23 September -- Cooking on an AGA -- Love it

 I feel so lucky that I have an AGA stove here in Dorset. I've been fascinated by them for a long time but never really understood how they worked and how to use one. 

Now I do and I love it! 

Here in Dorset I have a oil burning, dark blue, two oven AGA. The left burner is the boiling plate and the right one the simmer. The top oven is the baking oven, and the bottom oven is the warming one. 

The door that looks like an oven door on the bottom left is where the actual burner is. 

There are different kinds of AGAs both by size and fuel source. They're cast iron with an enamel finish and are available in a variety of colors. They come in a variety of sizes too, from the two oven to eight ovens. They can be quite expensive and I can't imagine how much they weigh.

You can learn more about AGAs here https://www.agaliving.com/ and there's some very fun videos on youtube about how to cook on an AGA.

The AGA is always on, so you can cook, bake, whatever at any time. You control the temperature by how much of the pan you keep on the plate, or the height of the rack in the oven. 

I made soup

This is one of the big plate covers

And an insulating cover pad that stays on the plate cover when ever it's not in use, both to hold in heat and to protect the shining finish

I cook as much as I can on the AGA, mostly just because I can and it's fun. I can do bacon by laying a piece of foil right on the plate, while heating a pan of hot water for poached eggs at the same time. 

I broil vegetables in the baking oven by putting the rack on the highest setting. And when it's cold here, I can lay my sweatshirt on the top for a few minutes and have it be toasty warm.

I would love to have one of these wherever I live.