Learning to use our Aga cooker effectively was a great deal easier than we thought it would be although it did involve a change in priority in the way we cooked. Previously, with a conventional cooker, we found that the majority of our cooking was done on the hob (ie not the ovens). We were advised that to use an Aga effectively the ovens should be the primary facility. This is because:
1. Cooking on the hotplates results in a greater loss of stored heat across the whole of the cooker. Apparently this is because a lids up Aga looses significantly more heat than a lids down one.
2. The performance of the ovens on the Aga is the primary advantage (in terms of cooking) that Agas have over conventional cookers. Why? We asked the same question. Apparently the ovens cook more evenly and with less of a tendency to dry out the food being cooked.
Point 1 above tickled us a bit because, almost without fail, whenever we saw an Aga cooker on television it has its lids open, frequently even when there is nothing on the hot plates. I guess the producers thought it looked better that way.
So, whenever we could, we cooked in the ovens. Even my mothers fantastic red pasta sauce, which needs to cook for a good two hours (and often much longer) was started off on the boiling plate and then transferred to the bottom of the top oven for the duration.
Not everything we cooked was in the ovens however; I mean some things just can't be done that way. For instance toast. Or even better, haloumi cheese placed directly onto the simmering plate; without a doubt, we have never (ever) tasted this done better using any other method. Even this cheese done