Jennifer--- Our boat was built with a propane galley as well as with a 7.5kw generator, but even though we could power an electric galley we would never have one, on this or any other boat we might ever own. In fact, if we bought a boat with an electric galley we would most likely--- funds allowing--- swap it out for a propane galley.
Several reasons, in the order of importance---
1. My wife much prefers "cooking with gas" than electricity. More control over the heat, faster response to heat adjustments, etc. (My idea of cooking is using a can opener and my idea of gourmet cooking is using a platinum can opener, so I am only parroting what my wife says here.) She's used induction cooktops and has not been impressed with them at all although she does say it is far superior to a standard electric burner system. This is obviously a matter of personal preference, however.
2. A propane galley requires no generator. I don't have an objection to using a generator other than the people who leave them running all day, but generators break down from time to time and I would not want to be on a cruise when that happens with an electric galley. We can complete a longer cruise just fine without the generator. We couldn't without the galley.
3. Propane availability is not a problem in this area. If we boated in a place where it was, then an electric galley could have greater appeal.
4. If we were at risk of running out of propane on a cruise, then an electric galley could have more appeal. The award-winning chef of a corporate yacht I was associated with a number of years ago despised cooking with electricity. But the way the yacht was used in the summer up north in BC would have posed the risk of running out of propane at very inopportune times. Plus the way the yacht was used would have required the ability to store a very large amount of propane on the boat. So the yacht had an all-electric galley. However when the galley was totally redesigned and re-equipped in the 1980s, the chef specified all commercial-grade equipment. As he told me, a commercial-grade electric stove-top has much better heat control than the typical household type.
In our case when we had a new range (Force 10) and propane bottle system installed on the boat immediately after buying it, we did occasionally run out of propane in the middle of cooking a meal. So a number of years ago we added a second identical bottle to the "locker" under the flying bridge seat. One bottle will see us through half a year or so depending on use. So with two bottles, the possibility of us running totally out of propane even on a longer cruise is pretty much zero. These are small bottles, too, the Worthington 2.5 gallon horizontal aluminum tanks.
5. I feel that if intelligent safety procedures are followed a propane system is no more potentially dangerous than any other system. We turn off the tank valve of the tank we're using whenever we leave the boat. Our boat has a manual shut-off valve in the propane feed line in the tank compartment up above. Its operating handle is in the galley overhead (not over the stove). We keep that valve closed at all times unless we are actually going to use the stove or oven. And when we are done using the stove or oven, the valve is turned off immediately.
And the Force 10 itself has thermocouples on all the burners that valve the gas going to them. If the flame goes out or a knob gets bumped on accidentally, no gas will go to the burner. We don't trust the thermocouples even though they seem to work as advertised so we do not rely on them. But it is another layer of safety.
The location of the galley stove on all but the very first GB36s is such that you brush past it every time you go to or from the forward cabin. We found that our clothes (or our butts) were sometimes turning on a burner valve as we went by. So I mounted a stainless steel rod to serve as a "guard" for the burner valves and it has virtually eliminated the issue of accidentally turning a valve. (photo)
Bottom line is that we love having a propane galley and would not have it any other way even if we get that Fleming we're always threatening to buy.
PS-- We don't use a full-size BBQ tank for our BBQ either. We use a slim, 1.5 gallon Worthington vertical tank mounted in a stanchion bracket near the rail-mounted BBQ up on the flying bridge.