Did you have trouble finding smaller cookie sheets? A big turkey isn’t a big concern as we’d probably roast a 15 pounder at the most but I think my big Calphalon roasting pan will be given to a friend. It’s 17 by 15.

Cleaning gas burner grates is generally no picnic so I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference. But thanks for the warning.

Sarah

The ovens are small by US standards, I will say that. So, if you cook big 20 pound turkeys for the holidays, or gigantic steamer roasts, don’t go with the Aga. Now, I am lucky in that I, until today, had another range in the upstairs kitchen, with a huge oven, so my big turkeys were cooked up there.

But remember, the ovens are narrow, too, so you can only use small cookie sheets that hold between six and eight cookies each, and I think only use three of them at a time. So, if you do a lot of cookies for Christmas, you need to take that into account.

That said, it cooks like a dream. The high BTU burners are wonderful, and having six burners is great.

Cleaning it up is not so great–the iron grates over the burners love to have food stuck to them, which with the high-heat burners, then becomes baked on. Oven cleaner sprayed on them and then hosed off outside takes care of that, so I do that once a month or so and am not so crazy about scraping them clean every time. There are lots of nooks and crannies on the surface of the top, too, but cleanup is not so bad with them as the iron grates themselves.

And, finally, the burner control knobs are made from very brittle plastic–almost like antique bakelite. I have chipped half of them.

But even with all of these issues, I still love my Calcifer–that is the Aga’s name! And if we should ever sell this house to move into the country, unless there is a comparable stove there, I am buying another 6-4 and having the kitchen redone!

Since you’ve been cooking with it for a few years now do you have any other comments- positive or negative? I’m in love with the way this Aga looks but want to make sure we’ll love the way it functions too.

Thanks for any help.

Sarah

Red is very classic, too–I think they would both be beautiful.

I will say that I have no stainless steel in my kitchen–everything is wood, bronze, black or green or bronze enamel with stone and tile, all in mossy greens–and the green is perfect. It might make the kitchen look too cold if you used it with lots of stainless, you know? Red might be better in that case–it will offset the coolness of the stainless beautifully.