Home Help: 5 April
Nothing could be cosier, more English and reassuring like an old friend than an Aga. When I was in possession of one, a Japanese friend was fascinated by it and took photographs in the same way that she’d record a visit to Windsor Castle. Mary Berry, now the nation’s favourite cake maker, has written many Aga cookbooks.
However, when energy prices are rising fast, has the difficult-to-control Aga had its day? Removing a faithful Aga that has been in the family for years could be emotional. You can’t gather round a stainless-steel cooker for a gossip and to get warm, or use it to dry and press clothes. Fortunately, the bods at Aga have embraced the computer age and reined in the running costs of the independently minded range.
AIMS is a timer system that can be set to heat up when required and drop down to slumber mode when not used, such as on hot summer days. There is also an override feature, but it takes time to heat up the hot plates from cold. AIMS cannot be fitted to oil-fired Agas so conversion is necessary. It does cost about £2,000, including AIMS, but it’s cheaper than buying new.
Search online and there are lots of Aga restorers. Avec – www.aveccookers.co.uk – is one of the most reputable. The company sells reconditioned and buys old models, whatever their state. Avec doesn’t sell new Agas but are agents for Everhot, which is a plug-in, part castiron cooker that can be turned up and down. It costs less new than an Aga and heats up quicker but loses heat quicker. Aga has responded with the Total Control Model. Apparently the hot plates heat up in 15 minutes and the oven takes 45 minutes. Some models can be controlled from a mobile phone so the cooker can be warm when you get home. If you have always longed for a cast-iron range, I suggest asking owners of an Everhot or Aga for their experiences. If your heart is set on a conventional Aga and not one that tries to be another type of cooker, the natural-gas ones are cheapest to run but AIMS is £1,000 extra. For those not on mains gas, the electric model, 13 Amp, includes AIMS.
1 Kitchen design 1936 by Dorothy Braddell for Aga Heat Ltd. Illustration by Lawrence Wright (main image above)
From left
2 5-oven Aga Total Control, price on application: 0845- 712 5207, www.agaliving.com
3 Everhot 150 in graphite (the ovens are independently controlled, no flue required), £9,039: 01453-890018, www.everhot.co.uk
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk
However, when energy prices are rising fast, has the difficult-to-control Aga had its day? Removing a faithful Aga that has been in the family for years could be emotional. You can’t gather round a stainless-steel cooker for a gossip and to get warm, or use it to dry and press clothes. Fortunately, the bods at Aga have embraced the computer age and reined in the running costs of the independently minded range.
AIMS is a timer system that can be set to heat up when required and drop down to slumber mode when not used, such as on hot summer days. There is also an override feature, but it takes time to heat up the hot plates from cold. AIMS cannot be fitted to oil-fired Agas so conversion is necessary. It does cost about £2,000, including AIMS, but it’s cheaper than buying new.
Search online and there are lots of Aga restorers. Avec – www.aveccookers.co.uk – is one of the most reputable. The company sells reconditioned and buys old models, whatever their state. Avec doesn’t sell new Agas but are agents for Everhot, which is a plug-in, part castiron cooker that can be turned up and down. It costs less new than an Aga and heats up quicker but loses heat quicker. Aga has responded with the Total Control Model. Apparently the hot plates heat up in 15 minutes and the oven takes 45 minutes. Some models can be controlled from a mobile phone so the cooker can be warm when you get home. If you have always longed for a cast-iron range, I suggest asking owners of an Everhot or Aga for their experiences. If your heart is set on a conventional Aga and not one that tries to be another type of cooker, the natural-gas ones are cheapest to run but AIMS is £1,000 extra. For those not on mains gas, the electric model, 13 Amp, includes AIMS.
1 Kitchen design 1936 by Dorothy Braddell for Aga Heat Ltd. Illustration by Lawrence Wright (main image above)
From left
2 5-oven Aga Total Control, price on application: 0845- 712 5207, www.agaliving.com
3 Everhot 150 in graphite (the ovens are independently controlled, no flue required), £9,039: 01453-890018, www.everhot.co.uk
Email design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk