Gas or Electric

I prefer gas.  It's not the gas that I love but the fire that it gives.  Fire is primitive, it's how cooking should be performed.  Electric gives me many problems because the stove never seems to heat evenly enough for me whether the burners or raised or flat.  If the electricity goes out in a storm or I forget to pay the light bill, not only does frozen food thaw but anything needing to be cooked cannot be.  Electric burners stay hot for a little while after their turned off, I can't stand the drip pans.  They become nasty, ugly contraptions that really have no real use unless you spill a good amount of something but even then they don't hold much at all.  Once you remove a burner it seems they never settle exactly as when new. 

Now gas, here is the many reasons as to why I love cooking with gas:

• It's primitive - okay, we already established that.
• Fire heats evenly, and I don't have to worry about it regulating temp correctly.
• If there is a power-outage, food may thaw in the fridge but I can still cook, have heat and light.
• No disgusting, useless drip pans.
• No need to remove the burners.

I think that what matters to people mainly is the whole safety issue.  Really gas stoves/ovens are a lot safer now than they were before.  There are a lot more regulations and compliances that these contraptions need to meet before they are ready for our kitchens, homes, families.  Gas leaks are everywhere, not just in kitchens with gas appliances.  Actually, gas appliances do not cause fires or explosions when used properly.  But really, nothing does when used properly.  Everyone has a gas pipeline running somewhere near them, underground according to pipeline101.  So permanently and totally shielding ourselves from this is in most cases a moot point. 

Cooking on an electric stove/oven is a hassle!  To do any work on it you have to turn off the circuit breaker or else!  That is something that had never occurred to me until I saw one getting serviced recently.  You can actually get majorly electrocuted just by replacing the little metal conductor thing that the burners' leads snap into.  That is serious stuff!  It's just something that hasn't occurred to me before.  I mean, I know to unplug a computer prior to opening its chassis, unplug a lamp or basically anything else electric prior to doing any repairs or installs.  But I guess people just wrestle with electic stoves and ovens so much; re-seating the burners, replacing the drip pans (drip pans have gotten to be quite pricey now-a-days) that turning off the power for the stove at the circuit breaker just is not something that comes to mind.  I mean, you can wrestle with this big contraption and pull it out from its covey to unplug it several times a day or week but who does that?!  I mean, really?  People could also turn the power off at the circuit breaker the multiple times during the course of a week.  Just be careful to not turn off the wrong item, say the living room TV during the game or favorite show!  Lol!

However, cooking with gas is much less of a hassle for me.  A lot of people are afraid of the pilot light; lighting it, that is!  With gas stoves/ovens all you get is raw surface.  Cooking may require a bit more technique and knowledge of the appliance but it is cooking in it's rawest form besides fireplace and coal, campfire.  If you were to set a flame to a gas line then, yeah I'd worry!  But as I said earlier, the safety pre-cautions built in with gas stoves/ovens really help alleviate a lot of that worry!  Okay so, my fiancé is scared of gas appliances.  I grew up with them, and believe me.. back then, it was good.  Well, it's far greater now, blame technological advancements.  So uh no, you cannot accidentally leave the gas on and end up blowing up yourself and the neighborhood.  If you light the pilot on your stove or in your oven, you are not setting fire to an actual pipeline.  There is only a small amount of gas, aka BTU's, that is allowed for your kitchen appliance.  It's really regulated and takes the fear out of it.

I am posting a link to some referenced topics, also some of my favorite appliances that will hopefully be making a permanent appearance in my new kitchen.

Links
Thermador slide-in-ranges
GE gas ranges
A crash course in gas pipelines by pipeline101
BTU's and gas