make do with glass electrode top & dread meal prep, it is SO bad. Will be converting asap.

I wouldn't assume that you could choose either. An electric range will need a 240 plug in, whereas a gas range only uses a 120 one for the ignitors. If the home was built with gas cooking in mind, you'd need to run a new 4 wire 50 amp circuit from the circuit box all the way to behind the desired range location. It might be desirable to do this if you want to switch to induction cooking, but it's totally not worth it for regular electric radiant cooking.

I have a glass cooktop now, and one of my few kitchen regrets is not getting the gas when I had the chance. I prefer the control of gas. The clean up of the ceramic top is great, but I value a stove for COOKING not CLEANING.

I'm putting in a vote for induction. I've cooked on allthree. The repsonsiveness of gas is amazing and the ease of cleanup...well... the best I've ever experienced.

I had never cooked on glass electric untill we moved into this temporary house, only electric coil. As much as in didnt like the coil, I really hate cooking on glass.. Horrible responsiveness. The burners take a considerable time to get very hot, and it does a bad job cooling down from high to low. Grilled cheese sandwiches either take 15 mins to cook or they are completely burned in 30 seconds. And it's not my pans.

The ease of glass cleanup bit is a mystery to me as this thing isn't easy at all. I have to scrub and soak and scrub. Anything leaves a residue.

I can't wait to cook on my new gas rangetop.

I grew up with electric and had never cooked with gas (maybe once or twice over the years). Got married and bought a house that only came with electric b/c we don't have natural gas in our neighborhood. Having gas meant having a propane tank installed. For 15 years, I cooked on a glass cooktop. Not knowing any different, it worked fine for me. However, for 15 years, we've dealt with frequent power outages in our area so when purchasing new appliances recently, we decided to move to gas. Had our propane tank installed at the end of May and have been cooking on my new gas range since. I actually haven't used it that much b/c we've been OOT quite a bit this summer, but I have to say, for the few things I've made, I LOVE the gas! I can't believe we didn't make the transition sooner!

(FWIW, I never had a problem making grilled cheese on my glass cooktop - I just made them last night on griddle that came with my gas range and it wasn't any easier/different really).

I am a convert from electric smooth top to propane and I will never go back. I love the control, the fact I can cook during power outage and okay I also like the looks.

There is no redeeming quality to a glass electric cooktop, other than cleaning ease. Gas is the only way to go IMHO. I just moved & for now have to make do with glass electrode top & dread meal prep, it is SO bad. Will be converting asap.

I have always been timid using gas, because I don't have a lot of experience with it, and I'm a messy cook. I have a glass top electric right now. My plan was to use it until I could afford an induction slide in range. I'm not so sure now. I HATE this thing. Within the first week of use I melted plastic on the top, and it took a chunk of glass with it when i peeled it off. The oil splatter from my husband frying fish has made a gooey hard plasticy ring around the large burner that I cant remove. It definitely takes a lot longer to boil than my old coil top did, and it takes for ever to cool off too. UGH.

Okay... wow!! I guess gas it is then!!

I guess clean up is somewhat easier on a glass cooktop, however I have a couple of stains on mine that I just can't get off and they drive me crazy!

If you are renovating, you may want to keep/run the 220 electrical anyway, in case you upgrade to a dual fuel range - which, if you do a lot of baking is the way to go. Gas is usually preferred for cooking, but electric is superior for baking. A DF range will require a 220.

I had a 220 in our kitchen left behind when a previous owner upgraded from electric to gas, but was advised by my electrician to keep it, both for resale and upgrading in the future. (He knows I'm big into baking.)

Try to go and actually see some gas ranges in action. I knew I wanted gas burners but had never had a gas oven and was afraid of it. Not any more. Really like it. It is sometimes difficult to go to something new but don't let that stop you. If when you see a gas burner and turn it up and down and get a feeling for what it is like to see and control the flame you may have a better idea of whether you want that in your kitchen. It's partly about the results you get but largely about the overall feel of having that flame. Subjective in the end. As far as cleaning -- it's all about attending to things quickly, knowing what works for your burners. If you love looking at it and cooking on it, you will most likely not find it a burden to clean.

The only advantage to a glass top electric range is that it is cheap. If you don't cook much or demand a lot of a cooking appliance it will be OK. Many of my friends and relations have them and don't see why some of us find them so totally #@%**^#.

I was so glad to relegate mine to the landfill, to be replaced by a super gas range.

Being in a perpetual state of premenopause and feeling HOT all the time I had to get away from gas when it came to remodeling our kitchen. It is responsive, but I just couldn't take the heat (pun intended =) Also, cleaning the grates, etc was time consuming and one of my most disliked "chores".

I really wanted induction and I love it! I would definitely recommend it-it has the best of both worlds-responsiveness of gas but easy cleaning like electric.

