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There are definitely less solid fuel cookers around these days but many still love them. Mr K is one of them and he wanted his cream pre-74 'Deluxe' given a new lease of life. Needless to say that is no problem for us, we love the slightly unusual jobs! The colour Mr K chose for the next 50 years of this Aga range cookers life was 'Claret' and it looks resplendent!
The pics are Philips fault with his normal mix of weird angles, poor focus and darkness but hopefully you'll get the idea! I've added more info above each one for those of you who are sad enough to be interested.
Ok this cooker has seen better days. Solid fuel does take a toll on enamel with soot etc and sheer age has had an effect here too. The enamel is worn and dulled with the movement of countless pans! The air wheel is top left of the front to control flue draw. Even the thermometer front plate has lost all its markings!
A better view of the wear to the enamel here, the top glaze has worn away! You can also see streak marks, acid damage, to the front of the cooker.
So first job is to get the hob off. This revealed a mess to put it mildly. The underside of the hob plate has rusted off in big flakes and insulation top blanket is very, very poor. It's been a looong time since this hob was off and the loose insulation below (vermiculite in this case) has settled lot!
No matter though as we need to remove lots of that vermiculite to remove the front of the cooker. You can see the 'tunnels' on the simmering spot. These are pieces of aluminium or stainless steel that join the fronts to the oven cavities. They'll be replaced so don't worry ;) The hose you can see is snaking in all the way from the van. It's from 'Big Brute' our vacuum cleaner that is roughly the size of Wales. It will empty a cooker in minutes and remove any small pets into the bargain!
Haha I'll admit this isn't interesting but if you look closely you can see the vermiculite is wet. We found a leak from the boiler basically!
The new front is on and vermiculite is back in. Making progress!
Final layer (the 'top blanket') of insulation is on!
We've fitted our very own non stick door liners with new seals, insulation and fixings. The thermometer is brand new also!
We've even lined the ovens (both of them) with our heavy duty non stick liners. Cleaning spills off oven floors is a bugger, not so with these guys. Just pop them through the dishwasher!
The lids are completely refurbished with re-enamelled rims, new chrome tops, new underside and new spring handles. The Air wheel is original but we've given it a deep clean to give its shine back!
Well done Phil, an Aga range cooker beautifully dressed with our 'Good Dog!' textiles!
>> Find out about Blake & Bull's re-enamelling service here.
>> We also offer reconditioned cookers, meticulously built-to-order!