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2 Oven Heat-Storage Aga Versus the 6:4 Series Aga
Answer
Dear Carris
2 OVEN HEAT-STORAGE AGA VERSUS THE 6:4 SERIES AGA
The heat storage Aga cooker is well insulated so that a relatively small but economical and efficient heat source is able to store heat in the cast iron castings to maintain the different parts of the stove at their correct temperatures. Cast iron has fantastic heat absorbing and retaining properties and requires little to keep it up to temperature. The design is such that a constant small amount of heat is released into the kitchen to keep it warm and inviting, and ensure a comfortable working environment. This means that your tea towels etc. on the rail are always kept dry and the gentle warmth given off is useful for lots of cooking and household tasks. These include warming flour for breadmaking, melting chocolate, softening butter, drying awkward graters and metalware such as garlic presses fresh from the dishwasher etc. Laundry can also air safely and a pile of folded pillow slips, for example, can be left damp but folded neatly and placed on top of the Simmering Plate lid to gently dry and "iron" in your absence. To give you some idea of the amount of heat given off, it is approx. 3,000 B.T.U.s per hour, the equivalent of 10 x 100W light bulbs, or the heat given off from 12 people standing in a room, or one conventional gas burner left running. Most people run their Aga cookers all year, but some owners turn them down a little during the hottest weeks of the year, cooking times will take a little longer than normal.
The 6:4 cooker is a fantastic conventional cooker, with all the classic cast iron styling, but does not cook using indirect radiant heat which is the distinctive of the original heat-storage Aga. I understand from Aga-Rayburn that more heat-storage Aga cookers are sold in America in fact in the hottest States. I know that here in the UK, it is true that for a short part of the Summer my kitchen is a little on the warm side if I keep doors closed or the house shut up. When I am home I just open a small window or the back door and a small and gentle amount of ventilation means this isn`t a problem for me. Please understand that the Aga only gives off a small amount of heat but it does this all the time, so provided you have suitable ventilation a build up can be avoided. See what Aga owners near you think - I would recommend you discuss this with your Aga Specialist who will be able to advise you on the Summer scenario in your part of the States.
To the question, "is it on all the time?" the answer is yes, but it is more a case of, "it is always available for service." All temperatures are available simultaneously, with no pre-heating required. You can boil a kettle at the drop of a hat - with a good ground based kettle, the Aga will boil water faster than an electric kettle or one on a gas burner. It is no extravagance in an Aga household, to just cook one baked potato for yourself if you happen to want one for lunch. A conventional oven would be expensive to heat up for just one potato, and a proper potato oven-baked is light years away from ones cooked in a microwave. If cooking a dozen or more at the same time, the Aga is actually faster than a microwave.
With a heat-storage Aga you have the luxury of ovens that are constantly available. Their immediate readiness means that you can cook a lot of food, fast and slow, in the ovens that you wouldn`t perhaps have thought to cook there. Foods that are inclined to splash and make a mess, or that are strong smelling, can be cooked in the hot ovens and the smells are ducted away, so that the oven venting system is a type of integral cooker hood. As therefore the hotplates are not used as much as on a conventional cooker, and the hotplates are mainly kept down to contain the heat, less heat is let into the kitchen from the hotplates and ovens.
I hope that goes some way to help you make up your mind. Do attend an Aga cookery demonstration and then you will be able to see for yourself.
Best Wishes
Richard Maggs
THE AGA COOKERY DOCTOR
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Dear Richard, I was planning on purchasing a 2 oven aga with the companion piece but I won`t have the room in my kitchen for both. I am trying to decide on the 6:4 or the 2 oven Aga. My concern is that I will be leaving the Aga on during the summer - I live in New Jersey, USA and I am concerned about the heat the cooker gives off - I would miss the warmth in the winter if I don`t have the 6:4. Can you help me decide? From Caris Drury