[kbell]

We are about to update our oven in our house from a 40 year old overhead dual oven to a gas oven. This one to be exact which has a baking tray at the bottom. We bought it today but it will take awhile to get it installed. The old oven has been dying so it has to retire.

http://products.geappliances.com/ApplPro...GS985SETSS

Beside higher cooking temps is there other things to be aware of with gas cooking? I've been cooking on the electric range and stove for at least 3 years. But the newer ones are the ceramic top that look like it would be easy to crack. I'm not wild a about the grates that go over the burners since they look tricky to clean.

[Veloce]

I can't imagine using an electric oven.

The range (gas burners) are much more responsive than what you might be used to, so your margin for error goes down and your attention span goes up. The number one issue I see with home cooks is controlling heat, as crazy as that sounds. Most seem to think that there's only two settings: Low, and Max. It'll take some time but you'll need to adjust the burner on your pan according to what you observe going on in the pan. If it looks or sounds too hot, it probably is.

As far as the oven goes, gas ovens are incredibly inaccurate. I would highly recommend getting a cheap oven thermometer like this: http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/S...PID=447101

Cheap $7, replace it every year. Additionally, all gas ovens have hot spots, so if you do any baking you'll see most good recipes call for you to turn the baking sheet halfway through cooking. The science behind all this is lengthy but most commercial gas ovens are not built with professional cooking in mind. The variance from one spot in the oven to another spot just 6 inches away can be as much as 50 degrees, so rotate your food frequently.

Those grates on the burners should be dishwasher safe if you've got one. Otherwise just soak them in hot water, give em a scrub and rinse and they're good to go. Most burner grates have a coating that prevents food from sticking or staining too bad, unless you really burn something on there like burnt sugar or something.

Edit: I see on that oven that there is a convection option. Good call on buying that. That changes everything. Convection will make the heat distribution a million times better, HOWEVER I would highly recommend getting that $7 oven thermometer. I would always use the convection fan no matter what you're baking. What you may find is that you need to decrease the temperature given in recipes by 25 degrees or so (Fahrenheit) Most recipes are formulated for still ovens. Convections are so much more efficient that they often run hotter than what recipes call for.

Looks like a pretty sweet stove actually. Have fun with it.

[kbell]

I think the stoves actually get a lot hotter than what I'm used to. I think the old one caps at 300-400F for frying I would guess. I think the new one might go up to 600 or more. I'm not sure how you convert BTU to F. One burner hits either 15000 or 20000 btus.

The salesman who said he was a sue chef, said that to broil a good steak you still pop open the door for even temps and put it close to the heating element which is at the top. That way it can black the skin and keep it red in the inside. Granted he was a salesman so not sure if he was a sue chef or not but he was quite knowledgeable on the oven.

Also there is a 1 ft cooking tray that slide out which should be great for Casseroles and mashed sweet potatoes. Not sure if its gas or electric for that part though.

There was a option for a dual fuel version with gas on the stove electric in the ovens. But the salesman said its more likely to break down due to the extra electronics needed. Also it would require a 220 volt line as oppose to 110 volt.

I think I will have fun with it, but I expect I will be burning a few things for a while. It will be like learning to cook again. But I hear it boils thing ridiculously fast.