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Bastard Vendors


Horrified Onlooker

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The one person I know who currently has one of the modern ones (that they actually chose to go in their expensive newly renovated home) also had a gas oven installed right next to it so they could turn the aga off in summer. Go figure.

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Fully Detached

I'd tell them you don't want it but that they must make good any damage that might occur in the process of removing their aga. And then drop your offer by £500 quid anyway.

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I really liked my aga. You either need to learn how to cook with it, or as my wife did, treat it as a cupboard that cooks things. 

To be fair though, I did also have a gas hob and electric oven. I am not a purist.

 

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1 minute ago, Cunning Plan said:

I really liked my aga. You either need to learn how to cook with it, or as my wife did, treat it as a cupboard that cooks things. 

To be fair though, I did also have a gas hob and electric oven. I am not a purist.

 

So, did you learn how to use it of just leave it to wifey?  Genuine question as to why you liked it. 

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1 minute ago, One percent said:

So, did you learn how to use it of just leave it to wifey?  Genuine question as to why you liked it. 

Wifey does not cook. I thought I had made this clear.

Oddly, one of the things I liked was it sort of 'gurgled'.

When you had to turn it off for a day for the annual service (£90), the kitchen seemed dead.

It also cooked things really well if you knew what you were doing. But to be fair it did need some thought. They can lose heat quite quickly if you cook a large meal (they are primarily heat storage units) and using the hotplates would do this very quickly.

Pet hate is seeing estate agent pictures of an aga with the hotplate lids up!

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3 minutes ago, Cunning Plan said:

Wifey does not cook. I thought I had made this clear.

Oddly, one of the things I liked was it sort of 'gurgled'.

When you had to turn it off for a day for the annual service (£90), the kitchen seemed dead.

It also cooked things really well if you knew what you were doing. But to be fair it did need some thought. They can lose heat quite quickly if you cook a large meal (they are primarily heat storage units) and using the hotplates would do this very quickly.

Pet hate is seeing estate agent pictures of an aga with the hotplate lids up!

When I was a kid a lot of the old farm houses had these (or similar in a different make). I guess if you run them on easily accessible fuel, they work out ok but if you have to have them constantly running now, on say gas, they must be extortionately expensive to run.  

Well done on the lose btw. :)

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11 hours ago, Cunning Plan said:

I really liked my aga. You either need to learn how to cook with it, or as my wife did, treat it as a cupboard that cooks things. 

To be fair though, I did also have a gas hob and electric oven. I am not a purist.

 

I think that's the only way to tolerate an Aga these days. And to turn it off in summer. 

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Horrified Onlooker

We exchange on Monday. The Aga is staying, and no money is being paid for it. We threatened to charge interest if they delayed the exchange, and they folded.

 

Btw there's also a hob & oven. The Aga will only be on for the coldest months of the year!

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M S E Refugee

My Grandparent's had a Rayburn it must have cost them a fortune to run as it was on all year round.

Delicious roast dinners but my Grandmother used to dry her towels on it and the towels were so dry they would take the skin off your body.

I used to dread bath night when I was staying there as a child.

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9 hours ago, Sgt Hartman said:

Agree with this.

I have tried cooking with an AGA quite a few times. They are (IMHO) the most overrated load of shite to be found in a household. They simply don't get hot enough, it was like trying to cook on a radiator in the hall. Bloody hopeless and did I read that correctly above - 10k for a new one!?

Sorry, but you'll get far better results with a gas range for a few hundred quid.

When we moved into our new house, it slowly dawned on us that the arsehat we'd bought it off had removed all of the internal doors and replaced them with cheap crap. 

Some people are, quite simply, pricks.

I've done that - don't tell the council. But they were awful before and now they are solid oak. Not great from a historical perspective but the old 60s pine and edwardian doors look awful. 

