“The Bear” is Cooking with Gas

FX has recently announced that their hit show “The Bear” has been renewed for a second season. The show follows young Italian-American chef Carmine, or “Carmy” for short, as he struggles to pick up the pieces at his recently deceased brother’s struggling restaurant, The Original Beef.

“The Bear” weaves a complex, moving story as it alternates between flashbacks of Carmy’s time in Michelin Star restaurants and his effort to preserve his family’s restaurant – a restaurant that is, admittedly, a bit of a dive experiencing a constant cashflow problem. However, the outrageously fancy restaurants of the past and Carmy’s family diner do have something very important in common: cooking with natural gas.

Professional chefs prefer cooking with natural gas because in the fast-paced restaurant industry, chefs depend on the quickness, control and reliability that cooking with gas gives them. This generally holds true regardless of whether the restaurant features seven-course tasting menus or the best Italian beef in Chicago. The chefs in “The Bear” are no exception.

One standout recipe that plays a big role in the storyline has also gotten a lot of love from audiences. Surprisingly not a beef dish, the “Family Spaghetti,” is a delicious, low-cost standout that will feed a family and impress a crowd. Find that spaghetti recipe here, and a few of the other classics from The Bear here.

Carmy has a lot to worry about in “The Bear,” most of which is money-related. One money worry you won’t hear about in the show is the gas bill. That’s because natural gas is the most affordable way to cook. In fact, natural gas is so affordable that it has saved American restaurants and other businesses over half a trillion dollars in the last decade. Like many restaurants in the real world, The Original Beef constantly rides the frayed edge of solvency, to the point where emptying the quarters from the restaurant’s video game arcade can be the difference between affording ingredients for the restaurant or not. The affordability of natural gas helps an untold number of restaurants stay in business, continue to provide jobs to millions and great food to millions more.

Whether a restaurant is barely making it or flush with cash, natural gas remains a great choice. With nearly instant heat and better temperature control than other heat sources, chefs trust that natural gas will help them achieve the perfect sear that diners savor. Viewers of “The Bear” may not be familiar with the constant fight against time that professional chefs deal with, however, the constant need to beat the clock is why the instant heat of gas appliances is perfect for chefs to keep up with a continued stream of rapid-fire orders. That’s why 90 percent of professional chefs like Carmy prefer cooking with gas.