How do I adapt my favourite recipes to Aga cooking?

Check in The Aga Book that comes with your range for a similar recipe and follow those instructions. Do not be afraid to look at the food to check how it is cooking. The cast iron ovens retain the heat so you can peep at a cake or soufflé without all the heat rushing out of the oven, so the cake will not sink or the soufflé collapse.

Pop along to an Aga demonstration at your local Aga Specialist to fully appreciate the versatility of this cooker.

Why does food from an Aga taste so good?

It is the radiant heat from the cast iron ovens which give the Aga it`s legendary cooking excellence. Radiant heat is transferred when energy comes from a heated mass (the cast iron walls) and is not dependent on an intervening media for transmission. The heat hits the food sealing the surface in the hot Roasting Oven and allows food to retain its natural succulence and flavour.

The radiant heat gives less temperature fluctuation than convected air and accordingly it is much less critical that food is removed at an exact moment, so Aga ovens are more forgiving.

Should I buy a two or four oven Aga?

A two oven Aga is perfectly suited to peoples needs, however if you have the space a four oven is comparatively not that much more expensive and provides a Baking Oven and Warming Oven. The Baking Oven is invaluable for cooking at a moderate heat such as cakes, fish and meat. The Warming Oven is so useful for warming numbers of plates and dishes and keeping food warm - like a giant hostess trolley. The extra Warming Plate to the left of the Boiling Plate is ideal for warming teapots, sauceboats, resting meat or melting butter or chocolate. If you do a lot of entertaining, have a larger family or do a lot of cooking the four oven represents the ultimate domestic cooker, you can cook without thinking and the four ovens can be used simultaneously. Of course if space is a premium the three oven Aga enable you to benefit from the invaluable Baking oven within the same footprint as a two oven Aga.

Do I have to learn to cook all over again?

No, but there are one or two special Aga techniques that will make your life a lot easier and stress free - at least when it comes to cooking! You don`t have to preheat the oven or worry about precise temperatures or times. The Aga ovens are kinder and more forgiving than those heated by hot air.

The golden rule is to cook as much as possible in the ovens.

Oven grilling means that any fat splashes are carbonised, cooking smells are banished to the outside and there is no need for constant watching of the grill.

With your new Aga comes a comprehensive handbook, The Aga Book by Mary Berry, which has a guide for which oven to use for what food. It has a introduction to your Aga including how to use your new Aga and cleaning advice.

Each Aga showroom runs regular Aga cookery demonstrations on how to use an Aga most effectively and how to maximise its performance. You may find attending one of these of value.

Should I turn my Aga off in the summer?

This is perhaps the most asked question by someone who has not lived with an Aga. Really it is a matter of personal choice. (The purchase of an Aga module or Companion, a conventional cooker in the Aga style, means that you can cook if your Aga is off for servicing or if you choose to turn off your Aga in the summer).

However most Aga owners do not find UK summers a problem, indeed the Aga is real advantage for those chilly summer evenings and mornings. In the daytime with normal comings and goings there is no build up of heat, as the kitchen is not closed up as it is in the winter. Since the Aga is very well insulated only around 3,000Btu`s per hour are given off, this is equivalent to the heat generated by 10 x 100 watt light bulbs or 12 people!

Also most of the cooking on an Aga takes place in the ovens so heat from the hotplate is minimal. Some Aga owners choose to turn their Aga down, this does not change the taste or quality of the food but it will increase the cooking time slightly.

If the Aga is on all the time, isn`t it expensive to run?

The Aga was designed by a Gustav Dalen, whose sole aim in inventing this cooker was to conserve energy and fuel and to maximise efficiency. When the Aga is assembled it has 16 cubic feet of vermiculite, a natural insulation material, poured into its interior. (Electric economy 7 Aga owners are a little different; their model has ceramic insulation)

The Aga is also manufactured from cast iron, renown for its heat retention. The heat source to an Aga is comparatively small, for instance the gas Aga runs from a burner about the same rating as one conventional gas hotplate burner. The Aga is automatically controlled by a thermostat.

Fuel consumption figures are given in the Aga brochure, for example a two-oven gas Aga will use around 425kWh of natural gas weekly or 60 litres for the propane model.

Remember too, the Aga is so much more than just a cooker! It provides a gentle warmth in the kitchen, airs clothes, and gives an ambience second to none. Being always ready to use the Aga starts to perform as soon as you open the oven doors or insulated covers, there are no knobs and dials - it is so simple.

