Have you got an electric Aga?

[hooliodancer]

I am thinking of having a reconditioned all electric Aga in my new kitchen. I only want to use it for cooking.

What do you do about a cooker hood /extractor fan? Will I have to have a surround thing built?

I had intended using my much loved Falcon range, but it's gas and we only have electric in the new house. The costs of moving it, converting it to take bottled gas makes it not cost effective.

Thanks!

Bumping this as I'm interested to hear about these too.

My husband thinks agas are pointless and a bit complicated (I don't know how they work really either as never had one, just always loved the idea!)

I've told him though that you can get all sorts of agas now and interested to know what the electric ones are like.

They cost an arm and a leg to run. And both kidneys and your liver. And that's the type that is in 'simmer' all day and only heats up to cooking temperature at the times you set it for.

But they are fantastic and if you get the hang of them they turn out amazing food. An Aga-roast chicken is food of the gods. When we were thinking about buying one, we heard that once you've cooked in an Aga you wouldn't go back to a normal cooker, and I absolutely agree.

But do go to a 'how to cook on an Aga' day at your local shop. It's a slightly different way of cooking (most done in the ovens) and which oven is which etc.

The ovens are vented to the outside but you would need an extractor above just like any other cooker for when you're frying or boiling on the top.

Ours costs about £90 a month to run, but the kitchen really is the heart of the house. We have a pulley in the ceiling and dry laundry up there. Never any need for a tumble drier if you have an Aga.

My aga is gas, but I don't have any sort of extractor. As a previous poster said, there is nothing like an aga roast. It makes the nicest porridge, and dries all my washing in no time at all.

Ours costs a fortune so is only on November - April ish. I skirted round mine for months when we first moved in as it terrified me but once you get the hang of it there really is no looking back.

If you use Facebook there is a really friendly helpful aga group called "I love my aga"

I have an oil Aga , that has been converted to electric

As above it costs an arm and a leg to run , it is hugely expensive

It does the hot water as well though , so we will just turn it on at Christmas , when all the family is here , and use the normal electric cooker for day to day use

Don’t get an Aga, get one of these:
www.everhot.co.uk
They come in 5 sizes from 60-150cm wide, and, like an electric Aga, are electric cast iron ranges designed to be on all the time. Unlike the Aga they have a grill, don’t need an annual service, you (or rather the specialist movers - they are HEAVY) just put them in place, plug in and go (no plinth etc required) and you can take them with you when you move. They have bigger ovens, and cost considerably less to buy and run. They’re on all the time so, yes, they do cost more to run than a cooker you turn on to cook, but they are the opposite of complicated (and the customer service/support is amazing). Check out the Everhot Appreciation Page on Facebook- hundreds of people on there and no one has a bad word to say about their Everhot (and no I don’t work for them!)

We looked into an Everhot and visited their showrooms. Yes, they are lovely, and very expensive. It was the running costs that put us off I'm afraid. Okay if you've got a big budget, but we really couldn't justify the extra expense on the appliance and the electricity. I'll just have to wait till I win the lottery or something!

When we had an Aga it was mains gas and didn't have any extraction because you're not meant to use the hobs for very long at all. The whole point of the stored heat is to use the ovens, even for a cooked breakfast.
The cookery days they run are invaluable and you can read up a lot about the technique of cooking on a true range cooker.

We've had an Everhot with an induction hob on the side, for about 9 years or so now and it's fantastic. Much, much better than other range cookers we looked at. I saw an Aga display at a recent event and was quite shocked at how small the ovens are. Ours also did the hot water but a downside of that in a busy household is that the 'recovery time' when the tank's been drained low, is slow and so we had to supplement with an immersion heater.

As others have said, the running costs are high and Aga also need service charges adding. Back when we had one, I didn't find their customer service very good at all, quite the opposite. Everhot were fantastic both through the buying process and after sales care, although we haven't really needed much and it may be hard to source a second hand or reconditioned one.

There's an awful lot to think about, whatever you decide.

Oooh £90 a month? Don't think I'll be able to talk hubby into it any time soon.

I watched a few videos on their website and have to say I doubt I would use the "simmering oven" so would only get the benefit of two of the ovens.

Perhaps it's not for me. Love to hear more about how people dry their washing though?

I was thinking more of the ones that are basically electric cookers in an aga skin. So that are only used for cooking and are not in all the time.

I don't want to have an extra cooker, but I do want an aga!

I use the simmering ovens loads! A slow cooked casserole goes in there in the morning (after 30 mins or so in the roasting oven) ready for tea in the evening.

It's also used for rice and pasta after bringing them to the boil on the hotplate (I was agog at this, but it works! Things like rice pudding etc also go in there.

My washing dries as I have a pulley airer above it, but I also fold nearly dry sheets and pop them on the hotplates and they are dry within an hour or so. You can buy airers that fit above the hotplates, but I've never needed one.

I'd say I find the simmering oven more useful than the baking oven tbh.

I don't know much about the electric ones, but the fb aga group will tell you all about them.

I think asking on here is far more useful than their website to be honest!

LOVE the idea of bedsheets on the hot plate! Bet they are amazing afterwards.

I also thought the oven sizes looked a bit small. It says you could fit 7 pots into one oven but they looked like mini pots you probably buy from a specialist aga store.

How about doing a big Christmas dinner? Do you struggle to fit it in the roasting Oven?Or split with the baking oven too? Sorry, as you can tell the different oven compartments blew my mind a little!

With the Everhot you don't technically get a roasting and a simmering oven, the temperatures are programmable and so is the hot plate's. The smaller oven doesn't go as high though. The bigger oven has a separate grill in the top. You can also programme them to drop temp over night and boost the next day via the timer function.

I don't struggle with big meals as you can fit lots in and in addition to the two ovens there's a warming compartment.

One big advantage I find over the Aga is that the hotplates are big and square with square lids that cover the whole of the top, this also means they're brilliant for not only drying, but pressing the laundry and like the Agas for hanging washing over the front rail as well.

OP you want a range-style cooker than, as the definition of a range is the fact that it IS on all the time rather than just the look of it.

I always think the ovens look a bit small width ways, but they are cavernous. You can buy special trays that fit on the runners so you don't lose space with shelves etc. My record is 9 full sized naan breads in one oven.

We are a foody family and I have 3 very greedy boys and a greedy husband and i make enormous means, but I've never felt like I don't have enough room.

My husband does our Christmas dinner every year and goes all out with a massive feast. Last year was our first in this house and he LOVED it because there was so much room to cook everything in the aga.

I think he did it all in the roasting oven, but with bits in the baking oven as temps dictated, and veg in the simmering oven.

I use the simmering oven a lot for warming plates, keeping cooked food hot without cooking it further, brilliant a someone said as a slow cooker (put a casserole in and leave it all day - it won't dry out). We get takeaway pizza early evening and keep it hot until we're ready to eat it, again without drying out and it doesn't set fire to the cardboard box, it's not quite hot enough.

I've also cooked a Christmas turkey overnight in there. I find the ovens plenty big enough but you use trays that fit on the runners, not dishes on oven shelves.

I wouldn't be without mine. I adore it 😍

I hated my Aga ( just to be a lone dissenting voice ). If they run the central heating too, fair enough, but the environmental impact - and cost - of effectively leaving all your rings and ovens on all day and night, made me get rid.