As life shows, it is possible to arrange a kitcheneither as a "production" or utility room, or as a territory for pleasure. The utilitarian approach is a thing of the past. It is becoming relevant to individualize the kitchen space, combining ergonomics, aesthetics, design and comfort. With the help of household appliances, you can conceptually modify the interior of the kitchen. After all, it includes a large number of modules of different sizes and purposes - electric and gas hobs, grills, hoods, etc., which can be combined with each other in style in any combination. But the center of all this technological splendor is still the stove - a modern version of the hearth, which has been the subject of special attention since ancient times. Fire has served people since time immemorial. Cooking without it is absolutely impossible. Since then, over the centuries, the hearth has undergone many changes, but little has changed in the original: fire still serves to cook food. Today we will talk about which gas stove is better to buy. What are they, modern hearths? What metamorphoses have they undergone recently? Note that we are not talking about hobs and ovens here, but about gas stoves. Therefore, to begin with, it is worth understanding what a stove is. This definition is often applied to both a separate hob and to a structure in which an oven is built in under the panel. But a stove is an oven and a hob combined together in a single body.
Blue light
In accordance with modern standardsThe gas pipeline can be connected only to those residential buildings whose height is not higher than eleven floors. There are no such problems in private country houses. Here you can either connect gas to the house from the central gas pipeline or buy gas cylinders in addition to the stove. But then you need to take into account other standards that also apply to apartments in city high-rise buildings. According to current standards, gas equipment cannot be installed in rooms where the ceiling height does not exceed 2.2 m. In addition, this room must have an exhaust ventilation duct and natural lighting, and the window must have a transom. Moreover, it turns out that the internal volume of the kitchen also plays a role. For a stove with two burners, it must be at least 8 m³, and for a four-burner stove - 15 m³. But if your home meets all of the above requirements, you will have access to all the benefits of using a gas stove. And the main advantage of gas is its cheapness compared to electricity. After all, according to statistics, users of gas stoves spend on average ten times less money on their use than owners of electric ones. It should be noted right away that gas stoves do not differ much from each other in size. Their dimensions are standard and correspond to the overall dimensions of kitchen furniture. Their height is usually 85 cm, depth - 50 or 60 cm, and width - from 50 to 90 cm.
Pros and cons of using gas stoves
We have already discussed one advantage.This is the low cost of energy resources. Another advantage of gas stoves compared to electric ones is that there are no special requirements for the cookware that can be used for cooking. For example, on electric stoves, in order to maximize the use of heat, it is better to use cookware with a flat bottom. On a gas stove, you can cook in a cauldron, which is very convenient for cooking many delicious dishes. An important advantage is that you can regulate the degree of heating at your own discretion. Well, and besides everything else, food cooked over an open fire seems much tastier. But there are also certain disadvantages, which, however, do not outweigh their advantages. Firstly, when using a gas stove, you need to monitor the cleanliness of the air in the kitchen and safety. Secondly, you need to monitor the plastic parts of the cookware - so that they are not directly above the open fire. Well, in operation, they are a little more difficult - they are harder to clean than electric ones.
Burners
Burners are the very essence of a gas stove.The productivity of your cooking will depend on their number and power. There can be from two to six burners, and in almost all stoves they differ in power. The smallest is 1 kW, the average is 1.75-2.0 kW and the powerful is 2.7-2.9 kW. Almost all stoves have two medium-power burners, one small and one high. Burners transfer up to 58% of the heat generated by them to the cookware, and the rest is actually used to heat the room. The principle of operation of a gas burner is that it mixes combustible gas and air in a certain proportion. Gas will burn if its ratio in the mixture is from 5.3 to 14.2%. In the case of the lower limit, the mixture is called "lean", and in the upper limits - "rich". Naturally, a spark is needed to ignite the gas. The design of the gas burner is such that with a low emission of toxic substances, it ensures high efficiency of gas combustion. According to the standards, the combustion products should not contain more than 125 mg/m³ of carbon monoxide and more than 200 mg/m³ of nitrogen oxides. It is no secret that we constantly have gas pressure drops in our gas networks. Gas stoves are designed to take these drops into account: they must operate stably with gas pressure changes within 650-1800 Pa from the nominal standard of 1300 Pa.
