cooking with gas
I have been waiting for this moment for over nine years, ever since I moved into the previous “casa az” from the place next door. I was lucky enough in the first two apartments I had in Sevilla to have kitchens equipped with gas cookers, but the last two came with those awful electric ceramic top ones that are not only electric but a bugger to keep in good condition because everything stains or scratches them. But it’s really cooking electric that drives me bonkers.
So when I realised a couple of weeks ago that I could no longer live with the crappy taps in my bathroom I decided to approach the landlords about helping me with a couple of home improvements. To my surprise they agreed to spit the cost of both the new taps and the new cooker! And as I have a five-year contract with the option to continue living here after that, it seemed like a good investment on my part too. I think the landlords like that I am interested in not just maintaining the place well but also in improving it. Though of course they are cautious about how much more they want to spend at the moment, after having just redone the whole place before I moved in (last tenant left it a mess). But these two things (taps and cooker) were a constant annoyance and so quality of life at home is now greatly improved.
I still haven’t tried the cooker as it was just installed yesterday evening. It was the cheapest on display at the store so I hope it’s okay. Will let you know…
Looks lovely. Here in Korea it is all gas. I have an old gas cooker that has seen much better days, but since this place is owned by the university I have no desire to spend money to upgrade. However, I would love a new gas cooker!
Always had a gas cooker until I moved to Spain. Looking forward to using this one.
I deplore electric cooktops and would do what you did too, just about this fast. You can’t tell how hot they are. They burn everything. They can still be hot enough to burn you or set something on fire when they look cool. And they are energy hogs. Even the cheapest gas unit is going to be a quantum leap better.
Yay! Go you! So much better. I’m on an electric cooker right now, HATE IT. Bah. Have to wait til next year, then I’ll get it replaced. No gas lines in place so it will be $$$$.
I was lucky that there had been a gas cooker here before so the pipe was already there. It just needed to be hooked up.
While our co-op houses are heated with gas, we have electric stoves. I love cooking with gas but aside from our apartment in NYC, have never actually lived someplace with a gas stove. The one in NY was really old and while the cooktop had pilot lights, the oven had to be lit with a match and you was to lie on the floor to do that. AND there was no thermostat so you had to guess how hot the oven was.
On the other hand I have house-sat in homes with great gas stoves and LOVED them.
Cool. The landlords are lucky to have someone like you as a tenant because you are so careful about things!
Scary! Downright scary.
I’ve always felt that gas cookers either will explode or poison me.
I guess it’s surprising that given the nature of gas there aren’t more accidents with it. But both the cooker and the water heater here are in the kitchen and that door gets closed at night (to keep Loki out), usually with the window left open, so no real chance of being gassed to death.
My friend switched to induction after an “almost accident” with her gas cooker, which she says is the best way of cooking. I have to say I find induction cookers intriguing but they are way out of my price range… for now.
We just applied for funding for the co-op to upgrade the three wheelchair accessible units to meet standards! The co-op, with was built in 1978, before there were real guidelines for building accessible units were built with some more or less “accessible” features like ramps and large bathrooms. Some things like handrails have been added but most of it only makes them moderately “accessible”. We’ll have lower counters, wider doors, new ramps, Hopefully, a kitchen redesign… That would be nice.
When my husband was in grad school for Architecture at UCLA, one of his classmates was in a chair — and the building, circa 1965, HAD NO ELEVATOR. B had to be carried or scoot himself upstairs/downstairs to the design studios. If he worked late, he usually ended up sleeping in the studio. Needless to say, that lasted for one semester, then he transferred to a more equipped UC school. Only good thing about it was that EVERYONE in the school got a lesson on designing for accessility.