Agas for beginners

[tinselvestsparklepants]

We are moving house and are inheriting an Aga. I've never cooked with one before. Help! Any hints/tips as to how to learn? I'm such a beginner I don't even know what to ask. I'm used to a gas hob and an electric oven. (There is an electric job and oven there too but I'd like to at least try and use the Aga.) We aren't in the house yet but I'm getting excited.

It’ll take a bit of getting used to, but it is the best thing! Have a look for Sarah Whitaker on YouTube, and you may want to invest in an Aga cook book, Louise Walker does good ones and Mary Berry does too.

A few key points to bear in mind. - Using the top plates will reduce the heat in the oven

• open the oven door as little as possible, it takes longer to warm back up than an electric.

There is a noticeable difference between top, middle, bottom of the same oven. At the point in the recipe when it says preheat oven, move the shelf to where you want it to be for whatever you are making. - fiddling about adjusting shelf as you are putting something in means you lose a lot of heat at a crucial moment if it is something that needs a hot oven like a cake.

You will get to know the zones on yours with a bit of trial and error. Once you know it you'll be fine. Accept that there will be some charcoal/still cold moments early on.

You won't know the exact heat of an oven, but will know after a few goes eg that fishfingers take 15 mins in the top of the top one; sponge cake takes 30 in the top of the bottom one. Learn to trust your instinct without checking on things.

It keeps things lovely and moist, not a dry heat and air isn't moving.
Lovely to lean against in the winter
Excellent for getting laundry really dry.
Enjoy!

Thank you both! These are excellent tips. Much appreciated.

How many ovens does it have and what fuel? Is it on 24/7 or has it been reconditioned with an electrikit system, or is it a modern all electric which is more controllable than the traditional ones?

I second watching sarah whitaker on youtube and there is also a goid facebook site called ‘i love my aga’ where you can get help as well.

Good luck! Agas are wonderful!

This is what it says in the age cookbooks: in conventional ovens and hobs cooking tends to be 80% on the hob and 20% oven. In Aga's it's the reverse. So stews, rice, potatoes and stuff like that I bring to the boil on the hot plate and then pop it into the top oven.

The only thing I don't do in the Aga is scones because they need heat and I don't keep mine very hot. Its great for things like melting chocolate (straight into a bowl in the lower oven or sitting on the top) and ironing clothes (fold damp clothes from the line and they finish off on the Aga (I wouldn't leave them overnight, but you can buy brilliant drying racks for them for your laundry).

I am an Aga convert so I hope you learn to love yours, hi e costs a fortune to run but we don't begrudge it and really miss it when it's off in summer.

Great advice. It takes a while to get used to it but you will fall in love with it.

Warm your bum on it. Put hot drinks on top (not in the plates, just the surround) and they stay hot.

Use it to dry clothes (not on or near the plates unless you are keeping a close eye)

I live next to mine. Love it more than most people.

Aga videos on YouTube... compelling stuff! Thanks again for the tips. Bum and drink warming seems like a great place to start!

I'm so jealous. I grew up with an aga and would love one, but a kitchen the size of a postage stamp (and a teeny budget) means it's not on the cards.

My Mum used to make fabulous meringues in the bottom oven - they'd have an amazing sticky middle, like toffee, which no electric or gas oven has ever come close to. We'd also make amazing roast meats - start off with a blast in the top (hot) oven and then transfer to the bottom oven for hours. Overnight for beef in our house, and it was fantastic. The bottom oven is also a perfect slow cooker for casseroles and stews, and aga baked potatoes and bread are the best in the world.

Get yourself a timer, and use it. Great for toasties (2 mins each side on mine).

When I first started using ours I'd put a peg on the tea towel on the rail to remind me I had something in the ovens. Its easy to forget if you are busy as there is no smell.

Buy bacoglide. I have two cut to fit the hotplates for frying eggs, pancakes and for toast. Never bothered with a rack toaster just used bacoglide.

Aga saucepans are stackable in the oven, look divine but are very expensive. My Stellar saucepans work great and if I need more space I decant into my pyrex stuff which is stackable.

Also the Aga grill pans sit on the runners which saves space but are again expensive so I'm still using my grill from our previous house which sits on the shelf.

Mash potato so much easier, no more waiting and watching that it doesn't boil over. Bring to boil and then bottom oven for 20 mins. I don't drain mine. Same with pasta, carrots most veg really. Swede does take the longest so I start that first.

Echo what pp said about never having a cold cuppa ever again.

I adore mine, inherited it when we moved nearly two years ago.