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Do you have an Aga or Rayburn?


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Old 07-12-2008, 23:31
Welsh-lad
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I've recently moved into a house which has a coal/woodburning Rayburn. It does the cooking and the hot water, and I must say I'm finding it great

There's constant heat in the ovens and hotplate, and you don't have to fiddle about with dials and preheating, and whatnot.

It also heats the (small) house beautifully, and I can air all our clothes as winter draws in.

We've also been given a heap of free timber from b/f's Dad who felled trees on the farm in the summer - so basically we have no fuel bill.

It's awesome - everyone needs one!

Anyone else have one?
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Old 07-12-2008, 23:59
not_orange
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I've used an Aga before and hated it. No fine control during cooking plus the ovens were too small.

Guess you either love 'em or hate 'em.
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Old 08-12-2008, 02:41
malaikah
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Was raised on an Aga (crikey my bum got burnt! ) and then we had the lesser Rayburn afetr we moved house when I was about 18. We lived in a big house with only one radiator in the bathroom and one on the landing in the Northumbrian hills and in the depth of winter it was a lifesaver. The kitchen and the living room when the coal fire was on were the places to be!
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Old 08-12-2008, 08:17
fannyadams
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I have had both and loved them both. I wish I still had one as they are so welcoming in the winter. They take some getting used to when cooking, and I found that I sometimes forgot I had put things in the oven, as they generate no smell, so the first time I would find my blackened sausages, would be the following day when I was cooking something else and opened the oven door!!!
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Old 08-12-2008, 09:16
missloo
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i want to put one in our house when we build it but OH says no way! I'll have to work on him
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Old 08-12-2008, 12:59
Welsh-lad
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I've used an Aga before and hated it. No fine control during cooking plus the ovens were too small.

Guess you either love 'em or hate 'em.
It does take some getting used to. You don't have dial-control - so regulating the heat becomes a matter of moving things around. The top of the roasting oven is very hot and the bottom of the simmering oven is warmish.

So you perahps start a dish off in the top oven, then move it to the bottom oven to finish cooking.
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Old 08-12-2008, 13:25
PamelaL
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It's my dream to have an Aga and the first thing we'll do when we buy a house next year is stick an Aga in the kitchen. I love them.
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Old 08-12-2008, 14:11
the chimp
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then we had the lesser Rayburn
Rayburns arent lesser cookers they are just different, in fact Rayburns can do your central heating so they are more flexible than Aga's.


Myself I wouldnt have either, they are expensive to run and awkward to cook on, you have to know what you are doing, then theres the fact that they are on 24/7 so it gets bloody hot around them in the summer months.
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Old 08-12-2008, 19:23
Welsh-lad
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Myself I wouldnt have either, they are expensive to run and awkward to cook on, you have to know what you are doing, then theres the fact that they are on 24/7 so it gets bloody hot around them in the summer months.
I think any cooker is awkward if one is unfamiliar with it.

Rayburns or Agas are range cookers, not conventional cookers, so the approach to cooking has to be different.
Once you get into the mindset of range cooking it's as easy as any type of cooking you've been used to.

I agree with the heat in summer issue though. I have yet to see how we go when the weather gets hot.
It's great for winter

Lots of people (usually townies who "simply must have an Aga darling!") get an Aga or Rayburn because it looks great or whatever. They get it and then can't be arsed to learn how to cook with it properly.
My cousin's ghastly wife demanded one... cooked on it for a fortnight... then demanded a separate electric fan oven and hob . So they now have a basically redundant (yet fuel-gulping) Aga, on which they boil the kettle for coffee once a week.
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Old 08-12-2008, 20:06
the chimp
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I think any cooker is awkward if one is unfamiliar with it.

Rayburns or Agas are range cookers, not conventional cookers, so the approach to cooking has to be different.
Once you get into the mindset of range cooking it's as easy as any type of cooking you've been used to.
The awkwardness comes from things like if the lid is up too long having to let the heat build up again and such, you would be hard pushed though to get better cooking results from any other cooker.

Re: your cousins mrs, I dont think I have been in a kitchen with an aga without them having a separate cooker/oven-hob.
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Old 08-12-2008, 20:07
the chimp
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It's my dream to have an Aga and the first thing we'll do when we buy a house next year is stick an Aga in the kitchen. I love them.
Do you have lots of spare money then ?
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Old 08-12-2008, 20:59
malaikah
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Re: your cousins mrs, I dont think I have been in a kitchen with an aga without them having a separate cooker/oven-hob.
Every house that had an Aga or Rayburn in my youth had only the one oven and no conventional electric or gas oven.

