Such is my attachment to Aga cookers I have found this journal post surprisingly hard to write. I collect the old adverts, I collect vintage Aga tools, I collect old Aga cookwares and accessories. I've even collected old (very!) Aga cookers. Long defunct models rescued and carefully stored for my nascent musuem. The Aga brand, not ours, is 102 years old in the UK. There are very few brands of any type that old anywhere in the world. Aga cookers are iconic. Aga cookers are my life. They support my business, my team, my family. There is one in my kitchen. I love them.
And yet here I am, welcoming Everhot cookers into our showroom, onto our website and into my life.
So why are we broadening our horizons at Blake & Bull like this? Why are we recommending to customers that they don't buy our remanufactured Aga cookers in some circumstances? Put simply Everhots are really good and sit in a slightly different niche in the kitchen. With a 40 year history they are proven, reliable cookers with a proud history. As a family run company, just like us, they are a natural fit too.
Before you read on don't miss our special Everhot launch offer. Up to a £1,000 cookshop voucher to refresh your cookwares and accessories with your new Everhot (or remanufactured Aga cooker!). More information here.
What are the differences?
Our Aga cookers use one of two electric systems that use high powered elements to quickly change the temperatures of the hobs and ovens. Just like brand new AGA cookers our remanufactured cookers use 32 or even 40amps of power for the most part.
Everhots are lower powered machines. Even the largest Everhot cooker will run off 2 single 13amp plug sockets. Super simple. Designed to trickle charge/heat over longer periods they behave most similarly to old fossil (oil & gas) Aga cookers. The main ovens will boost heat pretty quickly but mostly Everhots use an ECO mode to stay within easy reach of cooking temperatures when needed. They'll give out a gentle heat to the room almost all year.
Aga cookers are an iconic design of course and Everhots don't look identical. They are handsome with squared off features and larger lids that massively boost efficiency. Rather than covering just the hotplates like Aga lids they cover the whole top of the cooker and 'hug' the cooker when not in use for startling efficiency.
Our remanufactured Aga cookers are re-enamelled to the same standard as new cookers. Vitreous enamel is an extraordinary material that I am so familiar with. I started Blake & Bull simply by cleaning Aga cookers, hundreds of them. I know enamel, how it reacts to different materials and tools. There is nothing more hardwearing. I did not expect to like the finish of Everhot cookers when I visited the factory. It's a multi stage powder coat surface, very very high quality paint. Its quite delicious though. The finish is softer of course and reflects the light in a different way to enamel. It feels lovely and looks luxurious with its ever so slightly matte finish. I love it.
Our remanufactured Aga cookers are almost entirely cast iron. Cast iron base plates, cast iron fronts, cast iron doors and cast iron ovens. Its the cast iron that gives Aga meals their flavour as radiant heat gently cooks your food. Apart from the doors Everhots are pressed steel and even the oven cavities are steel. Again though when I visited the factory my preconceptions were shattered. Everywhere the steel on an Everhot is heavy and substantial, in the ovens extraordinarily so. I was so surprised by this comparison that soon in the showroom we'll have an Everhot and Aga oven on display, feel the heft!
I love the soft close magnetic doors, the 'catches' are fake. I love the simple layouts and perfectly weighted lids. I love the carefully integrated induction plates and massive square hotplates.
Are they better than a new Aga cooker? Better than our remanufactured Aga cookers? Just different I think. They'll suit those looking for the most traditional experience (an experience pioneered by Aga cookers ironically!). For many it has to be an Aga cooker, with their iconic designs and powerful flexibility. If this is you then we want to sell you one of our bespoke remanufactured Aga cookers, made in our own workshops. But others will make the move to Everhot (or join the world of range cookers via Everhot) and I don't think anyone would regret it. We'll happily recommend the best fit to our customers, thats how we got this reputation.
