AGAS..... yes still on about them but this time....

[QClinic]

accessories!!!!

the fun bit!

what will I need??

A conventional oven and hob to do all your real cooking on .

Aga toaster (looks like a wire mesh tennis racket).

I agree with Millarkie... the wire mesh thingy is very handy for toast, crumpets, that kind of thing.

Kettle

Thankyou! The kettle appears to be 96 quid which is not a good start

I think you get the mesh thing free which is good!

The aga should come with the toast bat and two oven racks and a plain shelf. You need a roasting tray .

And VERY thick oven gloves.

What sort are you getting.

You can use any flat-bottomed kettle. I have an Alessi one.

i wondered that melted marsbars becasue i do not LOVE the aga one and it is a lot of money

I am getting a four oven -powerflue - am quite nervous tbh after much deliberation

This

Without it you'll scorch your clothes as they dry and with it you'll have clean dry clothes in a jiffy. Brilliant thing.

I'd be nervous about the fuel bills - but not the cooking - have you cooked on one before?

You don't need an Aga kettle... any stove top kettle is fine - this is £25.

Very good oven gloves will come in handy.

You will get used to cooking on it after a while. Been a little while now since I nannied for a family with an Aga, so I'm a bit out of practice now.

lalalonglegs is right, you need a back-up cooker, particularly in a hot summer when your (aga) kitchen is a furnace and you want to turn it off, or when the heat has dropped (major meal eg Christmas) and you can't finish the turkey/big meal etc

no back up cooker yet but hope to put one in cellar eventually so that should solve probs

not cooked on one at all

made a tea once? (cup of!)

Long gauntlet gloves to reach into the back of the top oven, to rescue the last jacket potato, that has gone there to hide!

Am seriously loving the airer/dryer thingy.

Aga pots and pans, especially the stacking kind, to help you with the 80/20 rule. I am BAD at following this, and always curse my laziness when the mercury falls half way through a big cooking session.

An Egg timer, so you don't forget things - no smells escape to remind you that things are cooking. I incinerated many meals before I succumbed to the Beep Beep of a timer. Marvellous !

You don't need a back up cooker.

charlie andlola what is 80/20 rule?

80% of coooking done inside the ovens, and only 20% on the top plates, eg cook rice by absorption method in oven, rather than boiling it on the plates, ditto veg, ditto cooking bacon/sausages etc.

thanks charlie and lola no one has ever mentioned it to me before...

which oven would i put rice or pasta in?

I would put rice in the low oven once you have brought it to the boil.
I love the low oven - you can cook things and leave them in there for ever without them drying out.

It's taken me ages to get to grips with the 80/20 thing, but it does make sense - although you hvae to be careful not to burn yourself when you take the pans out and then forget they are hot and try to hold the handle

The drying rack is great - i have a 2tier one and you can get loads of stuff on it.

Once you get your Aga you will wonder how youmanaged without it

ooooh

how exciting mallow

I suspect i will have to learn proper water quantities though now?

the drying rack looks great but huge!

I think its a case of trial and error (well, it is when I cook!)

I was doubtful at first (moved into a house with one) and now I love it.

With rice you need double volume water to rice, bring to just boil on hot plate with lid on then put in back of bottom oven.

Potatoes and other root veg: bring to boil in lidded pan, boil 5 mins then tip most of water out - leave 2cms, then put in bottom oven 45mins to steam. You can do this for whole or peeled spuds, carrots, turnip....

Soup: bring to boil on hob then bottom oven till cooked.

Stews: start on hob then top oven 1 hr then bottom oven till you're ready to eat. (the longer the better for beef) then back into top oven when you put the suet dumplings in.

(Can you tell I grew up with an aga?)