One of the problems with the modern life style. Since we aren't out farming
during the summer, and tilling and planting, we have too much time on our
hands.

Cooking on a gas stove isn't going to kill you for toxins, unless you get
the recipe wrong. Go find something more important to concern you.

* Quit smoking
* Reduce your cholesterol intake
* Get away from the computer, and get some exercise
* Wake up a half hour earlier
* Drink grape juice every day
* Stop drinking coffee
* Wear your seatbelt, always. Even for short trips.
* Never leave children unattended in the bath tub or shower
* Make the kdis wear their bicycle helmets
* Wear aluminum foil on the side of your head where you hold your cell phone
* Never let your dentist Xray your gonads.

Any of these is more important than a trace of gas toxins from the stove.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


"phaeton" wrote in message
oups.com...
Me cooking isn't an issue at all.

And actually, it's not that she prefers to *cook* on electric, it is
more one of the environmental impact of gas vs. electric, both locally
(in the house itself) and the big picture. I can see her point in that
every time you fire up a gas stove you are releasing a great deal of
toxins into your living space. As small as this house is I'm starting
to wonder if she's right- Baking a few loaves of bread or
slow-simmering something might asphyxiate us.

And then there is the big picture environmental impact. No need to
start a debate about fringe groups but we both tend to lean a little
towards the "green" crowd. Sure, electricity generator plants burn
fossil fuels to create energy also (around here they are coal) but
they're probably a model of efficiency for what they are doing.

Regarding electric stoves- my current roommates have a brand new
smooth-top electric. It seems really nice, actually- it heats up
quick, but my guess is that will change as it gets older. Still
remains hot for an hour after you turn it off though.

Something it does that I don't particularly like- if you turn one of
the 'burners' on to a low or mid level, i.e. 3 or 4 (i was making soup)
it will 'pulse'. It doesn't hold a low temperature constant, it
instead comes on full bore and shuts off, on, off, on, off. Changing
the setting only changes the duty cycle from "more off less on" to
"less off more on".

I experimented with it a little bit but I really couldn't get it to
gently warm up a pan of soup without bringing it to a boil (ableit
briefly) a couple dozen times. If you know soup, the mantra goes
"soup boiled is soup spoiled". It's not really the end of the world,
but there are other things I frequently like to make that indeed
*would* get ruined by this- slow-cooked refried beans comes to mind.
"So get a crockpot or a dutch boiler".... yeah I know, but this is
using appliances to overcome the shortcomings of appliances.

Is this typical of smoothtop or modern electric ranges, or is it simply
brand-specific? I can't tell you what brand stove that is off the top
of my head (at work now).

Thanks.