Discussion
I have just moved into a house with an Aga oven. Tonights cooking didn't go exactly to plan, as I ended up with overcooked Kievs and a jacket potato that was seriously undercooked. This was despite both items being cooked using my regular methods.
Does anyone know what the temperature of all the seperate ovens are? There are 5 good sized ovens on the front of it, if that helps?
I am hopeful of some help from the collective knowledge of PH.
Does anyone know what the temperature of all the seperate ovens are? There are 5 good sized ovens on the front of it, if that helps?
I am hopeful of some help from the collective knowledge of PH.
Buy an oven thermometer. My two oven Rayburn has a hot oven that varies between 180-250 degrees depending on where the control knob is. It's marked from 1-10 but I haven't dared take it beyond 5
the cooler oven is approximately 1/2-2/3 the hot one's temperature.
The hot oven also has a hot corner.
Look on it as cooking on a particularly unresponsive BBQ
the cooler oven is approximately 1/2-2/3 the hot one's temperature.The hot oven also has a hot corner.
Look on it as cooking on a particularly unresponsive BBQ
Stuck In A Lift said:
I have just moved into a house with an Aga oven. Tonights cooking didn't go exactly to plan, as I ended up with overcooked Kievs and a jacket potato that was seriously undercooked. This was despite both items being cooked using my regular methods.
Does anyone know what the temperature of all the seperate ovens are? There are 5 good sized ovens on the front of it, if that helps?
I am hopeful of some help from the collective knowledge of PH.
With an Aga you've got to learn to cook by knowing when something is cooked, not by how long it has been cooking.Does anyone know what the temperature of all the seperate ovens are? There are 5 good sized ovens on the front of it, if that helps?
I am hopeful of some help from the collective knowledge of PH.
Aga cook books will often give bizzare timing spreads, eg "cook in the baking oven for 3-6 hours" and you might then still find that your meal is done in 2 hours.
You will also discover the joys of cooking on an appliance that is cooling as the food is cooked. Big roasts require turning up the Aga for a while and proper skill in timings. Learning to cook as much as possible in the ovens as opposed to the spots is important....
Which leads me on to long oven gloves. Without them you'll pretty soon have burns. Learning to cook in the ovens means remembering that pan handles are always very hot and the ovens are quite deep, so reaching inside for things is risky without protection.
I am an Aga amateur but my wife, whilst she struggled initially, would not now cook on anything else.
Also bear in mind it's very easy to dry food out that's cooking in the oven, so keep an eye on that.
You didn't mention what fuel it runs on, but my parents solid fuel Aga has always needed regular 'maintenance' - sweeping the chimney etc. Without that, they can become quite temperamental - ours without fail used to drop in temperature dramatically on a Sunday morning! Wind direction also played a part in the temperature of it.
You didn't mention what fuel it runs on, but my parents solid fuel Aga has always needed regular 'maintenance' - sweeping the chimney etc. Without that, they can become quite temperamental - ours without fail used to drop in temperature dramatically on a Sunday morning! Wind direction also played a part in the temperature of it.
its a black art cooking with an Aga, I love cooking and watch with confusion when all these chefs talk about exact temperatures and then about grilling stuff. I get oven envy when I go around to a mates house.
We did install a separate hob on a work surface so we could have a bit more control. just bear in mind falling temperatures, ovens start off hot and just lose heat as time goes on,
However, there is nothing like a cheese toastie just tossed on the hob first thing in the morning.
We did install a separate hob on a work surface so we could have a bit more control. just bear in mind falling temperatures, ovens start off hot and just lose heat as time goes on,
However, there is nothing like a cheese toastie just tossed on the hob first thing in the morning.
How much energy do Aga Ovens use? Solid fuel shouldn't be too bad, but an oil one!?
On the face of it they seem like an anachronism from a bygone age.
The only sensible one I've seen was a sheep farmer, who produced all his own hydro electricity and had a couple of elements stuck in the bottom permanently on.
On the face of it they seem like an anachronism from a bygone age.
The only sensible one I've seen was a sheep farmer, who produced all his own hydro electricity and had a couple of elements stuck in the bottom permanently on.
Once you get used to it, you'll never go back. When you get it right, nothing cooks meat quite as well as an Aga - conventional ovens are just big noisy hairdryers in comparison. But, it takes a while to get used to.
If you've got a five door one, then you should have four different ovens (behind one door is the controls). Look at the 'How It Works' section here and check the key at the very bottom of the page to see which oven is which. You then figure out which oven to use and 'adjust' the cooking temperature by moving the shelf up (hotter) or down (colder). Eventually you figure out which level in which oven corresponds to a certain gas mark.
It'll take a while, but persevere and you'll be glad you did. As an aside, you'll definitely want an additional conventional over/hob as well for the summer - otherwise the kitchen becomes unbearably hot. We just got our kitchen redone and put a new Aga in, but also added another full size electric oven and hob to the side.
If you've got a five door one, then you should have four different ovens (behind one door is the controls). Look at the 'How It Works' section here and check the key at the very bottom of the page to see which oven is which. You then figure out which oven to use and 'adjust' the cooking temperature by moving the shelf up (hotter) or down (colder). Eventually you figure out which level in which oven corresponds to a certain gas mark.
It'll take a while, but persevere and you'll be glad you did. As an aside, you'll definitely want an additional conventional over/hob as well for the summer - otherwise the kitchen becomes unbearably hot. We just got our kitchen redone and put a new Aga in, but also added another full size electric oven and hob to the side.
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