Yes, that transition takes a while. Here are a couple of things that I regularly do to compensate for the 'slow to respond' characteristics of an electric stove.

1 For 'long and slow' things bring to boil on the stovetop and then toss pot into preheated 250F oven.
2 Use the 'two burner' method bring a pot up to temp on one burner on relatively high setting and then slide the pot over to a preheated burner on low. This mimics the instant response of a gas burner.
Best of luck - hope you get some useful advice here.

For rice I boil my water, put my rice in, put lid on and then turn off the burner. Leave pot on burner as it doesn't cool instantly. I get perfect rice each time.

I don't exactly know how I did it, but I didn't have much problem transitioning from gas to electric. A lot of what I did was just watching the food. Nothing special. One thing that did help me was knowing that the coils (or the ceramic top) would take a long time to cool. I used this to my advantage by putting it at the highest setting at the start of cooking, then reducing the temperature once the pan is hot enough or the water starts boiling (depending on what you're cooking). Hope that helps.

My husband had trouble with the transition to an electric stove in our new house. The biggest hurdle is just learning how long the burners take to heat up and cool down, and planning ahead for that. Let the pans pre-heat longer and turn down the heat before the food is done. If you need the pan to cool quickly, move it to a cold burner or a trivet. It's sort of like cooking with a really thick cast iron pan that takes a long time to get hot but it stays hot for a while too.

I second the two-burner method that Phoxx mentioned. It's especially useful in making risotto!

There is no smooth transition. Just unending stove ennui.

I'm (sort of) with @joydreamz on this one. It's rough. But you'll get used to it eventually (if you're me, you may get used to it just in time to move someplace with a gas stove again). One tip that I have any time you notice that the heat has gotten too high is to lift the pan off the burner before/as/right after you turn down the heat. This gives the instant response that can help it settle down a bit, and the burner gets some circulation to cool faster as well.

Our rice cooker broke a few months ago and we are hoping to replace it soon, but I feel your pain with cooking rice on the glass top electric, especially! I am going to try the two burner method next time. I also find it takes FOREVER to heat up oil for sauteing onions. I turn the burner on the pan with the oil in it, and then start chopping the onions. Five minutes later, it is finally warm enough to dump the onions in and hear the sizzle.
I also turn the burner off at least a minute or two before the end of my cooking time, because the cool down takes so long. It saves a bit of electricity and every little bit helps.
I rarely use the highest heat setting, except for boiling water for pasta. I preheat for awhile on medium heat. Also, read your instruction manual to see what it says about cast iron skillets. Some glass top electric stoves may say that you shouldn't use a cast iron skillet because it may damage the surface.
All in all, I can't wait to have my own place which WILL have a gas stove. Whenever I cook at my parents I am amazed how fast oil heats up in the frying pan. It's like magic!

I'm curious: I've never used an electric stove and I've only ever heard complaints about them -- so why are they around at all? Cheaper? Safer?

This would be a dealbreaker for me. Me or the stove, we can't both live there.

When I moved in with my future husband, he thought the amazing cook he had dated had vanished. I burned cookies, eggs...everything. It turned out that his prehistoric bachelor oven hadn't been calibrated, but the electric stove was harder to adjust to. The lifting the pot thing helps but the thing that took me a while to cope with was when we again switched from coil to the glass top. (a used gift from the in-laws) That mofo takes FOREVER to boil water. I hate it with all the passion I can muster for an appliance.

Once we get out of the bachelor pad, I plan on going to induction, but til then I've gotten mostly used to electric.

@AKAY Gas is not available in all places. Even where we live, where natural gas is available at the street level we can't feasably get a gas stove. Since we can't convert our house to gas heat (well, not without some MAJOR overhauls to the house) the gas company has no desire to connect our house to the main. Well, they would so long as I paid for it. TL;DR I could spend $1000 for the gas line, plumber install etc. and then buy a gas stove for around that as well. Or I can live with my $500 coiltop electric stove.

Coiltop are far superior to the flat top though as you can use them with cast iron.

I just did the same transition a few months ago, what is it with boyfriends and their glass top electric stoves? :) The two burner method works for me as well. Also I've found that aside from boiling water or heating up a cast iron skillet, having the burner on "high" is almost always too hot for regular cooking.

Also, the cork trivets from Ikea have been a godsend because when you're done cooking something, you have to take it off the stove right away versus letting it sit there like you can w/ a gas stove.

Akay, BF bought his home new, but it was already built (previous buyers couldn't get the financing), so taking out the electric and installing a gas line would have been cost prohibitive at the time since the home was already completed, plus he doesn't cook so he doesn't care :). When my mom built her house, the builder charged her $1400 to put in a gas line for her stove, despite the fact she was building from ground-up.

Invest in some good quality, thick bottomed pans (Le Creuset, though pricey, would be great - and they will last forever). Heat pans well before adding meat if you want a nice sear, and don't be tempted to move food around as it cooks. Cooking on electric stoves can be easier as ingredients don't burn so easily. You just need to be patient, and leave the food alone as it cooks.

@Akay How about the lack of gas lines AND the price of gas? Jeesh.

I feel your pain! The first 2 homes I ever lived in had gas stoves. I learned on gas stoves and improved my cooking skills on gas. It wasn't until I bought my first place (a condo) that I had to "suck it up" and go with electric. I don't go with 2 burners but I do slide pans off the burner when things get too hot. It's a pain and I will NEVER buy a place without a gas stove.

Oh, my condolences! I feel your pain... Phoxx had the 2 most important tips. There are also differences in electric "burners." In the apartment we used to live in the coils were "looser," with more space between the coils that the ones we have in our house. For some reason that made changing temperatures take longer, which sounds very counter-intuitive. It's a learning process, but you'll get there.

Another main difference is in baking, bread especially. Water vapor is a byproduct of burning gas, which makes for a better bread crust. I haven't baked much, other than cookies, lately but I'm going to be going back to baking bread soon and am going to have to figure out how to get that lovely crust in an electric oven. Does anyone have ideas about that?

@Marion in savannah

Maybe put a cup of water in the oven with your bread? As it evaporates it'll simulate the gas burning.

Traditional electric stoves are horrible. when I bought my house, the gas line for the furnace was on the far side of the house from the kitchen. Rather than spend the $1000 to extend the gas line, I put that money toward an induction cooktop. It's GREAT!

My induction cooktop is full-size and built into the counter, but you might consider a single, countertop unit for the more finnicky things you cook: rice, eggs, etc... Amazon has several for around $80.

In the mean time, don't forget that you can always pick a pan up off the burner if it's getting too hot. Obviously this works better for lighter, less full pots and pans, like scrambled eggs, etc...

Gas is nice but I have found it no longer to be necessary. It'd be nice to have to roast peppers, but other than that I am au fait with electric. Good electric stoves, that is!

Re other commenters: Two burners: energy inefficient!! all that warmth wasted... think of the planet.

I am all for the electric top when cooking rice or pasta. Water boils much faster on my electric stove than it ever did over gas. With rice you just add 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, salt and boil. When it boils take it down to the lowest setting and cover. Nudge off the heat if it takes a while to settle down. But more importantly, make sure you cook with correct sizes of pans!!

electric all the way.. though my next will be induction!