Now You're Cooking with Gas - or Are you?

Being able to stroll home for an hour’s lunch, or working from home for quite a few years I became very adept in the kitchen – however, extracting from an old sexist statement, I could be barefoot, but never pregnant. With my wife working during the day, I brought it upon myself to do the bulk of major meal preparation. While that’s the factual truth, I prefer to say to others, in front of her, I do the cooking because we want to have food that tastes good. I love to watch people’s reactions as their eyes immediately dart in my wife’s direction. She is quite accustomed to the comment – thus, nary a change of expression or rolling of eyes.

I first started to cook after watching several episodes of Stephan Yan in his Vancouver-based cooking show, “Wok with Yan”. He consistently wore a different apron with silly phrases like “Wok on By”, “Wok and Woll”, “Wok up Little Susie” or “Wok a Mile in My Shoes”. Most of the dishes were varying adaptations of traditional Chinese stir-fries. I learned how to make all of the necessary sauces. I bought a wok but left the apron to the pros.

While not impossible, it was difficult to cook with a wok on an electric stove, so when I relocated and finally had a natural gas range, I found cooking much simpler. Unlike electric heat, I found with gas:

• Instant heat and it can be controlled by sight;

• Safer, especially around children, because electric elements or flat surfaces do not show heat when turned off;

• Much more versatile for grilling, searing, and simmering; and,

• Easier to keep the stovetop clean

While I believe natural gas stoves are less expensive to operate, the only real disadvantage is that they will heat up a smaller kitchen much more readily than an electric model. Restaurant chefs and cooks always prefer natural gas for obvious reasons. Gas stoves account for installation in only 37% of households, but that is because electric ranges are typically less expensive and natural gas is not available everywhere.

However, despite all of the advantages and conveniences, your ever-over-regulating government is considering removing the choice. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent agency of the United States government cites gas stoves as being a health hazard in releasing chemicals that can be toxic to the human respiratory system, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde.

I’ve already counted all the dead bodies as a result of these noxious killers and have arrived at the expected number of zero. However, representative Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez wrote, “Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance.” Some would now declare that this truly shows she has been around natural gas every day, all of her life.

The reality is that every federal agency has been tasked with the promotion of climate change and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, like all others, needed to put forth its unneeded and unwise effort. The very intent of a controlling governing body is to remove choice, options, and preferences from the lower-caste electorate. Some states and cities have already passed a law restricting gas lines to new construction builds - the choice has been effectively removed.