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There are a wide variety of cooking appliances available to the consumer. Many are very specific in their use; others can be used for a wide variety of cooking functions.
The two major categories of cooking appliances are gas and electric.
Gas Appliances
Gas cooking appliances use either liquid petroleum (LP) gas or natural gas. The function and characteristics are the same; the only difference is the size of the orifice that allows the gas to flow to the burners. Most gas appliances can be easily modified to accommodate either LP or natural gas. If there is an option on which fuel to select, natural gas is generally cheaper, and because it is lighter than air, safer than LP gas. Both gases can burn clean and efficiently. Most gas cooking appliances are considerably more efficient and cheaper to operate than
electric resistance cooking appliances of the same type, particularly if the gas appliances are fitted with an electric ignition rather than a pilot light.
When using the top burner elements on a gas range, heat is transferred directly to the pot or pan by conduction and convection.
Advantages of gas appliances
There are an exceptionally wide variety of heat selections for gas burners.
The size of the flame can be easily controlled to fit the skillet or pot selected.
The on/off heat is almost instantaneous--cooking begins almost immediately when the flame is turned on and ends when the flame is turned off.
The heat exchange between the flame and the pot or skillet is very efficient if the flame is adjusted correctly.
Disadvantages of gas appliances.
Not all areas are served by natural gas, and is sometimes inconvenient to obtain LP gas.
Because of the open flame, extra care is required to prevent kitchen fires (grease).
Because they do not lend themselves to flat surfaces, cleaning the burner tops and surfaces may be slightly more difficult than cleaning electric ranges.
Operation of Gas Appliance
When using gas appliances, the size of the pot or pan selected should match the quantity of food to be cooked. While this may seem over-simplified, selecting
too large a pot will waste energy, and selecting too small of a pot can result in spillage and splatter.
Care should be taken to adjust the flame properly to fit the bottom of the pot or pan. An excessive flame will not only waste energy, but could result in uneven
cooking and actually slower cooking, than a flame fitting the bottom surface of the pot or pan.
In the summer, when using more than one burner of the oven, the range exhaust vent should be used. The speed selected for this exhaust fan should be based upon the heat being generated by the oven or burners. In the winter, this operation is not as critical, although it might be desirable to carry off cooking odors and fumes.
Maintenance of Gas Appliances
Gas appliances are relatively easy to maintain because they have no moving parts. The burner surfaces should be kept clean, and the gas ports open. The flame should be adjusted so that it is clean and blue. A yellow flame is both dirty and inefficient, and indicates there is not enough air for combustion. On the other hand, a very light blue flame that is sputtering, and hissing indicates there is too much combustion air. The optimum amount of air produces a blue, quiet flame and will leave no residue on the pan.
Generally, once the settings and adjustments are made, very little, if any, readjustment is necessary. If the stove is equipped with a pilot light, the pilot light
should be adjusted so it is as small as possible to accomplish the function intended. An excessive pilot light will tend to warm the room and use more gas than necessary.
Some gas and electric ovens have self-cleaning features. These are very energy consuming and should be used with discretion. The extra effort taken to prevent
spilling and splattering in the oven will pay off in energy savings. A liner of aluminum foil can protect some of the Oven surface and cooking trays. Liners can be used a number of times before they have to be replaced. If the
self-cleaning feature is used, it should be used right after cooing a meal in order to take advantage of the heat that is already contained in the oven.
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