Does anyone cook on/in an Aga?

We have a Rangemaster (similar-ish), but here's a site that may be helpful...
http://www.agaliving.com/aga-owners/owner-faqs


And this one, maybe.....
http://www.agacentral.com/agafaq.html

Those sites, like almost every Aga site I come across, deal with the "cookers" - the kind that are always on. The one here is much more like a traditional range:



I'm learning that people either adore or hate them. There is no middle ground.

My best friend's mother has two of the big Agas in her kitchen. Loves them.

My best friend (who posts here occasionally, will try to get her to chime in) has one. She alternately loves and hates it. Her son loves it for baking.

All I can ever think of when I see them is the cleaning they need. They're beautiful but too much upkeep for me (I'm not a fan of edges and crevasses).

I haven't seen one in person so knowing they're complicated for cleaning is good. Thanks. There really isn't too much information about them when compared to other ovens and most people who have an opinion on them have never laid a finger on one.

My friend is the only person I know who has an Aga who doesn't have at least a part-time housekeeper. They are beyond beautiful when they're all polished up. I kind of like just standing near it with a cup of tea and chatting. Makes me feel fancy

Is there a local shop that has someone who could handle required repairs? most standard appliance shops don't know what to do with Agas.

oh yeah

you do need sturdy floors and someone to move it for cleaning behind

My next door neighbour has a cat called Khan, as it can always be found on a chair right next to the Aga.

gas & oil models:

2 oven 406 kg (895 pounds)
3 oven 477 kg (1,051 pounds)
4 oven 584 kg (1,287 pounds)

I think I've fallen for it as a "trophy wife" -- beautiful, useful in a limited capacity, and not at all practical.

I have to replace my stove. I want something basic, without a lot of bells and whistles and electronic keypads and programming mumbo jumbo.

My last house, sob, had an old O'Keefe & Merritt : how I miss it.

I'm not sure this is exact (this one is 50's but mine could have been earlier. I remember mine as wider. You'd get the idea though:

There are several vintage stoves on craigslist right now and I am totally. not. going. to. look. anymore. They're swoon-worthy but I just can't do it.

This one, I think, is the same as the one you posted. Only $300!

I'm planning to get an old-fashioned, plain, cheap-o from Sears to replace my lovely Harvest Gold stove that is still working (for the most part ). Nothing tricky to clean, no buttons or keypads. My appliance repair guy has suggested that I buy an old restored stove from the 1960's - even though it's less repair and commission $ for him.

AGAs gas use a lot of energy, they are on all the time - in a week, even the two-oven uses 40 litres of kerosene or diesel, 60 litres of propane gas, 425 kWh of natural gas or 220 kWh for the electric models. That is, almost as much gas in a week as a standard gas oven/hob does in nine months.

Pedant note: It's AGA all in capitals, although many Brits don't bother. The Swedish company that invented them is Aktiebolaget Gas Accumulator.

Plus, it'a myth that they can heat the whole house. The do not have central heating capability.

Yeah.. I loved loved loved mine. I'd had one before, in my first apartment. I didn't find cleaning it hard, but I'm not a compulsive cleaner in the first place. Plus, see those little trays.. I think they were trays, not positive now.

I bought a pretty cheap one about 6 years ago and it is absolutely falling apart. The keypad where you set the oven temperature only works on rare occasions so I'm stuck cooking everything at 350.

We decided that instead of doing a major kitchen remodel that we'd do a mini remodel and get higher quality appliances. I'm really looking at Bluestar but that Aga is just so sexy that I couldn't just click past without learning more.

We went to an appliance store last weekend and Mr. B fell hard for a $13,000 Miele range, which is about $10,000 over what we consider a very healthy oven budget. Everything looks dowdy to him now.

The one I'm looking at is a duel fuel -- electric ovens with a gas cooktop. It isn't on all the time so it doesn't consume that kind of energy, from what I've read.

Ah, modern, non-storage cookers that look like traditional AGAs. That's much better.

Tell Mr. B to stay away from those Miele things. They are a repairman's dream and no one else's.

my repair guy says to stay away with anything that has electronics. Good old knobs are the way to go - anyone can fix them - quickly. He says they are hard to find because they last longer.