The more significant cost differential between AG (all gas) and DF (dual fuel) is the upfront costs. First, a DF range is significantly more expensive to purchase than an AG. Second, if you don't already have the wiring for the electric oven, you will need to pay an electrician to run the wiring. That cost could be inexpensive ($100 or so) or very expensive, depending upon your home set-up and where your electric box is. The difference in your utility bills would take years to break even with those upfront costs. And I am not even sure that the energy difference would be significant either. It depends on your region, and also the costs of gas vs. electric in the future, which seem to swing a lot. Depending upon which part of the country you live in, gas could be cheaper or electric could be cheaper.

As to which will cook your food better, what type of cooking do you do most? Are you a baker? Or are you using the oven more for broiling and roasting? A gas oven is better for meats and roasting, and broiling. A gas oven is a moister type of heat. It has been said often on this forum that electric is better for baking, but I bake all the time in my AG and everything turns out great. I even have made souffles, and they cooked perfectly.

I agree with akchicago - gas ovens are better for roasting and broiling and are fine for baking. The issue is really to make sure you get a good, even heating oven. A good gas oven will be much better than a mediocre electric oven.

There are a lot of "old" misconceptions about gas ovens. A good-quality (current) gas oven will come up to temperature just about as fast as an electric. In either case, the limiting factor is not really how long it takes to heat the *air* in the oven, but you want the oven interior itself to have stabilized at the desired temperature. Figure 20-30 minutes for either one before you do anything that needs stable temperatures, such as "baking" or souffles.

As far as temperature regulation goes, my feeling is that, at the same rough price point, the control is just about as good. This is because the thermostat is probably the same in either model. The difference is what it controls; a relay for the element or a gas valve. The oven temperature stability comes a lot from the mass of metal that make up the cavity and the insulation around it (a big part of why you want an oven to be at "operating" temperature for a while before you start to bake).

Trevor, at EuroStoves has some nice videos about gas ovens in BlueStar ranges. While I do think that BlueStar is a exceptional piece, my feeling is that you'd probably see comparable performance in competitive pieces, at least as far as heating time and stability goes. BlueStar has a 30kBTU/hr oven, not unusual for prosumer ranges, but more than the 15-18kBTU/hr you'd find in a $1000 box-store piece. 30kBTU/hr is about 8,800 watts -- much more than the 2,500 watts I see in even some of the prosumer electric ranges. It's not completely apples-to-apples, as I believe more of the heat of the gas burner escapes without heating the oven that with electric.

I have heard that home electric convection ovens are somewhat better than home gas convection ovens when it comes to getting that nice browning that you see in a commercial convection oven. I have heard that neither one gets terribly close.

The expense for electric can be prohibitive if you don't already have the 220 circuit in place. For us, there would be about $5000 involved since we would need to upgrade from 100A to 200A main service.

I know there is a contingent on this forum that feel VERY strongly that an electric oven is better. I don't agree, and I've always had a suspicion that statements like the OP's, "It appears the electric oven is the "superior" oven in regards to the quality of cooking and heat control", is the result of insidious marketing and advertising from the manufacturers. If they can convince people that electric ovens are better, then they can justify the big upcharge for DF over AG. Yes, just my little conspiracy theory, take it or leave it. I'm the kid shouting "the emperor has no clothes!", or in other words, "Gas is as good as electric!". But even if you don't believe my theory, you have to resent that DF ranges cost much more than AG. The different parts really don't add up to the difference in cost between the two styles.

I have a friend who is a professional chef, who studied in Switzerland, and now works at a very upscale french restaurant in New York. He bought an AG for his home kitchen.

I agree with shannonplus2. In fact, I took a cooking class from one of the top chefs in the Boston area. He said that most restaurants have gas ovens (in addition to gas cooktops obviously). He said that occasionally you'll get a pastry chef who insists on an electric oven but generally restaurants have all gas.

So will three sheets of cookies turn out perfect in an AG convection oven like they do in my electric convection oven?

they do in my gas convection oven - do roasts and poultry come out browned on the outside and juicy on the inside in your oven like they do in mine :-)