A Guide to the AGA City 60

For a long time, the joys of an AGA has been seen as a privilege of those who lived in spacious country homes. In fact, for many of us, the idea of an AGA instantly conjures images of large family kitchens. But, with the latest range of flexible electric AGAs; that is no longer the case. City dwellers can now enjoy the delights of an AGA no matter how cosy their home. The AGA City 60 has been designed to fit into any kitchen.

So, if you’ve always wanted a range cooker, or to own an AGA, now is your chance. Everyone can enjoy the benefits of a range cooker regardless of the shape, size and location of their kitchen!

Size

At 60cm wide, the AGA City 60 is the same size as any compact cooker that you might find in a smaller kitchen. Despite its economical sizing, every square inch has been put to good use. With a little bit of planning, you can easily cook a full-size family feast in this smart little oven.

Warm up Times

As the AGA works on the principle of storing heat, time is required to gather that heat from the electric elements to saturate the castings. We recommend to allow an hour heat up time. The optional programmer is a great asset as it can be set to get the top oven to its working heat, ready for you to cook when you walk through the door.

The principle of heat storage means that the ovens and hotplate are at a pre-set heat, the cooking areas are named after their function rather than temperatures

Hot Plates

The cast iron hotplate is operated manually and is machined flat to give the best all-over contact with the AGA sauce pans, grill pan, frying pan and kettle.

The boiling plate setting is the hottest with the simmering plate setting being cooler. It has electric elements embedded into the cast iron which heat up in approximately 11 and 8 minutes respectively. The hotplate can be used completely independently from the ovens. The whole hotplate area can be used for cooking and several pans can be accommodated on the plate at any one time. The hotplate is set very slightly above the top plate to minimise scratching as the pans are pulled to one side to simmer.

The chrome insulated cover is brought down over the hotplate when it is heating up or not in use. When the hotplate is ‘ON’ the insulated cover will be warm. We strongly advise not to put anything such as kettles, saucepans or baking tins directly onto the insulated cover because it will show any scratches - invest in a chef’s pad to protect the surface if the cover is to be used as a resting place!

With the AGA City 60, you have a choice of the traditional hot plate or gas burners.

If you can’t bear to part with your gas rings, then you have the option of replacing the traditional hot plate with four burners. This gives you two semi-rapid burners, one rapid burner as well as a wok burner—everything you need to cook a good meal.

Ovens

The AGA City 60 has two ovens. Because of the electric control system, you get the flexibility to choose the temperatures you need for your ovens. Both ovens deliver heat from all sides, which is what creates the iconic AGA cooking style. The range cooks food gently and evenly, which keeps all the moisture and flavour trapped inside.

The Roasting Oven

The roasting oven setting is indirectly heated by two elements, one in the base of the oven and the other in the roof. These elements heat the air and the cast iron within to provide cooking results consistent with the traditional AGA heat-storage cooker, with the flexibility of being able to turn the off when not in use. The roasting oven setting can be used for ‘grilling’ at the top and ‘shallow frying’ on the oven floor.

When cooking on the base of the roasting oven, place the floor grid on the base before putting the food into the oven. This lifts the food away from the base element to ensure best cooking results are achieved.

The roasting oven setting is zoned in heat, meaning it is slightly hotter towards the top than the centre and the oven grid shelf set on the oven floor is slightly less hot than the centre.

The base of the oven can be used as another cooking surface, indeed it is often called a hidden hotplate use the floor grid for protection so food does not overbrown. The beauty of the roasting oven setting is that any fat is burnt off when the oven is at full heat, just brush out occasionally to remove the carbon deposits.

The roasting oven setting is excellent for bread and pastries. Quiches in ceramic or pies in Pyrex dishes need not be baked blind as when they are in placed on the floor grid on the base of the oven the pastry cooks from underneath and the filling will set and brown from the all-round heat. As you are aware metal flat tins conduct heat quicker than ceramic may need less cooking time. The specially designed roasting tins and bakeware slide directly onto the runners, so almost every available square centimeter of space can be used.

Food can be protected by the use of the cold plain shelf or shielded by means of the large roasting tin which means you can cook food that requires different temperatures at the same time. If food is browning too quickly and you do not want to move it to another oven just slide the cold plain shelf over the food to reduce the top heat.

The Baking Oven

The baking oven is indirectly heated by two elements, one in the base of the oven and the other in the roof. These elements heat the air and the cast iron within to provide cooking results consistent with traditional AGA heat storage cookers, with the flexibility of being able to turn it off when not in use.

This setting is a moderate heat, so is ideal for cakes and biscuits. Meat and poultry can be cooked here indeed most things that can be cooked on the roasting oven setting can be cooked on the baking oven setting but for a longer time.

For the best results when cooking cakes do allow at least the one hour heat up time. Cook cakes together on one shelf. If two shelves are used interchange the food to achieve even colouration, as you would with any oven which is zoned heat. As with the roasting oven setting, the specially designed roasting tins and bakeware slide directly onto the runners, so almost every available square centimeter of space can be used.

NOTE: When baking it is always best to start from cold, otherwise if baking after using the roasting setting the oven will take a considerable amount of time to cool. Always remove the cold plain shelf and roasting tins on completion of cooking, if left in the oven it will affect the oven temperature.

The Simmering Oven

The simmering oven is indirectly heated by one element in the base of the oven. This element heats the air and the cast iron within it to provide cooking results consistent with the traditional simmering oven of the traditional AGA heat-storage cooker, with the flexibility of being able to turn it off when not required.

The floor grid is used here to protect items placed on the base of the oven such as vegetables for steaming, keeping sauces warm or casseroles cooked for a long time. Always ensure this is in place, before putting food into the oven. The simmering oven can be described as a continuation oven, it continues to cook food that has been brought up to heat elsewhere on the cooker with the exception of meringues which are dried out rather than ‘cooked’.

If you would like to learn more on how an AGA 60 cooker works, please watch the video below:

Benefits

The AGA City 60 is a small oven, but it is packed full of great features. Here are the top six benefits of the powerful, yet compact cooker.

• Iconic AGA cooking - both ovens deliver the unmatched AGA radiant heating
• Easy Installation - fits into the same space as a standard slot in cooker
• Programmable - can be set to turn on up to 3 times a day automatically
• Large Capacity - can easily cook a large family dinner
• Classic Design - it looks and feels like an AGA with a range of colour options
• Easy Operation - two simple dials to control both the hot plate and the ovens.

So, if you’ve always dreamed of an AGA in your kitchen, but only have a small space, the AGA City 60 could be the ideal choice for your home.

For more information and to arrange a free no obligation site survey contact us on 0118 939 3046 or email sales@edwardsandgodding.co.uk.