What is the difference between an Aga and a Rayburn?

The Aga was designed as a heat storage cooker, which is always ready for use and automatically controlled by a thermostat. The Rayburn is most commonly recognised as a product that provide central heating, cooking and domestic water heater. It also comes as a cooking and domestic hot water model and as a cooker only.

The Aga has greater cooking capacity than the Rayburn each part of an Aga is designed to be at a predetermined heat so cooking is undertaken by positioning on one of the two hotplates, boiling or simmering or in the ovens, each at a different heat. The Aga automatically controls itself whereas the Rayburn can be manually or electronically turned up and down.

The Aga comes in three sizes, a two oven, three oven or a four oven. Details of the differences are listed below. The Aga is assembled on site and whilst it is being built insulation is poured into the interior for maximum efficiency of fuel consumption.

The Rayburn is also manufactured from cast iron and is categorised as a semi-heat storage cooker. There is a vast choice in the Rayburn range, from the Rayburn Cookmaster, which are cookers only, to the Rayburn Heatranger, which offer a mix of cooking, water heating and central heating.

The Rayburn range comes in three sizes (200, 300, 400) each is designed to uncompromising standards. The Rayburn is operated by turning the cooker or boiler control up or down, more like a conventional cooker. The central heating Rayburn Heatranger can heat up to 20 radiators.

Assembled by hand in the factory the Rayburn is despatched as a complete appliance.

Below are a more detailed comparison of the differences and similarities of the Aga and Rayburn.

Main differences between Aga and Rayburn

Aga

• Heat storage cooker.
• Continuous burning automatically controlled via a thermostat.
• Separate ovens with pre-set temperatures; food is put in the appropriate oven rather than by adjusting the temperature of an oven. This is a forgiving method of cooking.
• Two round hotplates; one for boiling, one for simmering. A choice of Warming plate, two-burner gas hotplate or 2 element ceramic hotplate on the four-oven model.
• Available in natural or propane gas, oil, solid fuel, electric and off-peak electricity.
• Most models can provide domestic hot water.

Two Oven Aga

• Hot top oven for roasting and baking
• Cooler bottom oven for simmering and long slow cooking.
• All ovens are approximately the same size.
• Majority of cooking should be undertaken in the ovens.
• Assembled on site.
• Module and Companion options.

Three Oven Aga

• Hot Roasting oven top right
• Moderate Baking bottom left
• Cooler oven bottom right for simmering and long slow cooking.
• All ovens are approximately the same size.
• Majority of cooking should be undertaken in the ovens.
• Assembled on site.
• Module and Companion options.

Four Oven Aga

• Hot Roasting oven on top right hand side; moderate baking oven bottom on right hand side; Simmering oven on top left hand side; Warming oven on bottom left hand side.
• All ovens are approximately the same size.
• Majority of cooking should be undertaken in the ovens.
• Assembled on site.
• Module and Companion options.
• Warming plate options on the four-oven model.

Rayburn

• Semi-heat storage cooker.
• Wide choice of models, cooking only or cooking and domestic hot water or cooking domestic hot water and central heating. Most Rayburns sold are central heating cookers.
• Choice of continuous burning or on/off (intermittent) operation, dependent on model.
• The temperatures of the main oven and hotplate can be varied (turned up and down).
• One rectangular hotplate, graduated in temperature from boiling to simmering. Also variable in temperature, dependent upon the setting used.
• Available in natural or propane gas, kerosene or diesel oil, solid or multi-solid fuel.
• Top main oven can be varied in temperature.
• Lower smaller oven, about half the size of the main oven. A cast iron lower oven is used as a cooking oven (200G/L, 380G/L, 400 series) it is around half the heat of the main oven. The others have warming ovens, about a third the heat of the main oven.
• Available in three sizes but typically smaller dimensions than the Aga.
• Despatched as a complete appliance.
• Thermodial on the main oven door gives a guide to centre oven temperature.

Similarities between Aga and Rayburn

• Manufactured from cast iron in a wide selection of Vitreous enamelled exterior finish.
• Cast iron ovens.
• Venting from the ovens into the flue, chimney or pipe.
• Cast iron hotplate(s).
• Insulated covers to the hotplate(s).
• Choice of fuels.
• Choice of flues.
• Timeless classic design.
• Long life expectancy of vitreous enamelled cast iron.