I also have a CC and my baking turns out fine.

Mostly I cook bread (twice a week) but I also bake my pies, cakes and cookies in there too. Never had a problem.

I suppose the KA Steam oven would give you more options but when I want steam in the oven for my bread, I just throw in a half cup at the beginning of my bake and I am very pleased with the results.

Here's the thing - if you are a resourceful baker, your baking will be fine using a gas oven, an electric oven with steam capabilities or a dutch oven in a depression in the ground on top of hot coals.

I don't think you'd need the KA but ultimately, you'll need to decide what makes you happy.

Learn the capabilities of your machine intimately, and then, no matter what you select, you will not go wrong.

Good luck, Doc

I have a Performer 30" all-gas range and just baked cookies in it for the first time. I tried it with convection and without. With convection, they browned more but I think the insides of the cookies didn't get quite as done as I like them. Without convection, they were perfect, IMO. I made a batch in the old range about a month ago and you could see a browning "gradient" from the back of the sheet to the front. Browning was very even in the new range, both with and without convection.

I also turned out the best brown rice I've made, though admittedly I've only tried 4-5 times since it was, er, bad on the old setup. Burnt, always having to add water to extend the cooking time, and so forth. Not so with the new range on the simmer burner. Tasted wonderful, I should have done this a long time ago.

Another gas oven owner here, and I don't use the convection feature either.
I had an electric oven for 26 years, and I honestly can't tell any difference in the way food cooks.
The gas oven does take longer to pre heat, but it's a 36" compared to my previous 27" wall oven.

This post was edited by ctycdm on Fri, Jan 24, 14 at 11:57

I have a Capital all gas range be sure to buy a timer and a range temperature gage doesn't come with one baking bread can be a little tough getting the loafs to brown up I could use some help with that but all in all I love my range an would buy another I'm a 68 year old male retired an love to cook my wife hardly ever gets to use it an that's just fine with me. Have fun with your range!!!

The difference between a very very good electric oven and a good gas oven is that the electric oven usually has a smaller variation from set temperature and fewer hot and cold spots. This means that, with the electric oven, you have to check on your baking fewer times and may not have to rotate it. There's not much difference in that regard between good electric ovens and good gas ovens. It's only at the high end.

In the past, gas ovens were notably moister than electric. Nowadays, they're more likely to be dryer, because of changing technology and design.

The only thing I couldn't manage to bake in the terrible old gas oven that came with my house, which had no consistency of heating, horrible hot and cold spots, and no way to set an accurate temperature, was souffles. You don't need a great oven to bake. It just helps. All ovens have quirks. You learn how best to use your oven. Sometimes that means a different temperature setting than what your thermometer tells you. Others it means altering your timing, or even adjusting your recipe (sugar aids browning, but maybe you need a touch less sugar for XYZ cookies to get the color just so). Even my highest end Gaggenau oven has a quirk.

Don't be afraid of a gas oven just because it uses gas.

"In the past, gas ovens were notably moister than electric. Nowadays, they're more likely to be dryer, because of changing technology and design."

Actually, there has been very little change over the years in the basic operation of gas ovens (other than ditching pilot lights). Gas ovens have never had moist heat, that is just a common misconception about them. The combustion process adds moisture, but that is more than cancelled out by the greater amount of air exchange that goes on in a gas oven. The best way to get moist heat in any oven is to add water, but an electric oven will retain that moisture more.

Actually, I think it's the oven seal and venting (which might be what you said, HV), rather than the combustion (which never did make sense) that makes the difference. The difference has been well noted. You can tell by the crusts.

I have cooked in all sorts of ovens and found that it really is about knowing "the oven" you are using. I currently have a gas range and am going to switch to a propane one in the new house we plan to build. I bake tons.. on some holidays, I even go so far as to close all the vents in my gas smoker on the back deck and use it as an oven.. lol... to me, it all can cook, just need to monitor the heat and know how the particular stove/oven 'handles', so to speak.

Russ