New trends
The operating principle of modern gas stoves is nothing newis no different from their predecessors. But, nevertheless, they cannot be compared, because gas stoves have changed beyond recognition over the past twenty years. Since the main problem during their operation is to ensure safety, it was given the main attention during the modernization of this equipment. As a result, today's stoves are equipped with a more advanced gas leak protection system. This is the so-called "gas control", which provides an automatic gas shut-off mechanism if, for example, the flame is blown out by the wind or flooded by a leaked product. We will not consider the principle of operation of the system. The important thing is that it reliably protects you from gas leaks, protecting your health and life. But not everyone liked such innovations. The fact is that when igniting the gas, you need to hold the power switch down for several seconds, which is not very convenient. The gas control system requires the burner to heat up to a certain temperature so that it turns off. That is why some people, not knowing that this is how the gas leak safety system works, prefer to buy stoves without gas control, saying that they do not need it. But for those who take their own safety seriously, when choosing which gas stove to buy, we advise you to take one that is equipped with a safety system. Moreover, gas control can be incomplete. For example, it can only control the burners, but not the oven. That is, when buying, you need to clarify what kind of gas control system is installed and what it can control. Another innovation was the electric ignition mechanism, which today will surprise no one. Electric ignition can be conventional and automatic. On gas stoves with conventional electric ignition, when you turn the gas on/off handle, you need to press the ignition button to create a spark. Burners with automatic electric ignition ignite automatically when you turn the handle. A timer is very convenient when cooking. Gas stoves with a simple timer will simply warn you with a signal that the cooking time is up. An advanced timer will turn the stove on and off at a set time. This is very convenient. For example, with a timer, breakfast will always be ready when you wake up. However, there is a small nuance. Timers are set to a 50 Hz network frequency. Our networks do not provide such a frequency, so the timer is usually either in a hurry or late. Then the stove turns on at a time other than the one you set in the program. Moreover, the error can be up to five minutes.
Coating
The surface of gas stoves can be coatedenamel or made of polished stainless steel. Enamel is famous for its wear resistance, it is not afraid of organic compounds, including acids. But chips may appear on it during operation. Polished stainless steel coatings, although more expensive, look more impressive. In addition, steel is almost scratch-proof and looks like new for a long time. But fingerprints are very noticeable on it. Glass-ceramic surface is very convenient. It is easy to clean. But sweet liquid is harmful to it. Not so long ago, "gas under glass" was heavily advertised. Now such stoves are not on sale.
Wind instrument
Heating elements in a gas stove ovencan be gas or electric. Recently, manufacturers have preferred to produce models of stoves where the hob is gas and the oven is electric. This trend is caused by the fact that electric heaters, firstly, provide more uniform heating compared to gas ones, and secondly, it is easier to regulate the temperature of electric elements. Depending on the model, the heating in the oven can be from below, from above, or from above and below at the same time. In addition, there is infrared heating, convection (ventilation heating), grill and all combinations of the above. When choosing an oven, you should pay attention to the presence of pull-out rails for baking sheets. This is necessary for safety - less chance of you getting burned. It is also good if the oven door is insulated - in addition to the main glass, there can be up to four layers of insulated glass, which will also help to avoid burning. Those who use the oven know that the process of cleaning it is not an easy task. Inexpensive models of stoves do not have a self-cleaning function, and you need to clean it the old-fashioned way - with special products and a sponge. In new models of gas stoves, the inner surface of the oven is covered with a special enamel, which provides catalytic cleaning of the oven walls: fats decompose themselves.
Gas chamber
If gas is used incorrectly, it can causemany problems. Everyone knows what a gas leak in an apartment can cause. But even if there are no leaks, a gas stove can create other problems. If the burner is set up incorrectly, carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, can form. Therefore, the correct operation of the burners is very important. Whether the gas burns completely is determined by the color of the flame. If the flame is blue, then everything is normal. If the flame is low and burns with a hiss, then there is more air than necessary, and if the flame stretches upward in yellow tongues with the appearance of soot, then there is not enough air. When releasing modern gas stoves, manufacturers take care to ensure the correct mixture. We tried to tell you everything about modern gas stoves and hope that this will help those who are deciding which gas stove to buy understand the choice provided by domestic and foreign manufacturers of household appliances. We recommend reading:
