Aga - what's the big deal?

[Covert19]

We're about to move into a house with an electric Aga. I am aware that there are Aga fans who would not be without the massive beasts, but I don't get it. The people selling the house described having an Aga as "a lifestyle" as though this appliance is a time-consuming pet rather than a convenient way to heat chicken nuggets.

I suppose I am wondering why people like them so much, and what I'm supposed to do with the one I'm "inheriting". Is it a different way of cooking? Will it do all the things my current electric split-level Neff fan oven does? Or will I have to resort to making broth and pot roasts to get the most out of it? Guidance please!

@NataliaOsipova

Will it do all the things my current electric split-level Neff fan oven does?

Short answer - no! We rented a house for six months that had one and they were all the rage at the time. I made my DH promise that, no matter how much it cost, if we bought a house with one it would be taken out and replaced with a modern electric oven. They are the most ludicrous things in my view; akin to rejecting a modern washing machine in favour of a mangle (it’s a different way of washing clothes etc). If you have something in the oven, you can’t boil a pot of pasta on the top!

The problem is not understanding the Aga. You don’t cook on top very much at all. Pasta is cooked inside the oven. It makes the best meringue ever and cakes are fabulous; it just needs adjusting your mindset from a dial. Temperature control on ours is quite easy. They aren’t suited to small households living off microwave meals but for families or larger households they are fabulous.

I moved into a house with an oil Rayburn. It provides heating and our hot water and has two ovens. Expensive to keep the ovens warm continuously so only use them infrequently. I also have an AGA electric double oven unit. I use this mostly. The Rayburn is mostly used to roast meat and potatoes and provide warm plates from the bottom oven. The baking I tried was disastrous. Even with the help of Mary Berry's AGA cookbook. It is lovely to have the heat in the kitchen in winter though, nothing like leaning on it and warming up. However, if the cost was not so prohibitive we would be replacing it with a superduper electric rangemaster and an oil boiler. Totally not bought into the lifestyle thing... although when people visit our house (many months ago) there were lots of oohs and ahhs... and living the country life dream comments. Oh... And it is bloody noisy sometimes.

My PILs have one and they leave it on all year round so the house is boiling in the summer. I hate it.

They aren’t suited to small households living off microwave meals Ha ha ha ha ha That passive aggressive dig sums up Aga owners - are you my sister?

borageforager yes, the aga is on all the time, its my only source of cooking atm.

NataliaOsipova probably the temperature wasn't set correctly.

We inherited a 4 oven oil aga. I could never justify the cost of buying one but I do love it now.
First thing to do is book yourself on a demo day at your local aga dealer. They are invaluable. You need to change your mindset on how you cook too. If you try to use it the same way as your normal oven you will end up frustrated and disappointed, use it the right way and you may be converted! After a couple of months you'll never look back.
Because it's always on you can start cooking anything right away. You can cook lots of different dishes at the same time. It's silent and smell free. Xmas Dinner is a doddle.
I love how the kitchenn is always warm.
Oh and it costs a fortune to run and we switch it off in summer and use a plug in hob and combi microwave.

@TheNavigator

They aren’t suited to small households living off microwave meals Ha ha ha ha ha That passive aggressive dig sums up Aga owners - are you my sister?

Don’t be daft. It’s not ‘passive aggressive’ it’s statement of fact. If there is just you, and you prefer ready meals then an Aga won’t suit your lifestyle.

Are you always so defensive and angry about nothing?

@cherrypavlova. It was the sneery comment about households living on microwave meals that was so passive aggressive.

I don't own a microwave, cook from scratch but work full time and don't have time to faff around making allowances for a utensil, when all that is needed is a modern thermostat.

This is where you make a comment like 'Oh, you work...!

[quote Mintjulia]@cherrypavlova. It was the sneery comment about households living on microwave meals that was so passive aggressive.[/quote]
Sneery? No, I know a few young staff in my team who don’t ever use their cookers. They live on toast, microwave meals and eating out. They wouldn’t suit an Aga.

Sneery/passive aggressive is surely putting smiley faces at the ends of an unpleasant comment to make it feel acceptable?

Perhaps a shiny brand-new programmable AGA cooks pasta inside the oven, but my 60-year-old one always uses the boiling plate! The clue is rather in the name.

Yeah my grandmother’s 1950s Aga definitely boiled pasta on the top, not in the oven.

@CherryPavlova think you’re the only person who has said theirs is programmable - what settings do you have on it? Mine is programmed & that’s what I can’t get my head around...

I have an Everhot. It's the smallest one and I love it.

If you really really want one, the cost is halfed by buying them second hand.

www.secondhandeverhot.co.uk/

I bought mine here, they will do them up in any colour you want, plus sort all the transport and installation. Company employ ex-Everhot technicians and used to have the contract for delivering them so know everything about them. They were great to deal with.

It took a bit of trial and error to get used to cooking with but now it's amazing, plus no real impact on electric bills as I have no need to heat the kitchen.

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful.

They sound a bit marmite to me so I guess I’ll have to give it a try and find out. I don’t own a Barbour jacket, Le Chameau wellies, a dog or a shooting stick either, but perhaps those things will follow!

Re the environmental impact, it’s interesting to weigh up the fuel consumption Vs the fact they clearly last a lifetime - unlike most modern appliances that die within ten years then go to landfill. I wonder if there’s a way to find out which is worse.....

