On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 21:46:54 +0000, Peter Parry
wrote:

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 20:39:20 +0000, Andy Hall
wrote:


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

After 30 seconds in the standing "breeze" what it smells like is
immaterial, your nose has been scoured by the sand to bare bone.

Have to make it somewhere else then. Thule, perhaps.


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.

You may see no reason for it but it is. Firstly because it is much
easier for things to catch fire, in this respect it is on par with
an electric hob rather than a gas one and secondly because people
seem to use bigger containers on them so there is more immediate
fuel.

You mean chip pans or something of that nature?



I'm not sure if the size of the heated area and the inability
to turn them off plays a part but they are somewhat more of a hazard
than other cooker types.

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.

If you have something like a chip pan and add too many soggy chips it
will boil over onto a gas hob and usually put the flame out without
igniting. Do the same on an electric hob or Aga and the result is
spectacular. Whatever the reason the data (1990-1995 - fires in
Norfolk and Suffolk) shows a greater than expected number of Aga
related fires.

Ah, should have read on.

We don't do anything involving large quantities of fat such as chip
pans and the like, mainly because we don't eat chips.




You have to look at the design of the internals.

I am familiar with them.


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.

You are missing my point - to have a significant temperature gradient
you have to have significant heat loss.

In fact you have to have a heat loss in one place that is greater than
another. That isn't quite the same thing. If you restrict the heat
supply to one place (e.g. left hand ovens connected by using a small
casting), then this does not imply great heat loss.


Once steady state has been
achieved then if the container is well insulated everything within it
will be at the same temperature.

It would have to be perfectly insulated to achieve that.

That various conductive pathways
have made some bits get hotter faster than others is immaterial.

Well, no it's not. You have to look at the heat loss for the entire
structure. If you do that, and heat is being fed in in one place
only, then if there were equal heat loss all the way round, the part
nearest the heat source will be hotter than the piece further away. I
am not suggesting that heat loss will be linear all over, but that is
the principle.




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

I am well familiar with the concept and practice of temperature
gradient within an oven and it has no advantages - that's why I
prefer fan ovens.

I find that it does because it allows much for flexibility of control
and placement of items.




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,

Aga do.

I didn't say that they were above marketing any more than any other
appliance manufacturer is.



since the innards replace cake tins and the outer provides a 5 litre
pan.

Without it you get a dried out cake with an uncooked inside or a
pound of dried cooked sawdust.

You probably do, but that wasn't my point. It was simply that you get
a set of cake tins and a pan which can be used for other purposes as
well.




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.

As a method of saving the servants from topping up the coal several
times a day it is unrivalled. That was its only design aim.

The story I read was that Gustav Dahlen wanted to make a range that
was easier for his wife to use.


I
suppose it is possible that they also stumbled upon the ultimate
cooker at the same time but consider that to be unlikely. I do find
it a bit surprising that in the Nordic countries, which would benefit
from the "continuous heat" the year around, it is virtually unknown
and of course the Swedish company whose name it bears ditched it some
50 years ago.

Which doesn't really mean very much. They came out with IKEA as well,
but I don't hold it against them.




Have you ever tasted dried labrador? Quite inedible.

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

Far worse.

Ah.



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

I think they are probably sailing as close to the wind as they can
already :-).

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.

You inspect your cooker by crouching down and inspecting the bits you
can't usually see!!

Of course. When I buy anything I check it very carefully. I then
consider the cost and what the supplier said about what I should
expect. If it falls short of that, I ask them to fix it.

After all, this is only asking somebody to do what they said they
would do. If I sell something to somebody, I do the same.


A quick phone call and they had a person out the
following day with a replacement, no questions asked.

A replacement cooker?

Replacement panel

What with that and the number they give away
free to "celebrities" it is no wonder the thing costs over GBP5,000


Worth every penny.


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.

From June to September usually nothing.


Not IME.


--

..andy