Rayburns arent lesser cookers they are just different, in fact Rayburns can do your central heating so they are more flexible than Aga's.
Yes they are lesser, they are much smaller! And I said it slightly tongue in cheek, given that I was raised using the Aga for 15 years as the only cooking and hot water source, then we 'downgraded' to the Rayburn Oh yeh, and the Aga did heat the hot water and what heating system we had
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:11
the chimp
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Every house that had an Aga or Rayburn in my youth had only the one oven and no conventional electric or gas oven.
In your youth maybe, but not nowadays.

Yes they are lesser, they are much smaller! And I said it slightly tongue in cheek, given that I was raised using the Aga for 15 years as the only cooking and hot water source, then we 'downgraded' to the Rayburn Oh yeh, and the Aga did heat the hot water and what heating system we had
Smaller does not mean lesser and both are built to the same standard too... seeing as they are made in the same factory next to each other, also AGA's do not do heating, there was a boiler add-on made for a very short while but the AGA's themselves are only capable of heating hot water.
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:14
Welsh-lad
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The awkwardness comes from things like if the lid is up too long having to let the heat build up again and such.
Yeah, I've noticed you do lose a lot of the stored heat that way
Re: your cousins mrs, I dont think I have been in a kitchen with an aga without them having a separate cooker/oven-hob.
Yes I think it's quite common to have a separate cooker too, the difference in this case being that she raved about having an Aga, then after a fortnight of having it, literally never cooked on it again, ever. It's basically become a costly, unused ornament.

At the moment we don't have a separate cooker, so it's a case of learning how to use the Rayburn or starve!
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:19
Welsh-lad
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Smaller does not mean lesser and both are built to the same standard too... seeing as they are made in the same factory next to each other
I think the poster said it in a lighthearted way, mate.
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:20
the chimp
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she raved about having an Aga, then after a fortnight of having it, literally never cooked on it again, ever. It's basically become a costly, unused ornament.
The thing about AGA's is that they are a status symbol just like Rolls Royces etc... people dont always think before buying them and if they arent willing to learn after they have purchased them then they really are silly.
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:22
the chimp
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I think the poster said it in a lighthearted way, mate.
It is a very popular misconception though.
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:24
Welsh-lad
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The thing about AGA's is that they are a status symbol just like Rolls Royces etc... people dont always think before buying them and if they arent willing to learn after they have purchased them then they really are silly.
Too right. A cooker is for cooking!
I'm 27 and I can remember when you usually found Agas in farmhouses and rural houses, where they were put to heavy use.

You are totally right re the status symbol thing. The Aga company also markets the cooker in exactly this way.
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Old 08-12-2008, 22:28
the chimp
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The Aga company also markets the cooker in exactly this way.
AGA-Rangemaster company products are always amongst the best on the market so its natural to market them like that, there are more expensive and exclusive cookers in the group though believe it or not.
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:22
malaikah
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Smaller does not mean lesser
Yes it does pal, maybe a kind wife or girlfriend has kidded you otherwise through the years
Originally Posted by the chimp
also AGA's do not do heating, there was a boiler add-on made for a very short while but the AGA's themselves are only capable of heating hot water.
Strange that. We had an Aga and radiators. Magic eh!
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:26
malaikah
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In your youth maybe, but not nowadays.
Simply because of the unit being purchased 'because it looks nice'. In a typical working rural setting and not in some posh toff's rich weekend gaff you're not going to find two cookers. The Aga does the job and then some.
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:37
the chimp
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Strange that. We had an Aga and radiators. Magic eh!
It must have been because an AGA has never been made that does your heating too, it can only do hot water to a tank within 20 metres.
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:38
the chimp
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Simply because of the unit being purchased 'because it looks nice'. In a typical working rural setting and not in some posh toff's rich weekend gaff you're not going to find two cookers. The Aga does the job and then some.
In the majority of houses with AGA's you will find 2 cookers as they tend to turn the AGA off through the summer.
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:43
indianwells
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I have to agree with the Chimpmeister, lots of people buy Aga's because they have this strange idea that a kitchen is simply not a kitchen without one. A kitchen is where you do one of the most important things in your life. You cook. Now that's fine if you are prepared to invest the considerable time needed to master an AGA or a Rayburn, but 99% of us aren't, and a goodly other percentage aren't able to. A good powerful gas hob with an electric oven (or two) is more than sensible. I have no problem with people who love their AGA's though, all power to them, it's just not for me.
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Old 08-12-2008, 23:45
Welsh-lad
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In the majority of houses with AGA's you will find 2 cookers as they tend to turn the AGA off through the summer.
Yes, I think that is usual these days.
But I can remember lots of households where the Aga was the sole cooker, and it was kept going throughout the year.
Both my Grandmother and my Aunt had only Agas.

These were invariably coal-fuelled Agas, some of which got subsequently converted to oil.

I don't believe you can buy new coal-fuelled Agas anymore, though you can still buy a new coal-fuelled Rayburn.
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