I have cooked with gas, electricity, wood ovens and over open fires outdoors. My preferred energy source is gas. It's fast and convenient. Using electrical stoves has always cost me considerably more than buying a couple of gas cylinders that will last me up to half a year. And, although I love the taste of food that has been prepared over an open fire, it's not something that I can do more than a couple of times a month. How about you?
I prefer using gas for cooking too because it's fast and a lot cheaper than using electricity. Occasionally though, when we have guests drop in from town, we treat them to outdoor cooking that they don't forget any time soon. If I were living in a place where someone could obtain firewood more easily then I'd prefer cooking with firewood during the summer months.
I prefer a gas stove because it's easier to control the speed and temperature of what I am cooking. I just recently moved into a new apartment and everything is gas. It's been an adjustment. Electricity is also more expensive.
Just by reading the title of the thread outdoor cookings with natural fire come to my mind, so fire is definitely my favorite energy source for cooking, I think it gives the food a special taste. By natural fire I mean a fire started with wood and not coal, sure, it takes longer, but it's a great experience.
I use a gas stove so yeah, gas is my favorite energy source. It's also the only cooking device I have in the house, no microwave or electrical stove. Sure, in the winter when I'm also heating the flat I pay a small fortune on gas but it's worth it. What I miss though, is a wood stove. When I grew up I lived with my grandparents in the summers for a few years and they only used a wood stove. The smell of wood burning and the taste of food was definitely different than the one I get by cooking with gas. Not to mention that wood is cheaper!
Perhaps it's where some of you live, but I've never noticed a high electric bill when cooking on an electric stove. Certainly not any higher than what I would pay for gas cooking on a gas stove. While gas cooks more evenly and I like how you can shut it off instantly, unlike electric, where you need to move the pan to a cooler area while the coil cools down - electric is much safer since you don't have to worry about gas leaks. Electric also fares a bit better if you've got a draft in your kitchen, such as having the windows open or a fan on, since it keeps the heat in place, whereas a gas flame will get blown all over the place making it take longer to cook with. Electric can also be even more efficient if you are using an electric cooking appliance instead of just a burner on your stove. For example, there are electric kettles that can boil water much faster than a stove can. There are electric food steamers that will start steaming in like 10-15 seconds, vs 10-15 minutes waiting for the water to boil. Electric pressure cookers are also very efficient with energy use.
We actually have an induction hob and I love it. Would never go back to a normal hob because its so easy to clean and use! And you can take a pan off and touch where it's been and it just feels warm, not hot. So that's electric.
I gave up cooking on LPG gas and now we've been cooking using wood stove and charcoal for more than two years now. From where I come from, the gas and electricity costs are ridiculously high. Since we all work from home anyway, we can afford long cooking hours and honestly, food tastes a lot better when cooked on wood and charcoal. When the cost of LPG has lowered, we were too spoiled on the flavor of charcoal cooked food that we are not considering to back to gas cooking anytime soon.
I love cooking on a charcoal grill. Though the prep time involves some labor, there is something peaceful about watching the fire with a drink in hand. The grill process is also fascinating. I like cooking with a gas stove second because I can see the food while it is cooking.
I just use gas, I've never used anything else. In my grandpa's farm there was a wood oven that was amazing, but that would never be feasible to wear nowadays in the middle of the city! I also never used electricity for that purpose, only gas.
I would definitely prefer to cook using gas stove but the problem is our current landlord disallow us to use that. Instead he provides electrical stove for us to do the cooking, so that is how I do the cooking for now. I don't mind though but it does adds quite a lot of amount into our monthly bill.
