Tips on using a Rayburn

[FairyPenguin]

I have just bought a house with a Rayburn and am trying to read up on it before we move in.

It is one which does the hot water and heating as well. The kitchen also has a gas hob fitted.

Firstly, can anyone recommend a good book for me to read, to get to know my way around the Rayburn and what all the bits are for? I also want to know how to convert conventional recipes, if I need to do that.

Secondly, any tips / common mistakes to avoid?

We mostly use our oven to do slow roasts, normal roasts, roasting vegetables, cooking pizzas and garlic bread, pasta bakes, reheating things like cauliflower cheese, macaroni cheese, cooking ready meals, fish fingers.

We usually use the hob to cook things like chilli, curry, stir fries, boiling potatoes, steaming/boiling veg, pan frying steaks, pan frying fish, reheating meals like chilli.

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks!

Not sure about a book but with a Rayburn it is more of an art than anything. You will just need to experiment with it.

Controlling the temperature is the tricky thing. We had one growing up and I have many memories of messing about having the oven door open when its too hot, frantically fanning the fire to get it burning more when not. Lovely warmth though.

Tip, while you are lighting it put a old fashioned kettle of water on top and once its hot you'll always have hot water for tea or cooking.

Is it solid fuel?

Is there another heating source? Ours went kaput and it was cold! Its pretty complex and expensive to get them replaced.

Thanks! It is gas-fired. No other source of heating as far as I'm aware.

The constant hot kettle sounds great, will look forward to that.

This one has a temperature control so I'm hoping it means it won't be too hot in the kitchen in the summer, also the heating has a thermostat, I think.

My DH is a bit sceptical about it so we want to make sure we get the best use out of it from this start before he starts talking about replacing it. I think it should be great, once we work it out. He's also worried that the children will hurt themselves on it (2yo and 5yo) but I'm sure they will be fine.

Not familiar with gas ones.

The children will get used to it. Ours got hot on the outside, enough to give you a fright but not for instant burns.

I would get some kind of emergency heater just in case.

Yes, I thought the kids would get used to it. They are old enough to understand.

Thanks for the tip on getting an emergency heater. I think we might have one knocking about somewhere!

Oh that sounds so cosy, Cheesypotatoes! I hope that my children will end up having similar fond memories of growing up.

Yes, having 2 ovens seems very useful, just need to work out what to cook where. I hear you have to put things on different shelves in certain ovens to grill/roast/bake/slow cook/simmer/steam, which is where my confusion is.

Have a look at the Rayburn site:

www.rayburn-web.co.uk/

A Rayburn is basically an Aga which also does the heating and hot water. If it's mainly how to cook with it, Zombie would think that the Aga Book by Mary Berry and/or the tips on the Aga site would cover a Rayburn as well.

www.agaliving.com/our-products/rayburn-heatrangers.aspx

Zombie has just replaced her ancient converted from solid fuel to oil sometime in the dim and distant past Aga with a brand new (built on site 7 days ago) oil fired Aga. PM her if you want more info.

I miss our Rayburn, but am glad to hear you've got a gas hob too. The hob bit loses temperature quite fast if the covers are off, and pancakes and anything else that needed to be seriously hot was a total nightmare.
Sausages take about half an hour in the top oven.
The bottom oven was pretty slow, I can remember stewing apples in it, took hours.

Ours was gas and did the hot water too, it never broke down.
The kitchen did get a bit sweltery in high summer unless you opened all the windows.

maples, your vendors obviously didn't know that if they install a new Aga, they get an Aga Owner's Starter pack which includes:

• 2 oven racks

• 1 solid shelf for either temporarily reducing the heat in the roasting oven or used as a 3rd shelf

• the toaster

• large and small roasting tins with trivets

• the Mary Berry book

• sample sizes of the chrome and enamel cleaners plus a wire brush for the hotplates

A toaster?! Ooh, I didn't know you could toast bread with it. On the hotplate, I'm guessing? Most exciting.

I think the vendors should be leaving the shelves at least, as they are moving into a new build with a conventional oven. We have some sturdy roasting tins and trays so that should be ok to get us going.

Wonder whether the vendors might leave the Mary Berry book behind if they don't need it...

I heard rumours that Rayburn ovens don't need much cleaning as everything burns off. Is this true?!

Thank you everybody, most helpful. I'm glad we have a separate hob too, so I have time to get used to the Rayburn. I did wonder why they installed that as well but I think I see now!

Get decent pand with solid bottoms and metal handles - you WILL need handle covers (like little socks that pop over the handles when they get hot). Its a bit of practise on hitting the right spot on the 'Hob' to get the heat you need.

Over is good - get a solid tray to put over some foods to stop scorching from above. Again, its practise on temperatures. And no, they don't need as much cleaning as a good old gas or electric hob/oven.

They are fab to cook on, warm your bum nicely on a cold day, cats love to sit on the warm covers and you can cook anything you like in/on them.

Pand - pans! Also get long 'gauntlet' style oven gloves.

Yes, Fairy, on the hotplate. The toaster thing looks like a bit like a big wire mesh ping-pong paddle. You just put the slices of bread in it and put it on the boiling plate (that's the one to the left).

Zombie would actually be quite cross if she moved into a house with an existing Aga or Rayburn and found that the vendors had taken fairly integral bits of it away with them.

It may depend on when they got the Rayburn as to whether or not they will have the Mary Berry book.

Yes, Aga and Rayburn ovens require very little cleaning. The heat is constant so just brushing the bits off with the wire brush occasionally should be enough. Do beware that the oven will be HOT!

Thanks, will invest in long oven gloves and pans. Any excuse to do a Lakeland shop!!

Thank you Zombie - hope you are enjoying your brand new Aga!

When we sold the old house, the buyers dropped the price by £5000 with literally half an hour to go. We were livid, we didn't want to lose our new house so we had to suck it up.
Along with the curtain tracks, lightbulbs, looroll holders and any thing else not so firmly screwed down that removing it would leave permanent damage, all the Rayburn moveable bits were taken.
They sold it on six months later: I met the new owner at a mother and baby club, and took great pleasure in giving her all the bits!

jubilucket, in those circumstances Zombie forgives and applauds you.

Zombie is enjoying the new Aga VERY much, Fairy. It produced a melt in your mouth rare beef roast tonight. And perfect jacket potatoes.

Cheers Zombie
Oh god I'd forgotten how well it did roast beef and yorkshire puddies.
If you put the right size jacket potatoes in the bottom oven in the morning, they'd be perfect at tea time.

My mum bought me this book when I moved into a house with an aga recently. Not so much a recipe book as a technique book. I love the aga and have adapted really easily. I'm sure a Rayburn is similar.

You will get burn marks on your arms which other Aga/Rayburn owners will recognise, tis part of the initiation ceremony

I have an Aga, but if Rayburns are the same, they do not exude cooking smells, so invest in a timer. It is easy to forget that you have put something in the oven, for days.

Also, the cold plain shelf brings down the temperature of the hot oven for baking.

Agree to the Mary Berry Aga Book, and Amy Wilson has done several as well.

Enjoy.

Ikea 365 pans are great on an aga by the way, and much cheaper than aga stuff.

I am getting hungry now! Mmm... can't wait to start using it. DH will be making the rare roast beef as soon as he can, and we can shop at our new local butcher, most exciting. Proper jacket potatoes, Mmm....

Porridge that cooks overnight, you say, eighttwenty? Now that would be perfect for DH who gets up at stupid o'clock for work and often ends up skipping breakfast or eating fast food on way to office.