Gas Stoves - Update

I'm sure that someone on this site posted about gas stoves and had made the same observation that I had - that it seemed impossible to buy a full gas stove. However, for the life of me I can't find the thread as I had wanted to see what had been said about the subject.

The reason is, I'm up for a new stove and after having cooked on gas in the past, want to find out if it's feasible to go from electric to gas. Initially it appeared that one could buy a gas hob with an electric oven (why bother!) or a gas hob and a gas wall oven but not a full gas stove. I've found a brand called Parmco that make a freestanding full gas stove. Comments on a web site were typical of comments on anything - some found it excellent, some found the dial numbers wore off quickly, some found after-sales service brilliant, others not so brilliant - but overall impression was that it wasn't too bad. Has anybody here had any experience with this brand?

Then for those with gas stoves, there are the questions regarding how economical they are, what type of gas bottle you use, can you buy them (if they are the larger type) or are they hired, how long do they last with average cooking, say one full cooked meal a day and anything else anybody can think of, good or bad, that it would be helpful to know about.

Thanks,
Ronnie

Is there any particular reason for wanting a wholly gas oven? I'd have thought the main advantage of gas on a hob (instant response when changing heat) wouldn't matter in an oven, where temperature would drop quite slowly due to the oven insulation if you turned down the heat, and rise quite slowly when heat is turned up due to the large volume being heated. Is it because of an unreliable electric supply? If so, does the Parmco need electricity to ignite its gas?

Hi Ronnie
Being off grid we use gas to cook. We have an Award stove - like this one .

The dial numbers wore off very quickly I can't say how much gas we use as we also use the gas for heating water. But with lots of cooking and water heating we get through a 45kg cylinder every 2-3 months. We hire them from Rockgas.

I do find I had to rethink lots of recipes when using a gas oven - they're a lot less dry and it makes a difference.

In general I love my stove BUT I loathe the grill arrangement. There is a metal hook-on (it doesn't) guard to protect the dials. It's a nightmare, so before I buy another stove I'll make sure that the setup for grilling is reasonable.

Cheers
Kate

This may be the thread you were thinking of....

Thank you Kate, that was exactly the information I was after. It was also the thread I couldn't find but I had got it wrong - Hawkspur was after a gas oven and separate hob whereas I want all in one.

In my searches I hadn't come across the brand you have - yours would be too big for the "hole" in my bench but they do put out a smaller model which could fit. More research to be done on my part. May I ask the cost of a 45kg bottle?

Furball, Kate answered your question on why I want a gas oven - I'm no great shakes as a cook but the best roasts I've ever done came out of a gas oven. And who cares if it's electric ignition, in this technological age they still make matches.

Cheers,
Ronnie

We cannot use the 45kg gas bottles. We are a couple of km off their existing route, they won't deliver to a drop off point, they must install the bottle themselves each time and they wouldn't come to our house with their truck.
A 45kg bottle cannot be transported in an enclosed vehicle, and we wouldn't want to transport it by trailer. So we use 14kg bottles. They are easy to handle and last a bit longer than the 9kg. We were going to use 18kg, but there weren't any available at the time. 18 kg would be less prone to icing up on cold mornings when the hot water draw off cools them down - a larger bottle can cope with a bigger draw off.
I think the Parmco fully gas freestanding range is the only one in NZ in 600mm width.
but at least there is one! I cannot find a fully gas wall oven. They only do electric grills in the gas wall ovens for some bizarre reason.

full gas stoves are available , mostly made in Italy. Go for the 8KG bottle as this will last you at least a couple of months and you can easily swap a bottle at Bunnings or Mitre 10. If you have the big bottles there are more rules to abide by.
I understand that a gas oven imparts more moisture into the food, as well as the by products of combustion! We have a Parmco and it has been great. It has an electric oven which complements our wood fired oven in summer. The main thing with gas ovens is to not get your head too near them!!

Ronney wrote: May I ask the cost of a 45kg bottle?

We pay $64.40 per year rent for each of the two cylinders and then $129.60 for each new cylinder delivery. So in a year we're paying about $647.20 (gst incl)

We use 9kg bottle which we fill at a local service station. Costs about $33. We use two per year so $66 all up. We only have gas hob and BBQ however.
\Our Hot water is electric but we turn that off about April and use the wetback on the metro wee ped. I only turned the electric option back on last week. Power bills going up now!

Looking at these they all have electronic ignition. Is this mains wired? Does this mean if there is a power cut you can't use the gas because of a fail safe ? (no ignition - no gas)

you can still manually ignite the gas although that might be a bit scary with your head inside the oven!

Anakei wrote: Looking at these they all have electronic ignition. Is this mains wired? Does this mean if there is a power cut you can't use the gas because of a fail safe ? (no ignition - no gas)

My understanding of the rules and regulations is that gas appliances intended for use inside a building are required to have a flame failure safety device (turns off the gas if the flame goes out). Some flame failure devices (like the ones used on portable gas cabinet heaters) do not require an external source of electricity.

The question to ask the sales person is something like "I live out in the country and my electricity is unreliable. During a power cut, would I be able to light this cooker with a match and use it even though there is no electricity?"

In cooking, a gas stove is a cooker/stove which uses natural gas, propane, butane, liquefied petroleum gas or other flammable gas as a fuel source. Prior to the advent of gas, cooking stoves relied on solid fuel such as coal or wood. The first gas stoves were developed in the 1820s, and a gas stove factory was established in England in 1836. This new cooking technology had the advantage that it was easily adjustable and could be turned off when not in use

the Award as per Kate's link works just fine without power. I have one in our commercial kitchen - after years of frustration because most power cuts seem to mysteriously happen on a Saturday night!!! - i now can bake my 40 loaves of sourdough with peace of mind.
If the ignition does not work because of powercut, we have one of these 'pistol'shaped gas lighters and that works just fine. No need to poke your head into the oven to light it , either :evil: .

Parmco is good for manual ignition too.