@Covert19

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful.

They sound a bit marmite to me so I guess I’ll have to give it a try and find out. I don’t own a Barbour jacket, Le Chameau wellies, a dog or a shooting stick either, but perhaps those things will follow!

Re the environmental impact, it’s interesting to weigh up the fuel consumption Vs the fact they clearly last a lifetime - unlike most modern appliances that die within ten years then go to landfill. I wonder if there’s a way to find out which is worse.....

We moved late last year so had no time to go to any demonstrations before doing Christmas dinner for nine people.

Never cooked Christmas dinner for that many adults before and never cooked a turkey in an aga either.

I binged watched as many youtube videos as I could, practiced with Sunday dinners.

Everybody loved it and it was the best turkey I've ever had. Slow cooked overnight, fab!

Only thing is now I think they are all wanting to do it again. With covid I can see me cooking and delivering dinners to everyone who would gave come to ours

@borageforager

Yeah my grandmother’s 1950s Aga definitely boiled pasta on the top, not in the oven.

@CherryPavlova think you’re the only person who has said theirs is programmable - what settings do you have on it? Mine is programmed & that’s what I can’t get my head around...

You can boil pasta on top but you risk losing excess heat. They are designed to have minimal use of the hotplates. You boil water, pop the pasta in and put in one of the ovens for the time you’d usually boil it. That way less heat is lost and less energy wasted. Should be 80% of cooking inside the ovens.

It’s called an AIMs Aga, and can be set to come on or off at certain times, have holidays, has a manual override and ability to boost the temperature. It has a thermostatic control as well! In case you know you’ll be unsuitable a lot.

You can always sell it.

If you’d ever lived rurally you’d understand the appeal of them. I’ve known it be -15c in Staffordshire. I thought it must be chilly when the cat wasn’t out long that morning.

They sound a bit marmite to me so I guess I’ll have to give it a try and find out. I don’t own a Barbour jacket, Le Chameau wellies, a dog or a shooting stick either, but perhaps those things will follow!

You don't need any of that guff!

cherrypavlova that's similar to what I do with pasta, only I bring to boil with pasta in and then into SO.

I moved in to a house with an aga 6 years ago and I’ve never cooked Pasta in the aga - I’m going to have a go now - thanks mumsnet!

Hi all

We have recently moved into a cottage with a Rayburn Supreme, which also heats our water and central heating. Its early days but I am struggling to get to grips with the heating side of things. The water in the hot taps is piping hot but I cant seem to get the radiators anything more than luke warm. I have the cooking/heating damper in the vertical position, I have turned the dial up to 6 for 30 mins before switching the heating pump on, I have tried leaving it on 6 for a fair time as well as turning it down to 3 or 4 after a period of time. I have noticed some soot marks appearing around the top oven door. Any suggestions please x

I have lived in houses with Agas for 40 years now. I have never cooked pasta in the oven. My current Aga is gas fired and I calculated that it may cost £60 or so a month to run. Ok it’s not cheap but a couple of takeaways would be the same. I have no other real cooker apart from pancake machine, George Foreman grill etc and so it’s only off if it needs a service or twice when the thermocouple broke.
I have barely burnt myself either. It’s definitely a different way of cooking and I can always tell immediately if it breaks down as the house feels cooler. I don’t need an extractor fan either.
I do love my Aga ; however I am now thinking of updating my kitchen and am considering changing the Aga for something more environmentally friendly.
As Agas are heat storage cookers I’m not convinced by the electric ones - and the cost - running full time. 13,000kwh is about £2,000 in running costs!

Update: After moving into the house, I did enjoy using the Aga - never have I had such succulent meat! It was also brilliant for keeping things warm, drying damp clothes and just being a really nice, toasty, homely presence.

However, it was an electric one, and we just couldn't afford to run it. I think it cost us £200 per month to run! So we sold it.

But we did keep it until Christmas Day as I wanted to try out the overnight slow-roast turkey, and it did not disappoint (thanks @Houseinthemiddle ). When I am a millionaire, I will buy one again.

We had an oil Aga when we moved in. It was literally just for cooking and not connected to the heating. It really kept the chill off the kitchen. However, as I hate cooking and don't bake, it proved a huge expense for something that, for us, just looked lovely. When we refurbed the kitchen a few years back, we got rid of it. (We contacted an Aga specialist to see if he wanted to buy it. He said that because oil prices were high at the time and it didn't heat the house, he didn't want it as he would struggle to sell it)!

We inherited an oil-fired Aga in our current house. Agas are definitely de rigeur in the rural homes where I live, along with black labs and someone always home. Before lockdown, we're usually out of the house from 7:30am to 6:00pm. Keeping it running when no-one is home just didn't sit right with me, plus it was costing us an absolute fortune. It was removed 6 months after we moved in, and we've put in a normal range oven (and had to have a bit of work done to fill the gap, as, naturally, Agas don't come in standard oven widths, so you can't buy something to perfectly plug the gap).

I didn't have any issues with cooking on it, but I much prefer having adjustable temperatures, being able to turn my oven/hob on AND off, and no ridiculous fiddling of cool shelves, swapping dishes between various ovens or hot plates. I didn't find it conducive for fast cooking. I agonised over it on MN at the time, and have come to the conclusion that the love of an Aga is slightly cult-like, it just doesn't actually make much common sense at all, but lovers will justify it somehow.