I named our Aga Dorothy for two reasons. One is to honor my aunt who has the most wonderful homey kitchen in the whole world. I always loved going to her house for holidays and family gatherings, and I have so many happy memories there. Of course,she's an awesome cook. I also named our Aga after Dorothy Cannell, the English mystery writer who talks about Agas in her books and that's where I first heard the word 'Aga' and became interested.
I have an AGA, but it is the American version so doesn't have the simmering thing. I love it! One of the ovens is convection and the other oven has many settings - regular, heat from bottom, heat from top, convection, fan assist, defrost, warm. And the wok burner is amazing. But I haven't giver her a name!
"Give me again o nature your primal sanities."
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
Very nice, Judi! I didn't know you had an Aga, did I?
Yet, I think I've seen this photo before. Are you on another Aga list with me and I just didn't make the connection between PNW gardening Judi and Aga Judi?
I'd love to come cook on that - how fun that you can do all those different things on it! I think in my 'dream' house, I'll put one of those in the butler's pantry. Altho I had orig planned to put a Garland in there. Would two ranges in the butler's pantry plus a 4-oven Aga in the kitchen be too much?
Your entire kitchen looks very clean and well organized. It must be a joy to work in.
Maybe you should call her Snow White. Snow for short.
Gwen - I think I posted that photo on DG a while ago. Maybe you saw it there. I don't know about calling her Snow White - it kinda sounds like a crack house kitchen!
"Give me again o nature your primal sanities."
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
The above photo is right after we installed it. We hadn't covered the plinth under the Aga yet, nor installed a cupboard to the right and a rack above. I don't have any photos of how it currently looks (a LOT more cluttered) but here is just after the cupboard was installed. That's our dog's hiney in the photo!
I almost got one like yours, Gwen, but I was afraid I would miss having regular gas burners. Did it take a long time to adjust your cooking? I bet it keeps your kitchen nice and cozy warm! When I worked in London one of my friends had one in her apartment but she didn't cook so I never saw it in action! But it sure was cute - it was bright red.
"Give me again o nature your primal sanities."
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
I was a bit worried about the burners myself. Did you know that you can get my exact stove only with 2 burners rather than the warming plate? I opted for the warming plate and am soooo glad I did. I dry all my dishes on there, not to mention having it to serve warm dishes from and all that.
I do most of the cooking in the ovens now. I had been thinking in "Aga" terms for a long time before I got her. When I would cook something, I'd think how I would do it in an Aga. So I was able to convert in no time flat. To be honest, I can't believe any decent cook would have any problem converting. If they wanted to. You have to truly believe in the stove to be able to make the switch, I think. I don't know of anyone who has wanted one and gotten one that has had even one ounce of problems converting.
It doesn't keep the kitchen as warm as you might think. They are extremely well insulated. We don't have any other heat in our kitchen. If it's cold, and by that I mean low 50s and below, our kitchen is very cold. If it's snowing outside, it's freezing in here. You can stand right next to the Aga. The side of you facing her will be warm but the other size will still be freezing. (The reason we have no heat is a long story and it would make me too depressed to launch into it right now.)
Of course if it's a warm day, then standing there cooking will be uncomfortably hot. Just as it would standing next to your stove and cooking on the burners or opening the oven doors.
You'd do that on one of the plates on the top. When you use them, you lose heat from the entire unit, so you try and not use them all the time. But it doesn't mean you can't use them at all!
I saute on the floor of the roasting oven unless I'm being lazy. If not, I'll just do it on top. I would definitely do stir fry on top. I'd alternate between the boiling plate and the simmering plate, altho you can also move the pan around the individual plates to control temps. The plates are hotter in the center and cooler along the outside edges.
Name: Mary Ellen South Carolina I teach children with learning disa
We decided to call ours Big Blue, but the name never stuck. It's just The Aga. We've had ours for almost 12 years now and my husband still doesn't know which oven is which. I can't imagine not having it.
My kids play that game - 'Which oven should I put that in?" "In the baking oven." "Which oven is the baking oven?" Hubby has them figured out. He likes it as much or more than me! The kids do it in hopes I'll just make the food for them. (Fat chance.)
