Aga cookers have been an iconic mainstay of the British country home for more than 80 years. But, it’s not just their look that has kept them so popular for all these years, it’s also the experience of cooking with one. In this article, we will discuss the user experience of Aga cooking, as well as explore some of the reasons for the marked improvement of both the flavour and ease of cooking.
How can Aga cookers improve your cooking experience? An Aga cooker uses the concept of radiant heat to cook food, sealing in moisture and flavour. This method of cooking is more gentle than a conventional oven, so nutrients remain locked in. It’s also a very forgiving cooker; leaving something cooking for a little too long won’t make it dry and inedible.
To learn more about the various benefits that an Aga cooker can provide both to the flavour of food and the experience of cooking it, read on.
How do Aga cookers improve how you cook?
Unlike a conventional oven where you have to worry about getting timings exact or risk your food drying out (or burning if you don’t keep an eagle eye on it), an Aga cooker is a lot more forgiving.
The cooking ovens are always ready and reliable
Because you’re always adding your food to a perfectly pre-heated oven, food cooks much more consistently with every meal you make. And, because it cooks in a sealed environment when you close the door, it locks moisture inside the cooking chamber. It is also a very forgiving cooker, expertly suited to slow-cooking food. Not only does this make the experience of cooking much calmer and less demanding on your time, but slow-cooked dishes also allow much more time for flavours to develop and deepen.
The hot plates don’t need adjusting
Changing how much heat the top plates are transferring into your food is as easy as moving the pan. No more fussing around trying to get the gas flame to just the right level, or the frustratingly slow experience of trying to adjust an electric hob. Instead, all you need to do is lift the lid and you’ve got two perfect cooking surfaces, a boiler plate on the left and a simmering plate on the right. This saves time, and the totally smooth surface of the top of the Aga cooker allows for much greater manoeuvrability and cleaning than the support grate of a conventional gas range.
Why does food taste better from an Aga cooker?
The gentle radiant heat provides even cooking, locking in moisture and flavour. Unlike a conventional gas or electric oven, which relies on the movement of inconsistently heated air, an Aga cooker provides gentle radiant heat from 5 sides simultaneously. Imagine the sun on a hot day, shining down and gently heating the environment and everything in it. While food cooks, it absorbs this radiant heat from all sides consistently, locking in all the moisture, flavour and goodness.
How does an Aga cooker work?
Aga cooking is different from the average gas or electric oven. The different areas are calibrated to perform a specific function, such as simmering, baking or roasting. Understanding these peculiarities is the key to an excellent Aga experience.
Unlike a conventional oven which uses inconsistent, on-demand heating, an Aga cooker utilises the principle of radiant heat. Heat is generated in the core, which then transfers steadily to the heating plates and internal oven surfaces. Because of the huge heat capacity of the thick cast iron body, this heat is efficiently stored and transferred for cooking. This means that there’s no need for dials to set the temperature as the different chambers are at a fixed temperature all the time. Electric, gas and oil-burning models don’t consume fuel all the time. Rather, they employ a thermostat so they only turn on the heating element when it’s needed to maintain cooking temperature.
Benefits of an Aga cooker
There are a variety of advantages to the Aga cooker, chief among them being the fact that they are always ready to cook and their unparalleled build quality. But they also have the often overlooked benefit of eliminating the need for a variety of single-purpose kitchen appliances. Find out more below.
An Aga cooker is always ready to cook
The radiant heat source within the cooker keeps the heavy cast iron at cooking temperature all the time, meaning that the cooker is ready whenever you need it. You don’t have to plan ahead or wait around for pre-heating as you do with a conventional oven, making it considerably more convenient and faster to make dinner. The different heating zones are also always at a specified temperature range, for specific purposes, as can be seen below.
| Oven Chamber | Temperature (°C) |
| Warming Oven | 65-90 |
| Simmering Oven | 100-135 |
| Baking Oven | 175-200 |
| Roasting Oven | 250-260 |
Built to last
Aga cookers are famed for their longevity. The average Aga cooker will outlive a conventional oven by a considerable order of magnitude. Most are still operating perfectly, well into their 50th year. Their extremely sturdy construction means that the regular concerns about wear and tear that come with the average mass-produced oven are vastly reduced, and its lack of moving parts other than the cast iron doors and plate covers means that the scope for what can go wrong is also lessened. An investment into an Aga cooker is one that users can reap the benefits from for decades.
Clear the kitchen counter of unnecessary appliances
A common criticism of the Aga cooker is that it’s perpetually on. Many see this running cost as an added monthly expense that they can’t countenance. However, it is important to factor in that the Aga cooker makes many high-power appliances redundant, effectively eliminating their running costs and clearing your countertops for much more food preparation or storage space. Toasters and toaster ovens, bread makers, space heaters and even the electric kettle are all made essentially redundant as the Aga can perform all of their jobs with ease. And since the average Aga can last well into 5 decades and beyond, these power-hungry appliances can be effectively banished from your home, giving your kitchen valuable space that is no longer occupied by single-purpose devices.
Reconditioned Aga cookers at Range Exchange
When it comes to purchasing an Aga cooker, one of the main considerations is the cost. Because each one is handmade in the UK, just as they have been for over 80 years, the cost can be a key factor. However, purchasing a reconditioned Aga cooker is considerably cheaper without sacrificing performance or quality. The refurbished Aga cooker is installed by a qualified Aga technician, and the unit is kept intact in its original state.
But, there is no sacrifice in quality when going for refurbished Aga cookers with Range Exchange. Our Aga cookers are restored to a showroom-quality state and we even offer free re-enamelling in a colour of your choice.
There are also a much wider variety of sizes, styles and fuel types than a lot of people realise. If you’d like to find out more and explore this wide range for yourself, you can read more on the subject here on our site.