I, too, would really recommend considering induction. Prior to our remodel, DH had made one request -- gas burners -- because he hated cooking on our old coil-top electric stove. So I had agreed to go with gas until I read about induction. I researched it pretty thoroughly and we decided it was the way to go. It's got the control that gas has, yet has much easier clean-up than either gas or regular electric. Things do not get burned onto the cook-top like I guess they do on regular smooth-tops. And it doesn't put out the heat that gas burners would. I did have to buy some new cookware (but many of my pans were over 40 years old so it was time for new) and DH has always liked to use cast iron pans, so we did have a start on pans that would work on the induction. It's certainly an option you should look into.

I adore gas.

And btw, there are those that believe strongly that standing in front of electric stoves for a lifetime is a cancer risk because of the EMF.

I've had to cook on electric stoves twice in my life ... that was enough. Gas is the only option for me. I don't get the induction allure. Special pans? Talk about exploitation!

Natal,

The only thing "special" about the pans for induction is that they have to be magnetic. Lots of standard pans fit the bill, such as all cast iron, carbon steel, Le Crueset, most All-Clad, many stainless steel pans, etc., etc. It's not exactly exploitation in my opinion -- like you have when you buy something like a Keurig coffee-maker!

Judydel,

There are also those of us who get headaches from the fumes from gas, so nothing is right for everyone!

i'm on vacation now living with an electric stove. let's just say, i almost can't wait to get home. it seems a terribly archaic to me.

Vitamins, my preference for cooking is aluminum (anodized or my mom's old Wearever pots & pans from the '50s). Have a stainless stock pot and small skillet and a few cast iron skillets, but I prefer the aluminum. Induction would never be a good fit for me.

I've lived with electric ranges all my life. Not a big deal to me. Our new 2-oven glass top GE is quite an innovation for me. I believe that there is less indoor air pollution with electricity--be sure to have a big vent system if you go with gas.

Have only had the range 9 months but we're satisfied. We try to keep it clean and are pretty successful.

Electricity in range is more efficient than you may think. (Yes, it's coal-generated in many places but if you look into natural gas production it ain't pretty either--is affecting underground water in the West.) In our range, the "I am hot" indicator remains on long after turn-off but it is okay to touch burner area relatively quickly, probably faster than our old Calrod units and the surrounding enameled steel. A smooth top range offers you additional work space when not in use for cooking. Can't say that about a gas range. No, the responsiveness for turn up-turn down is not as good as induction or gas but once you understand how to work with it, hey, it's what it is.
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Induction is a good option and if it were more available at the lower price range I would own it now. But even at its lower prices, it's rarely offered in white, apparently the mark of a too-common person's kitchen.

The argument about not being willing to change out pots and pans if you go to induction is spurious; would you sacrifice a good kitchen to a set of old pans probably worth $100 or so for sake of memory and sentiment even if you're changing out all the rest of old kitchen? Well, maybe but that's a personal decision and not connected to rational thought. Add $75-200 to the price of induction system if you're changing over but need to buy pans. Keep a portable electric burner or a Coleman stove around if you need to hang onto your old pressure cooker or something similar. Don't let the tail wag the dog.

Gas.

Florantha, if your comment was directed at me I wasn't talking about not being willing to buy new pans, just that I prefer what I already have. Induction has no appeal for me. I love cooking with gas.

Natal,

I got rid of most of my aluminum pans many years ago when there was some thought that using aluminum cookware could be a factor in alzheimer's disease, though I did keep my anodized Caphalon woks and an omelet pan. But I do understand a lot of people prefer to use aluminum pans. And they do not work on induction, so sticking with gas is right for you.

Vitamins, that's too bad, especially since studies haven't been able to prove a link. I figure my mom used them her entire life and her mind was still sharp as a tack when she passed at 91.

Gas or induction. You couldn't pay me enough to ever go back to regular smooth top electric.

The surface heats up, so anything that ends up on the surface gets baked on. Yes, some cleaners get it off, but I almost always had to use a single blade razor to scrape it off. Even then, I got most stuff off, not all. It took A LOT of elbow grease to get it to look decent. The "ease of cleaning" is pure fiction. Easy, maybe in the showroom where they just wipe off dust. The temp was always unpredictable so it seemed boil overs were the norm. I had a mid-priced Kitchenaid Architect series with downdraft. The downdraft was a complete joke, it was only effective for short pans.

I only have a single induction burner, but it is soooo much easier to clean. The pot gets hot. The surface only gets hot from the residual heat from the pot, so no more impossible baked on crud. Even the occasional boil overs are no problem.

We're going with a vintage Chambers for this kitchen. It's gas.

That's funny kathec, I have a vintage Chambers in my basement right now.

Natal,

I'm aware they never established a link and I'm sure they are okay, but I was never very fond of the aluminum pans I had anyway. My mom probably used them as well, though I think she mostly used cast iron and some stainless steel revere ware. And she also was still sharp as a tack until she passed away last year at 95+. Her memory was better than most people I know, regardless of age (except for the last couple of weeks when she was so doped up with pain medication). Hopefully you and I will take after our mothers!

Hope so too, although I have no desire to live that long. ;)

Gas. They'll pry my great-grandmother's Griswold's out of my cold, dead hands. (I don't think one can use cast-iron on inductions...)

Plus...it works when the power's off. I live in an area that gets hurricanes AND ice-storms...and in my 28+ years here we've had three separate occasions when the power was out for more than a week. Gas meant I could feed everyone. (And boil water when we were under orders to boil our drinking water...)

I LOVE gas cooking, much better than induction. We had induction in a vacation home when I was growing up and it was very new technology. It doesn't work for me very well, because I can't see at a glance how much hotter one burner is than another, and then stuff invariably boils over and makes a huge mess instead of just pooling down in the hollow by the burner. Of course, this has a lot more to do with the shortcomings in my cooking style than the induction cooktop, but I can't be the only one who "occasionally" lets the past water boil over :).

mjsee,

Cast iron works great on induction. I'm not sure where you heard that it doesn't. In fact, that was one of the reasons we decided on induction. I, myself, don't really like cooking with cast iron, but DH does and he does most of the cooking during the week since he is retired and I am not.

But you are absolutely right that induction does not work when the power is off, so if you have frequent power outages I would think you would be better off with gas. We do get an occasional power outage, but not frequent. And we can always use our propane grill if the power is out and we need to cook.

vitamins...good to know that gas works with iron! Thanks! Still sticking with gas...because of the power thing. It's not so much that it's all that frequent...but when it happens it HAPPENS. For DAYS.

mjsee,

I certainly understand your sticking with gas then. We had a power outage for several days once -- six days, in fact. We were a low priority since it was just the line to our house and PGE concentrated on outages that were several blocks. It was a real bummer! That was before we had our propane grill, too, so we were cooking on our camp-stove or in the fireplace. And our next door neighbor wouldn't even let us plug in an extension cord so we could at least plug in the freezer! It wasn't fun.

Being without power is a drag. We were out for 10 days, but lucky it was in the winter so I had the wood stove going and cooked on that. We don't have gas/propane on the property, so when the power is off, it's ALL off. But we are on Rural Water, so at least we didn't have to worry about that. At least we didn't have to worry about the freezer as I just put jugs of water outside and let them freeze.

I have induction and really love it. I don't think I'd ever go back to radiant electric. Had that for 20 years . . . The only down side is I can't use my big aluminum canners. If I had the option, I'd have a gas hob for that and power outages, and induction for regular use.

Have you looked at gas on glass? I have had mine for a month and LOVE it! Marries the best of both worlds for me - slide in gas range with ridiculously easy cleanup. It's not the professional range that many on this side use (GE Profile), but it works out great for this family chef!

I haven't seen the gas on glass, but I do wonder if the clean-up can be as easy as it is on induction. The difference would be, it would seem to me, that things could burn on to the glass with the gas on glass, like they apparently do with regular electric gas cook-tops. While they sure don't seem to do so with the induction. But maybe I am wrong about that.

I've never seen gas/glass combo either. I'm really not interested in a professional type range, since I am no where near a professional cook, nor do I have the funds for such. I'll check it out.

Gas. You are lucky you have a choice!

I had a KitchenAid gas on glass when we built our house. I hated it. The burners were up above the glass top, making it easy for pans to tip over, and there were wells under the burner which needed cleaning, as well as the burners. I really disliked it. Then, we replaced it with a five-burner gas on glass which was better, but it still required scouring the burners and the wells. Now, I have induction and I spend about 2 minutes every day, max, cleaning off the cooktop. I have a DeDietrich (imported) which has individual timers on each "burner". I set the timer and don't have to worry about overcooking or burning anything as it automatically turns off at the correct time. Doesn't heat up the kitchen - and is 90% efficient (gas is 50% or less efficient) as all the heat is in the pan. I cooked on induction in France for a month a few years ago and, after just one day, decided that was the way to go.

I love gas. We adore our 1949 O'Keefe & Merritt gas range.

Was mildly curious about induction, but we have someone in the close family with a defibrillator implant, and we didn't want the stove to be off limits for that person. Also, the reports of high-pitched whine with some induction units put us off, since I'm pretty noise-sensitive (dimmer buzzing makes me insane, for example).

My gas on glass is a smooth top (no wells), has the burners sticking up, and is covered by a full cast iron grate. I have had no issues with cleaning, even with boiled over pots of water and spilled blueberry syrup that boiled over and scorched. I think my favorite part is the flat surface (no wells), as my old gas range was horrendous to clean. The other gas range options I saw in my price range/style had stainless tops with wells and I had read that they were a bear to keep clean and showed dirt. I appreciate a clean kitchen, but I don't have/won't spend the time scrubbing my range top each time I use it.

I personally can't wrap my head around the induction cooking - in a way that's similar to me not liking the science behind microwave ovens. I know others love it and it's speed and responsiveness. I'm not sure I like the idea of all of those molecules rearranging themselves before I eat them!