Cooking with natural gas offers multiple advantages — including significant cost savings as well as optimal control when preparing food.

“Professional chefs and home chefs alike often prefer the control that a gas oven provides, allowing them to adjust from a searing temperature to a traditional roasting/baking temperature when needed, or to rapidly adjust the oven temperature upward when a reverse sear is desired,” said Jeff Essenburg, vice president of sales at Brown Stove Works Inc.

Natural gas stoves also allow for precise control, even temperature and quick adjustments when cooking on the range top.

“A gas flame on the range top enables the user to precisely control the desired heat to the bottom of the cooking utensil, especially when a double-valve burner is used to provide both inner and outer heat as needed,” Essenburg said. “This flame control can provide a rapid boil or a delicate simmer that is often not possible with electric range tops.”

Cost and Energy Savings

In addition to more precise cooking, cooking with natural gas costs about half as much as cooking with electricity. In addition, heat from natural gas is distributed more evenly, allowing food to cook quicker, which further reduces cooking costs, according to the Blue Flame Alliance, an organization that fosters a collaborative and knowledge-sharing environment.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that natural gas is 3.4 times more affordable than electricity and other residential fuels, saving families $147 billion over 10 years.

A 2023 American Gas Association report, “Comparison of Home Appliance Energy Use, Operating Costs, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions,” shows that a typical new home using natural gas has energy costs that are 49% lower than a comparable all-electric home.

The Residential Energy Calculator indicates that an average four-person American household cooking most meals at home would spend $47 a year cooking with natural gas compared to $104 when cooking with electricity and $107 when cooking with propane.

Not only is natural gas an economic winner, but it also is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions. According to a recent study titled “Comparison of Home Appliance Energy Use, Operating Costs, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions,” homes using natural gas appliances have carbon emissions 21% lower than those using electricity.

Safe, Reliable, and Efficient

Another advantage of natural gas stoves, Essenburg said, is that they are typically less susceptible to power disruptions.

“If a home is located in an area that is prone to power disruptions or outages, a gas- cooking product could prove to be beneficial since many gas surface burners can be manually lit during a power outage by following the manufacturer’s instructions in the use and care manual,” he said. “There are also gas-cooking products available with battery ignition systems that do not require any electrical outlets.

To ensure safety, consumers should always follow all information in the use and care manual and should never leave surface burners unattended. It’s also important to ensure proper ventilation in the kitchen when using any cooking appliance, Essenburg said.

Exhaust fans eliminate normal byproducts of cooking such as steam, smoke, grease and heat. Traditional overhead exhaust fans run through a wall or ceiling and vent to the outside. Consumers can also use downdraft exhaust systems that use a fan to draw cooking byproducts down from the cooking surface to the outdoors. Downdraft exhaust systems are often used when equipment is installed in an island and the homeowner does not want a traditional exhaust hood in the center of the room.

The American Public Gas Association (APGA) recommends making sure gas ranges, ovens and cooktops are installed according to local installation codes and design certified to the ANSI Z21.1 standard, which includes requirements for proper operation and limits on emissions.

To ensure safety, gas ranges should be maintained in good working order and inspected periodically by a qualified contractor. To maximize the efficiency of natural gas stoves and range tops, APGA recommends consumers use the appropriate pot or pan size when cooking and avoid lining the oven bottom cavity with aluminum foil.

This article was originally published in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of Natural Living magazine, and was written by Tonya McMurray. To read more articles about the benefits of natural gas in this issue, click here.