[Leica] AGA Stoves

[images at comporium.net (Tina Manley)]

Thanks, Douglas!  That helps a lot.  Mine would be gas, not coke, though ;-)

Tina

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 12:56 PM, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp at 
gmx.de>wrote:

> Hi Tina,
>
> I grew up with one - the most amazing bit of kitchen "heavy engineering"
> there is.  Ours was coke-fired and heated the water for the house too - it
> could have run central heating as well, but we didn't have any. I remember
> there were options for converting it to coal, wood, oil and gas fuelling.
>
> One drawback was gettting it going with coke - about 30 minutes with a gas
> poker before it got up to temperature, but after that it was one hod of 
> coke
> and one clean out of asshes once a day
>
> The massive cast-iron hotplates - one hot and one medium - are brilliant
> for boiling and simmering respectively, and there's room for about three
> pans on each. When the insulating lids are closed, there's hardly any heat
> loss at all. The different ovens - fast and slow - are about the best 
> things
> there are for everything from roasting to baking bread and drying fruit -
> for instance, you put your dough in the slow oven to rise and then bake it
> in the fast one. Or put a casserole in the slow oven and it will be
> lusciously tender for dinner in the evening.
>
> It takes a little getting used to because you don't have as much control
> over temperatures as with a gas or electric stove, it's all done by finding
> the right position (rings) or the right level (ovens) to do the job. We 
> also
> had a washing rack hung from the kitchen ceiling above it, so it was great
> for simultaneously drying and airing washing - just open the lids and
> everything gets dry in no time at all. The thhings are so well insulated
> that heat loss is minimal and you don't have a tropical kitchen all year
> round.
>
> There are alternatives - like Stanleys, which are available in absolutely
> gorgeous dark green enamel and brass - but, as you wrote, the AGA is the
> Leica of stoves (though definitely not as portable!).
>
> I for one can heartily recommend them - I'm already sick to death of our
> convector oven and ceramic top. You can't clean them with a steel wire 
> brush
> either like you can AGAs :-)
>
> Cheers
> Douglas
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 14.05.2010 17:47, Tina Manley wrote:
>
>> LUG:
>>
>> Have any of you guys (or your wives) had any experience with an AGA stove?
>>  I have to decide what to put in the kitchen and, from everything I've
>> read,
>> the AGA is the stove equivalent of a Leica ;-)  It's quirky to use, built
>> to
>> last forever, and very expensive.  I've found a couple of used ones that
>> are
>> very reasonable but I'm not sure about a stove that stays on all the time
>> in
>> South Carolina.
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> Tina
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



-- 
Tina Manley, ASMP
www.tinamanley.com