Peggy, an Aga is a cooker that's made in England. It was orig 'invented' by a swiss physicist who was going blind. He had watched his wife fiddle in the kitchen for years and thought there was a better way.
The concept is that it's made from cast iron which retains heat extremely well. Thus the cooker is always on and no need to preheat. Agas come in many models and types. Mine is the standard 4 oven Aga. Each of the 4 ovens, which are identical in size, are 'held' at a different temp. The temp in the middle of each oven is 150, 250, 350, and 450. The 150 oven is called the warming oven (WO), the 250 is the simmering oven (SO), the 350 is the baking oven (BO), and the 450 is the roasting oven (RO).
The temps at the bottom of each oven are about 25 degrees cooler and at the top of each oven about 25 degrees hotter.
There are two hotplates on top. The boiling plate (BP) is 750 and the simmering plate (SP) is 350.
When the oven doors are open, very little to no heat is lost out the doors. However, when the hobs are up and the plates are exposed, heat begins to leave the ovens. For this reason, 80% or more of the cooking is done IN the ovens as opposed to on the plates, which is the reverse of how most people use their ovens.
For example, if I want to brown ground beef, I just put it in a pan on the floor of the roasting oven and leave it. I can periodically break it into pieces with a fork, usually not needed more than 2x.
If you want to open a can of beans and heat them up, again - into a pot and into one of the ovens to warm up.
Once they are warmed (or something is cooked), it can go into the WO to hold it until the rest of the food is ready or people have arrived home or the party is getting underway or whatever.
The ovens are deep and you can cram multiple items in them.
You switch things around ovens rather than use knobs to raise and lower temps. For instance, put a chicken in the RO to get it going and browned and then into the BO to finish cooking. Then into the WO to keep it perfect until time to serve.
The cast iron gives off a moist gentle radiant heat and things cook up beautifully. There is not as much stirring to do with things like sauces.
On the standard 4-oven model, there is also a warming plate on the top left hand side. You can set things on it to keep warm or you can dry your dishes or your laundry.
Agas are a 'presence' in the kitchen and many Aga owners name their Agas. Ours is Dorothy. :) Altho an Aga is clearly not for everyone, those who have them love them. They're costly; however most people who own them are not wealthy. They just fell in love and had to have it so scrimped and saved or maybe found a good deal on a used one. Agas last forever. I heard of one owner whose house burned to the ground. The Aga was left standing in perfectly fine condition and went on to serve in another house. (Btw, the Aga *did not* cause the fire.)
They weigh a ton. When you buy one, an installer comes to the house and builds the Aga right in your kitchen. It initially arrives in many pieces. If you want to move and take it with, the installer has to come back, take it apart, and move it and re-install it. You don't just pick one of these things up and move it around.
Agas run on different heat souces. In the US you can run them on propane, natural gas, or electric. In the UK I believe some run on coal. There are models overe there also that the house water runs thru and they use it as a hot water heater as well. There are also Agas that look like mine but operate more in the way of an ordinary stove. I believe they make those just to compete with the companies like Viking and Wolf.
The 'fifth' door in the photos is where the thermocoupler is located.
If you look, you'll notice Agas everywhere. The 'two fat ladies' used one in their show. Martha Stewart has one (possibly in her barn) and it shows up sometimes in her mag. This month there are Agas in Country Living, Sunset, and one other mag that I forget. I saw them in the movies this month in The Holiday and also in The Queen.
Feel free to ask any questions. Aga owners *love* to talk about their Agas.
