Gas broilers out perorm electric broilers, they char fat, electric cystalizes fat. There is a natural moisture in gas and gives a better end result when roasting or baking, especially breads. Electric has improved greatly over the years with true convection, but it's still not gas. Electric would have a lower rate of service, but a shorter life span. Electrics biggest asset is self cleaning. But self cleaning is really not an issue with the better performing all gas pro ranges. Better ventilation would be required for gas than electric and no one argues the fact that gas burners are far superior to electric and that cost of operation would be less for gas than electric.

is the convection loud? We will have an eat-in kitchen so the range needs to be quiet. In fact, being quiet is more important to me that high performance. In other words, I'd take quiet and OK performance over Professional results and loud.

regarding "Better ventilation" required for gas-- is that because of safety concerns, or just because it puts out more heat? Sorry if that is a stupid question! i was hoping to just use an over the range microwave for ventilation purposes, but perhaps with AG i need a designated super wall ventihilation system?

Thanks! Very helpful comments already!

You have the option to turn the convection on or off, off is quiter. Gas needs better ventilation because of the carbon monoxide the oven emits while in use.

I disagree with guadalupe about gas needing better ventilation. A proper functioning gas range does not produce significant amounts of carbon monoxide. Your need for ventilation is a function of what you cook not what kind of cooktop or oven you use.

weissman is correct. I've done a lot of reading on these ranges/ovens as far as the pros vs cons for each. There is danger issues to consider if one chooses gas as a fuel. Now that assumes the burners are all working and none of the gas eyelets in any of the burners are sans flame. But a reasonable cleaning ritual should prevent this. Seems as though sometimes when partially clogged, an eyelet may go flameless while surrounding eyelets spewing flames like a blow torch. One would think that un-burned gas escaping from any clogged eyelet would be ignited by the flame from a neighboring eyelet. Not so in all cases. I know I've had cooktop burners with a few eyelets not producing a flame while others in the circle were. But I never gave it any thought, and in more cases than not, a flame would appear after a while. I've noticed this especially after plopping the burner's eyelet ring in soapy dishwater for washing. Even after I thought they had thoroughly dried. This same phenom happens more readily in the oven and may never be undiscovered, as the oven is more subceptable to grease and fat,... viscous and baked.

That's what I've learned in my research leading to my decision to settle on the GE Cafe AG. The comment about gas heat having a higher humidity level than the arid heat produced by electric heating elements is also true. And all the convection fans do is to blow around dry heat. Now there are some high-end DF ovens that introduce moisture (steam) into the mix. Can't remember the brand names and model#'s, but I do remember reading that.

Shawn

Also considering a DF and am concerned about the dry air in the oven. Can one simply put a small pan of water on the bottom rack when baking bread or roasting?