Gas Stove Cooking

The SouthAfricanFoodies.co.za Website Manager has officially decided to move closer to work – the price of petrol has become ridiculously high, with no respite in sight, so the decision to move closer to the office has been taken. Now instead of travelling 80km’s a day to work and back, I’ll be spending an extra 45 minutes snuggling in bed and travelling only 10km’s! There is just one thing that perturbs me.... The new residence comes complete with a GAS STOVE! Having been born and raised in a household with an ordinary electrical stove, the idea of learning to cook all over again terrifies me. I now have visions of spending that extra 45 minutes each morning staring blankly at the stove trying to figure out how to work it. In order to give myself some peace-of-mind, I decided to do a little research on the benefits of cooking with gas. The first benefit that springs to mind, of course, is not being at the mercy of Eskom’s instability and price hikes! Perhaps a closer look at the art of cooking is needed, however, so I’ve come up with a list of benefits to cooking with gas.

• Gas provides far better temperature control.
• It is easier to make some sauces, such as milk or egg-based French sauces. You can avoid ruining the sauces because it's easier to stop the eggs from scrambling and the milk from scalding.
• If liquid begins to boil over, a simple change of the temperature on your gas stove will stop the possible mess in its tracks. Electrical stoves will take a short while to reflect the temperature change.
• Use the gas as an impromptu grill for toasting tortillas and even bread – though a pair of tongs will come in handy in that case!

If you can think of any other benefits or tips for the SouthAfricanFoodies.co.za Website Manager, please feel free to leave a comment.