Taking care of your AGA
A little bit of care and maintenance will help you to get the most from your cast-iron range cooker and it will reward you with a long service life.
A daily rub with a damp soapy cloth followed by a clean, dry cloth can help to keep your AGA sparkling.
Try to wipe up any spills on the AGA or Rayburn top and front plates as soon as they happen, as baked-on food is more difficult to clean, but can usually be removed with AGA enamel cleaner and a damp cloth. Never use 'oven cleaners' or a cold wet cloth on the enamel.
Milk, orange juice or anything containing acid can damage the enamel and should be wiped up immediately. The AGA E-cloth is brilliant and it may be worth keeping one on hand.
Cleaning the ovens
The ovens help to keep themselves clean by carbonising cooking spills and splashes. Simply use a wire brush to remove any dust and light rust, or to scrub off stubborn stains from the cast-iron surfaces.
Cleaning the hotplates
The hotplates are made from cast-iron and are very durable and easy to care for. Most spills on the hotplates will carbonise and you can remove them quickly with a wire brush. You can remove burnt-on spills with a damp cloth or sponge, but you must ensure that you rinse all detergents off thoroughly afterwards.
The hotplates can also be susceptible to rust if exposed to surface moisture regularly. Remember to switch them on for a few minutes to dry them after cleaning to prevent this. Every now and then, you could apply a thin layer of cooking oil when the hotplates are cold to help season them.
Cleaning AGA door linings
The best way to keep the door linings clean is to wipe them over after cooking, when the AGA is off and the linings are cool, so that splashes do not get baked on. Use a cream cleaner or a soap filled pad.
To deep clean the door linings, first ensure that the ovens are off and cool. Place a towel on a work surface and carefully lift off the oven door, placing it enamel side down on to the towel. Clean with a soap filled pad to remove marks and avoid immersing the doors in water as excessive water can damage the insulation in the doors. Never put the doors in the dishwasher. Carefully dry the doors before replacing.
Cleaning the lid
You can protect the interior of the lid from unavoidable cooking spills and splashes by the use of an AGA Splash Shield. If the lid interior requires a clean, you should first ensure that the hotplates are off and cold. Use hot soapy water and/or a cream cleaner to remove stains, but ensure that you do not use excessive water and that the linings are dry before you close the cover.
The AGA lids are stainless steel and can be wiped with a damp soapy cloth, followed by a wet cloth and then a dry cloth to finish. The AGA E-cloth is ideal for this.
Season the ovens
Due to the porous nature of cast-iron, there may be occasions when rust appears inside the ovens, especially if your cooker is new or you have not used your ovens for a while.
To combat this, we recommend regularly rubbing corn oil on the oven surfaces, which will build a protective layer on top of the cast-iron, reducing the amount of water permeating the oven and preventing rust from appearing. Leave your ovens on full heat for one hour afterwards to allow the oil to permeate the cast-iron.
