The AGA difference
Found in luxury kitchens across South Africa, there is no denying that contemporary cabinets, counters and fittings exist in design harmony with the AGA. Handcrafted in Britain for over 100 years, AGA is now regarded as an exclusive home appliance worldwide, including here, at the tip of Africa.
As South Africans we are known for our hospitality, so if the kitchen is your usual meeting place (read cooking, eating, sharing, laughing, cheering, living, loving space) then that alone is the reason why your AGA should be at the heart of your home.
In a world where obsolescence seems the order of the day, AGA is a constant; built for life and built to last, AGA has designed and produced a cooker for every stage of life - from first homes to forever homes, there's an AGA for every cook and every kitchen.
Thoughtfully And Individually Crafted
We are extremely proud that AGA and Rayburn cookers are still designed and manufactured at the factory in Telford, Shropshire. Every AGA cooker comes with a sense of history built in, manufactured to the same exacting standards that have ensured the AGA cooker’s place as a trusted and cherished brand.
AGA products are thoughtfully created and responsibly built, making the most from the least and using nothing unnecessarily. Securing its place in the environmental responsibility category, AGA is a forerunner in a world where there’s increasing volumes of non-recyclable waste - making it truly unlike any other household appliance.
Craftsmanship & Enamelling
Molten iron is poured into moulds and every cast is then hand-dressed, heat treated to 800 degrees Celsius and shot-blasted clean. It’s this technique that gives the castings their characteristic surface – each one is unique. Each AGA cooker is then coated in a gleaming vitreous enamel finish.
While most cookers are spray painted in minutes, the AGA cookers’ multiple protective coats of vitreous enamel take three days and three separate firings to complete. It is this meticulous enamelling process that helps ensure the working life of an AGA cooker is measured not in years, but in decades.
The exterior enamelled parts on AGA cookers are individually crafted and hand finished, making each one unique. Slight variations in the surface finish are usually found and the colour can look different throughout the day as the light in the kitchen changes and when the cooker heats up. It is differences like these that set the AGA apart from the uniformity of mass-produced cookers and places it in a class of its own.
Radiant Heat Cooking
AGA food tastes better simply because an AGA cooks better, using gentle, radiant heat to retain the foods natural goodness and flavour. The heat is released steadily from all the inner surfaces of the cast-iron ovens and hotplates simultaneously, creating dedicated cooking zones at pre-set temperatures for ease, convenience, and stress-free use.
This radiant heat cooking method is an altogether gentler process than the fierce hot air of conventional cookers, and is the reason AGA cooking retains more of the food’s moisture and culinary goodness.
A Lifelong Investment
Thousands of AGA cookers around the world are still in perfect working condition after 30 years or more of regular use. Because of its renowned longevity, proud owners of these iconic kitchen appliances need never say goodbye, thereby ensuring a long relationship of good times in the creation of good food.
If you’re mindful of saving the planet, then what’s not to love about AGA cookers – they’re handcrafted with 70 percent reclaimed iron and recycled materials; they negate the need for additional appliances such as toasters and kettles, and in the heart of our winter their radiant heat warms the home. From an energy-saving perspective, the ovens and hotplates of the modern AGA cookers can be switched on or off as required, making them ideal energy-efficient appliances, which is the preferred setting during hot South African summers.
AGA owners regularly claim that their cooker is part of the family, and they couldn’t imagine life without it. It’s impossible to think of any other household object that inspires this level of devotion.