On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:40:26 +0000, Peter Parry
wrote:

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:38:47 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:00:39 +0000, Peter Parry
wrote:

Ah, I didn't realise you had moved to Stornoway.

No, although I sometimes think that it would be nice.

I've spent several months there - I'd advise having one leg shortened
before going as it makes leaning into the wind much easier.

I see. A bit like parts of Holland then, although hopefully it
doesn't smell of pig ****.




You can pile them on the simmering plate and they won't boil over -
that's simply because they won't boil at all.

They simmer, as they should.


On the boiling plate
they will boil over.


Obviously.


Putting them bit on one and a bit on the other
and playing slidey pans until they all obtain a form of equilibrium
is an interesting but futile way of spending your time.

I never have difficulty with this. It's really very simple. If you
want to boil and then simmer something, you put it on the boiling
plate and then when oiling transfer it to the simmering plate.




One of the more
impressive fires I once went to was someone who had tried making a
large amount of jam on an Aga like device and had gone to answer the
phone(I couldn't tell if it was a real Aga or not as by that stage
most of the kitchen was lying on top of it.)

One has to wonder what on earth he was doing. It would be pretty
difficult to achieve that, even for those of Darwinian stupidity.

It is remarkably easy, Agas actually account for far more fires than
you would expect from the number in use. You put something on the
boiling plate and forget it for a bit.

Only if you're stupid. First of all, it isn't intended that you put
something on the boiling plate for any length of time anyway, let
alone leave it. I see no reason for the risk to be any greater with
an Aga than any other form of cooker, if one is stupid enough to do
that.


With potentially about 5kW
available things go from cold to boiling over and ignition very
quickly.


Hmmm... That depends on the temperature a the time. Equally, one
sees gas hobs with 3 and 4kW main and 6kW wok burners, so I don't buy
the power argument.



In the Aga you actually almost a continuum from bottom left to top
right. I've measured it. In a given oven, there is, through
convection, a difference between top and bottom.

Either it is an efficient heat store - in which case there will be
thermal equilibrium all around each stove or it isn't - in which case
the heat loss will generate a thermal gradient proportional to the
rate of heat loss. You can't have it both ways (or if you want to
please explain how it can happen!).

You have to look at the design of the internals. I have some photos
taken during installation, or there are diagrams on Aga's web site.
Temperature gradients are achieved by position of the burner relative
to the boiling plate, flue gases being directed past the roasting oven
and then connecting sections of metal linking the simmering and
warming ovens to the roasting and baking ovens.

For a given location, the temperature achieved depends on the heat
input at that place as well as the heat loss. Thus a temperature
gradient is formed by the way that the internal castings are connected
together as well as by convection in the ovens themselves.

If you are used to a fan oven, you may not be familiar with the
advantages of temperature gradient within an oven.




The
thing is so useless you can't even bake a decent fruit cake in the
two oven version without buying an accessory "Baking box".

I don't know where you got that from, but I've never heard of it.

Aga:- "If you want to cook large cakes which take more than 45
minutes to cook, such as fruit cake, Madeira cake, cherry cake, etc.,
with a two oven Aga you should invest in an Aga Cakebaker."

Hmm. I wouldn't describe it as particularly special purpose though,
since the innards replace cake tins and the outer provides a 5 litre
pan.



It might do in a coal or old oil one. It changes very little in a
modern gas one.

The "modern" gas one dates from 1968 (upgraded 1993). I suppose in
Aga terms that is modern.

THere isn't a lot that can be changed in a design that is tried and
tested and works well. The modulating burner was an obvious one.



Aga "technique" is very simple and takes about 30 seconds to learn.
I did go on an Aga cooking course (paid for by the owner who thought
it was essential) and sat through a dreary day the highlight of which
comprised instructions on drying labradors in it.

.... and added bonus then.

Have you ever tasted dried labrador? Quite inedible.

Not really. Horse, bear, whale, but not labrador.



Indeed, but not many meals require the expenditure of anything
remotely like 10kW/hr of energy.

It doesn't need to be for an hour though. If you add up having 3-4
burners plus an oven running, you are using 10kW easily.

Indeed but it usually isn't for long so the effect isn't particularly
severe (unless on chooses to do a full roast dinner on a July
evening).

I tended to find it pretty overwhelming, even in the winter, partly
because one needs to stand at a hob for far more of the time attending
to things.



No - that's effective. However something isn't efficient if it is
putting out a kilowatt of energy non-stop every hour of every day
whether it is needed or not. You may find you need a 1kW heater
going all day every day I suggest that most would not. That alone
makes the device inefficient.

I was really talking about 700W.

I appreciate that, but your Aga appears to be especially frugal, I
was using figures from Aga.

I think that they are being conservative to avoid accusations of
unrealistic figures.

I've found Aga-Rayburn to be great to deal with in terms of customer
service. For example, I found a tiny blemish in the enamel of the top
in a place that can not normally be seen without crouching down and
looking carefully. A quick phone call and they had a person out the
following day with a replacement, no questions asked.




If you think about it, many people have that sort of figure in
lighting and appliances.

All the more reason not to put another 0.7/1.0 kW/hr on top.

Not really. It depends on what is needed to provide heating for the
house in general.


--

..andy