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13 hours ago, Sgt Hartman said:

I have tried cooking with an AGA quite a few times. They are (IMHO) the most overrated load of shite to be found in a household. They simply don't get hot enough, it was like trying to cook on a radiator in the hall. Bloody hopeless and did I read that correctly above - 10k for a new one!?

Never understood the strength of emotion generated by AGA's, whether it be Mumsnet love-in's on rearing lambs in the bottom oven or the distaste from the normally sane, sensible and reasonable Sgt Hartman.

We've had an AGA for 30+ years and a quick roundup of family views (Mum, Dad, two grown up kids and partners) produced the following for and against list.

Against:

  • Expensive to buy but lots of secondhand units available for peanuts (plus £500-£1000 for dismantling, transport and re-erection)
  • Natural gas expensive to run, oil even more so
  • Can make kitchen too hot in Summer but hey, turn it off and eat a salad or use the barbecue
  • If you use both ovens and both hobs for an extended period of time then things will cool down and take a while to recover but loss of heat usually has more to do with users selecting the wrong hob or oven rather than any inherent fault. Presumably Sgt H was just having a bad experience (or his dramatic licence was just renewed) but an AGA top oven is extremely hot, the boiling hob similarly so.
  • No good for woks
  • The lack of controls throws some people and it does take a little time to work out how best to use the AGA. 
  • Every other visitor wants to tell you their bloody story of how an AGA is wonderful or ridiculous.

For:

  • Always on, no warm-up time
  • The bottom (slow) oven is perfect for patés, casseroles and other slow-cooking items 
  • Whichever oven you use, an AGA will preserve moisture and succulence and prevent meat shrinking
  • Reduces need for kitchen (and adjoining area) heating as the AGA gently warms the space
  • Excellent for drying and airing clothes
  • Self-cleaning oven
  • You don't need a toaster, electric kettle or slow cooker
  • No need for a cooker hood as smells removed via flue
  • Fuel costs not to be sniffed at but an AGA is well-made, needs very little maintenance and will last a lifetime

We paid £1000 for our second-hand AGA in 1985 and a further £5000 about 7 years ago for it to be removed, re-enamelled, re-conditioned and re-installed. It would have been cheaper to have a series of ovens/hobs/ranges but we're used to this, it works very well and yes.......is lovely to sit or stand against on a Winter evening.

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26 minutes ago, Duck said:

Never understood the strength of emotion generated by AGA's, whether it be Mumsnet love-in's on rearing lambs in the bottom oven or the distaste from the normally sane, sensible and reasonable Sgt Hartman.

We've had an AGA for 30+ years and a quick roundup of family views (Mum, Dad, two grown up kids and partners) produced the following for and against list.

Against:

  • Expensive to buy but lots of secondhand units available for peanuts (plus £500-£1000 for dismantling, transport and re-erection)
  • Natural gas expensive to run, oil even more so
  • Can make kitchen too hot in Summer but hey, turn it off and eat a salad or use the barbecue
  • If you use both ovens and both hobs for an extended period of time then things will cool down and take a while to recover but loss of heat usually has more to do with users selecting the wrong hob or oven rather than any inherent fault. Presumably Sgt H was just having a bad experience (or his dramatic licence was just renewed) but an AGA top oven is extremely hot, the boiling hob similarly so.
  • No good for woks
  • The lack of controls throws some people and it does take a little time to work out how best to use the AGA. 
  • Every other visitor wants to tell you their bloody story of how an AGA is wonderful or ridiculous.

For:

  • Always on, no warm-up time
  • The bottom (slow) oven is perfect for patés, casseroles and other slow-cooking items 
  • Whichever oven you use, an AGA will preserve moisture and succulence and prevent meat shrinking
  • Reduces need for kitchen (and adjoining area) heating as the AGA gently warms the space
  • Excellent for drying and airing clothes
  • Self-cleaning oven
  • You don't need a toaster, electric kettle or slow cooker
  • No need for a cooker hood as smells removed via flue
  • Fuel costs not to be sniffed at but an AGA is well-made, needs very little maintenance and will last a lifetime

We paid £1000 for our second-hand AGA in 1985 and a further £5000 about 7 years ago for it to be removed, re-enamelled, re-conditioned and re-installed. It would have been cheaper to have a series of ovens/hobs/ranges but we're used to this, it works very well and yes.......is lovely to sit or stand against on a Winter evening.

