Electric Hob
It’s only when we go away that I realise how lucky we are at home, in one of the the more civilised parts of the country.
At home we cook on gas!
In many of the other places we visit, for long weekends or even longer holidays, they use electricity. And cooking on electric hobs can be a nightmare.
Fair enough, millions of people around the world use electricity or worse, for cooking their food but I was brought up on gas. My work experiences (remember I was a chef) have all been on gas and at home we have a gas hob. There’s the rub though, we have an electric oven – which is fine, (Electric ovens allow the use of fans to distribute the heat better, they heat up quicker and are more controllable than gas), BUT – it’s the hob bit I’m addressing here.
With gas you have instant fingertip control of the heat you are applying to your food whereas with electricity it is much more of a faff. Bring a pan to the boil on gas and you know that the conduction/convection process is under way, then, once boiled you can immediately turn it down to a simmer; with an electric hob however, you have to have another ring ready to simmer on or you have to wait for the ring/plate to cool a little. I’m sure many (of you?) manage but it’s a real pain to me.
In many commercial kitchens solid-top stoves are used. The centre is heated by gas and the heat spreads throughout the entire top. The heat is not even though, and the solid-top is cooler closer to the edge than the middle. This still allows more precise control of cooking than an electric hob (whether rings – as per picture shown, or solid pads).
Even LPG stoves are better than electric ones – despite the lower heat.
Electricity = good. Electric hobs = bad. (Moan over).
Saturday Walks 