01 October 2008 09:27

Green Issues

I actually get rather irritated by people saying that the Aga isn't green. This simply isn't true. Comparing an Aga to a conventional slot-in cooker is rather like comparing a family car to a vehicle that works for its living.

The Aga isn't simply a cooker; it does so much more. So far today - it's four in the afternoon now - my Aga has dried my son's rugby kit, made breakfast for four, lunch for six and supper is currently bubbling away in the simmering oven. It's done all this while providing endless cups of tea, and if not sympathy, then certainly a restorative warmth. Try getting a soulless conventional cooker to do all this.

Plus, after one of the worst summers on record, while our non-Aga owning friends caved in and put the heating on, we held firm and simply retreated to the kitchen when things got a little chilly.

'An Aga is not a cooker it's a way of life' is a phrase I've heard more times than I can count. And it's true. I would give up anything before I gave up my Aga.  I also firmly believe that without it I'd spend lots of money on electricity. We do have a tumble drier, but use it rarely and I don't use the myriad small electrical appliances my non-Aga owning friends do.

My coffee is made in a stove-top pot. I don't trust and would never own a microwave. My sandwiches are toasted on the Aga, often while there's dough proving at the back. So all in all, without the Aga, life in my house would be a lot poorer indeed.