A few of your "Fors" are creating a use... For example, excellent for drying clothes - yes, but so is a clothes airer. Heat the kitchen, yes, but so does a radiator.

My main problem with AGA is that the company is too slow to react. It has been obvious that energy prices are rocketing, and cooking style has been changing for 20 years, yet what have they done to answer those? Fuck all, except bring out a (£1000) timer. In a way, if they go the way of the dodo, it's completely their fault.

I think it was on Mumsnet where I saw a user claiming they were offered an ultimatum by "hubby" - either we keep the AGA, or we go on a few nice holidays (the costs over a year were the same). She opted for the AGA. A bloody oven, rather than holidays and memories with the kids. Crazy.

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1 hour ago, spunko2010 said:

A few of your "Fors" are creating a use... For example, excellent for drying clothes - yes, but so is a clothes airer. Heat the kitchen, yes, but so does a radiator.

Having an AGA I can say this is good as it airs the clothes and warms the room while you can say this is an expensive solution to an almost non-existent problem. I think the point is that having amortised the cost, used the kit for 30+ years, become used to and enamoured of the way in which it does several things rather well ........ I've become fond of it. 

My main problem with AGA is that the company is too slow to react. It has been obvious that energy prices are rocketing, and cooking style has been changing for 20 years, yet what have they done to answer those? Fuck all, except bring out a (£1000) timer. In a way, if they go the way of the dodo, it's completely their fault.

True, the "heat storage" concept is still a good one but definitely out of step with current fuel costs. If you like the look, cooking style, solidity, build quality whatever of AGA then the Everhot range is more economical to run but still costs £7,000 or so!

 

47 minutes ago, Sgt Hartman said:

Fair enough, I'll consider myself told and educated. :)

Nah, in my case at least it's a question of what you're used to rather than any absolutes. I can understand your frustrations but guess this might have as much to do with AGA owners as their stoves  :)

Seriously though, both of you - of course - are right!

I've never tried to persuade anyone else to own an AGA unless they know what they're getting into, it suits the way they live and cook and they don't start rabbiting on about Hunter wellies and their "lifestyle". 

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24 minutes ago, One percent said:

All I can say is that we appear to have a lot of rich folk posting on here. If I had an aga, I would not be able to get in my kitchen. o.O

I read somewhere something like only 2% of current Aga owners at any time bought their Aga. Most of them come with the house!

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Just now, spunko2010 said:

I read somewhere something like only 2% of current Aga owners at any time bought their Aga. Most of them come with the house!

Maybe but it's got to be a big house to come with an aga. Not exactly common in a three bed semi. I stand by my original statement xD

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1 minute ago, One percent said:

Maybe but it's got to be a big house to come with an aga. Not exactly common in a three bed semi. I stand by my original statement xD

Mines only about 1000 sq ft! It's pokey as the estate agents say O.o

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Just now, spunko2010 said:

Mines only about 1000 sq ft! It's pokey as the estate agents say O.o

Dunno what that means spunko. o.O  how many beds and baths?  

Never mind, it must be big, it's got an aga. xD

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Just now, One percent said:

Dunno what that means spunko. o.O  how many beds and baths?  

Never mind, it must be big, it's got an aga. xD

2/3 bedroom and 2 toilets if you count the outdoor one in the garden!

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Which doesn't flush but that didn't stop the DPD driver recently :Sick1:

Just now, One percent said:

How do you fit the aga in?  o.O

It's only a small one thankfully. 2 oven!

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