Gas vs electric oven

[wong siew keng]

hi. i am going to buy an oven to start a small business. i would like to make some tarts & cookies. May i know whether the gas heated oven or the electrical oven is better?

 

[Trellum]

I prefer gas, in my experience it's the best and it's much cheaper... at least where I live. No idea how expensive electricity is where you live But in most cases gas is always the way to go for most people I know who have a business of this kind.

 

[ThatNewMommy]

I agree. Electric in my area is more expensive. We had a business and we used a gas oven because it's what we used at home and like I said less expensive. BUT, you have to make sure to have two tanks instead of one. You don't want to be in the middle of your business day and end up with an empty tank and no back-up. This would happen to us at home and we usually found out in the middle of me baking something. It's why we decided to get a smaller back-up for the home as well.

 

[Diane Lane]

I much prefer gas, because it seems to heat the oven more evenly, and is a lot less expensive, as @Trellum mentioned. I had an electrical element burn out on Thanksgiving before, what a nightmare, but I also grew up with gas, so it's what I'm used to. I am thankful that I have 'city' gas piped into the house, rather than having to worry about tanks, because I know I would end up as @ThatNewMommy mentioned, in a crunch, without a back-up tank. Good luck with your new venture, I hope you keep us apprised with how it's going.

 

[Trellum]

I much prefer gas, because it seems to heat the oven more evenly, and is a lot less expensive, as @Trellum mentioned. I had an electrical element burn out on Thanksgiving before, what a nightmare, but I also grew up with gas, so it's what I'm used to. I am thankful that I have 'city' gas piped into the house, rather than having to worry about tanks, because I know I would end up as @ThatNewMommy mentioned, in a crunch, without a back-up tank. Good luck with your new venture, I hope you keep us apprised with how it's going.

We use gas still at home, sadly we will be switching to electric I don't like the idea at all, but it will be like this for a while. Electricity is cheaper where we will be living, nothing like my mother country, but I really got used to it. My parents did have a bad time when we were out of gas suddenly. So bad if it happens in the middle of the night while cooking something. Happened to me several times.

 

[Diane Lane]

We use gas still at home, sadly we will be switching to electric I don't like the idea at all, but it will be like this for a while. Electricity is cheaper where we will be living, nothing like my mother country, but I really got used to it. My parents did have a bad time when we were out of gas suddenly. So bad if it happens in the middle of the night while cooking something. Happened to me several times.

I've heard that the newer electric stoves/ovens are much better. I think manufacturers know that most people who enjoy cooking prefer using gas, so have worked to improve their products. If nothing else, maybe at some point you will be able to add a propane gas stove. I love having the gas burners on top, because I use them to heat tortillas all the time. I don't know what I'd do without them, probably use a torch.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Based on my own experience a gas heated oven is more convenient because the heat inside the oven are circulated evenly which makes the baking process better.

 

[Tippa]

If you are baking pastries, electric ovens are far better. Fan forced electric ovens with steam are the best. I'm only new to this forum and am a little surprised as this is the first where members have said a gas oven gives better heat distribution than electric...

The problem with gas ovens for pastries is that fire needs oxygen. Gas ovens need to draw in air to supply oxygen for the flame and then expel the exhaust gasses.
This simply means that gas ovens have a far larger turnover of air within the cooking chamber. This not only means they continuously need to heat cool air entering, but most importantly for pastries is they lose the humidity and moisture within the chamber, and also the pastries within.
An electric oven doesn't need to do this to operate, so they keep the air inside which is FAR more stable in temperature and humidity. Those with the added feature of reversing fans are better still- features you just don't get with a gas oven.
The only downside is that they are more expensive to operate than Natural Gas ovens. Propane/LPG bottled gas isnt cheap these days though so bear that in mind...
If you want a smaller 3-6 tray oven then you need 15amp power for an electric oven, which is what a normal household domestic oven requires, and any oven over that you will need 3 phase power- and that comes at a price. But we are talking commercial sized ovens.

I've done significant research lately into ovens for baking pies as I'm starting up a new bakery, and a used Bakbar Turbofan Combi oven for less than a grand will perform and bake even the most delicate pastries as good as any $10k commercial oven can. Have a read up about them- they are no frills, but with all the necessary features you need for versatility and restaurant quality results.
I guess it comes down to how much baking you want to do and what quality of product you want to produce, compared to the initial outlay and the running costs.

 

[Tippa]

This is the new model of an E35 Moffat/Bakbar electric combi oven. You can buy these used for around $1grand and IMHO you just cant get a better, more versatile oven. With reversing fan for perfect heat circulation and proper steam injection for digitally controlled humidity, it will give you the capability of producing baked goods beyond most of our abilities! It certainly will never be the limiting factor to your baking!

http://www.moffat.com/products/turbofan-e35-30-full-size-tray-manual-electric-convection-oven