WTF is the deal with Agas?

[PrincessNutella]

So this is a thing upper middle class British Mummier -than-thou people have? And it's an oven that stays on all the time, wasting gas? And you can cook stews and warm up your blankets in it? Why is this better than any other oven or dryer? Isn't it bad for the environment? Does it cause fractious rifts in families to discuss the pros and cons of agas? And if you don't have one, would you desperately want one? Are you pro aga Yes) or anti (no)?

My MIL had one, and it made the most delicious casseroles and baked potatoes.

She once invited me over because she had forgotten about a game casserole in the bottom oven (a very slow oven), and it had been there for days. It hadn’t dried out, but had just become deeply rich and intense.

But whilst it was nice to visit an AGA, I don’t think I would want to live with one.

My Grandmother had an aga and I had very happy childhood memories of it. When my husband and I bought our current house there was one that came with the house and I was so excited. It took me a while to get used to the slightly different way of cooking but I love it, everything just tastes better, and it's so versatile. I hate the summer months when we choose to switch off, I burn everything in a normal oven! My only hate is that I know it's not very environmentally friendly, something that I try hard to counterbalance in other ways. At some point we may convert it to electric or if me ever move again I think I'd be tempted by some sort of similar range type affair that's not necessarily an aga.

I have an Everhot.

It's like a more eco-friendly version of the Aga.

My parents have one. Hate the bloody thing, it costs them a fortune and it is impossible to cook a large roast or Xmas meal as the bloody thing looses heat. Genuinely don’t get it. Horrible to clean as well

Oh and don’t even get me started on having to have a summer hob and oven. Find the whole concept utterly baffling tbh

Aga toast

We had one in a house about 8 years ago. I loved it. It was a gas one. As PPs have said it kept the kitchen beautifully warm even when there was a power cut and the oil man couldn't get through due to a very steep hill and lots of ice.

I would love one in this house but our kitchen is too small.

And to the poster who would love stone flags and wooden windows- the flags are brilliant but the wooden windows need a lot of upkeep. We have both.

I have a Stanley, which is like a Rayburn. Oil fired, does ch, hw and I cook on it. Wouldn't be without it.

Well who knew! You can get 'mini' Agas!!

For the princely sum of £5.5k....

I really miss having a Rayburn or Aga. Have had both.
Current house has fancy air source heating and we’d boil with an aga.
Roasts are not the same, aga cooking is so much better.
We are very middle class though I guess!

@CaptainHammer oh god I LOVED Monkey Dust SO much

When I was young and pretentious I aspired to one 😆
Then had experience of a solid fuel Stanley in an old house we renovated & couldn't wait to get rid of it - dirty fuel guzzling waste of space 😒

We have an oil fired one
It’s the only cooker and it only gets turned off in extreme heat
It does heat the kitchen/ family room.
Yes it’s wasteful but it makes great meals and really is the heart of the house.
When it’s out it’s bbq,microwave or electric frying pan !

@Boredmotherofone

Oh no! I now need one...

My grandparents were farmers and had no gas supply and the joys of a cesspit. The Aga was the lifeblood of the hoise's winter warmth. It ran on oil, as did the heating. I am glad I learnt to cook on an Aga. It makes the process about touch, feel and smell and really teaches you about when food is cooked. In summer when it was switched off they had the Belling and cooking on electric was OK and very controllable.

I fail to see the benefits of gas hobs.

When we were skint and first married we had a really old house with a Rayburn. We had no heating except the Rayburn and a fire, the house was as damp as hell. The Rayburn heated the water, dried the clothes, kept two of the downstairs rooms warm, and was obviously an oven and hotplate. In summer we used an electric hotplate.
It burnt anything that went through the door, we used to collect wood from the river, dry it and burn it, also burnt cheap anthracite. It was a filthy brute and I had a love hate relationship with it. We depended on it at a time in our lives would have been miserable without it, but if I was well off, I'd never have one by choice.

We have a 4 oven gas one. It’s a monster of a thing, looks great and I wouldn’t be without it now. It came with the house, I said I’d give it 6 months before making a decision and put the (already purchased) range in the shed. It took less than 2 months for us to get rid of the range!

Toast on the Aga is food of the gods, takes me back to my childhood over 30 years ago.....genuinely bought a tear to my eye remembering the heartbeat of our home and the comfort of the home cooked food and warmth and security of our beautiful Aga.

I have a gas aga because I live in France and when I bought 17 years ago that was the only option. It's fab but not cheap to run. Can do hot water and heating too. We only have it on the lowest setting and it pretty much heats all 200m2.

I slow cook things in it overnight for tender stews that can be heated up the following evening. Improves the flavor. If you have a ceiling airer over it dries all the washing.

And the gas ones are easy to turn on and off.

I'm currently using one for the first time in a holiday home. The DC love making toast on the hot plate and I love the fact that I don't think to think about heating up the oven, just bung it all in and just need to remember to check it as you can't smell the food cooking so can't smell if it's burning! I've loved the novelty of it but wouldn't have one in my own home.

Four oven oil one. We absolutely love it. I am not a great cook but manage well with it making nice roasts and comfort type food.
I love it in the winter as at least one room in our old house is cosy!
Really can’t understand why people dislike them (apart from running costs)

I wouldn’t have one now, for environmental reasons, but I grew up with an aga. My dad bought a second hand one for fifty quid, dismantled it and rebuilt it himself. It was oil fired and on year round as we had no other cooker.

I had no idea how to use a normal cooker when I left home. Bloody loved cooking on / in the aga. They do make the best toast.

So you can use a piece of Bake-O-Glide to make toast clean up "a doddle," I see! However, whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, I have no idea.

I'm with you OP. I lived in ex's house for a year with his gas aga. The kitchen was insufferably hot, it cost a fortune to run, the ovens were tiny and it was completely useless for anything except casseroles and bread. And I had to cordon it off from a wobbly toddler.

It was a real pleasure to move back to a modern oven that kept the heat inside, didn't fester all night like some sleeping dragon and had the subtlety of a thermostat. It felt so good to cook without struggling again