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I don't recognise it, Tom, but one of the UK guys on here is bound to know.

Most stuff (washer....refridgeration) seemed to be on loan from Zanussi?
 
Never understood why Eddie

Had both a hob and that big range on the other side of kitchen (near stairway). Could see a separate oven but why the AGA like range? In any event it isn't as if anyone besides Saffy and sometimes Mrs. Monsoon (Gran) did any sort of cooking. As Saffy once pointed out Eds only ever used the cooker to light her "fags" (cigarettes).

http://www.filmitem.com/film/f14/

Found it also interesting that when Edina bought her home in Shepard's Bush she left the kitchens downstairs in cellars as originally designed. That sort of arrangement common to townhouses, row houses, mansions or whatever of the period on both sides of the pond worked well in a household with servants. Post WWII (for Britain) and earlier in the USA or elsewhere the lack of servants meant Madame had to do the cooking herself. It is an ordeal getting hot food up one or more floors without staff. Dining room on ground floor probably isn't so bad, but think of the bedrooms. Either way it means going up and down several flights of stairs all the day long carrying trays of food. No wonder Ed's kitchen was the center of the home.

Here in NYC some who purchase townhomes/row houses move the kitchen to the first floor, if it wasn't done already. That or they leave it downstairs but again it often becomes the center of family action. That is unless there is company the family tends to eat in kitchen rather than dining room upstairs.

Cool thing about many of these older homes is that upon renovation work you can often uncover dumb waiters long since sealed up. Like laundry chutes dumbwaiters can be a fire hazard (both can act like a chimney spreading flames and smoke), they are dangerous especially with small children in the home. Over the decades no small number of children tumbled down either shaft either from horsing around or not being properly supervised.
 
Launderess,

One also lived in a fashionable part of North London for four years during the nineties, whilst in a live-in relationship with a Greek Cypriot.

One had an AGA rather like Eddie, but (unlike Eddie) ONLY an AGA with no alternative. This was also in a lower ground floor kitchen. Although one did one's best, multi cultural candlelight suppers involving extended family were indeed a challenge.

One can fully understand Eddie's need for an alternative heat source.

This is because (from memory) despite doing one's best to please, one's efforts were either boiling over uncontrollably or barely simmering.

Subtly altering the position of one's (barely accessible) adjustable knob down below was sadly a fruitless exercise, despite many attempts to hit the perfect spot.

There was simply no way I could find of adequately satisfying such many and varied requirements within this situation.

This being the case for the duration of one's stay with this partner, things finally fizzled out between us. I reassert; I think that the main problem was that there was nothing in between. For a successful partnership, one always needs something in between.

One `lived and learned'.

:-)


http://https//encrypted-tbn1.gstati...UBUdw6jNzyOJrtzdPkyG5xPVAV4Ugb7DlOHmnrcs1DQWQ
 
An AGA

must be a favorite by some to sell for so many quid. Nearly indestructible.
I'll have to look up Bettina. Not familiar with her. Todays lesson.
Ring of Fire was by Johnny Cash. He was very talented, but a bit over compensating for his years of being a drunk I suppose.
As for stair ways, there are also black holes in space which can pulverize all matter, or is there another dimension beyond them?
 
I can absolutely vouch for AGA's being a total pain the ass to cook on. My in laws have one and they also have a seperate gas hob.

There's no heat control on an AGA. You're restricted to a boiling plate and a warning plate. The idea is that you move the food around the AGA rather than changing the heat. So for example, boiling potatoes you would start them on the boiling plate and move then to the hot oven in the pan to finish off.

A major drawback is that when you open the lids to the boiling & warning plates, the heat in the ovens drops.

Also, you have to leave them on 24/7 and they drink fuel. If you live in a posh country residence & the AGA also heard your hot water and central heating, this isn't too bad. But just for cooking is a complete waste of energy & an expense you don't need.
 
Oh,

I've never seen her before either.
There was a Bettina Wilson or something singing a white box Jesus song also.
Can one have a blue box too, filled with stars, the sun and moon? If we knew who made them, we'd know everything. Never happen. We don't even all get along here yet. It seems to be in our nature to eliminate each other, but hey, we can dream.
 
Once you get the hang of things

AGA, Rayburn, Lacanche and the rest of these heat storing ranges aren't *that* bad. They certainly were streets ahead of what came before and that included open fires.

For a four oven AGA you get

Boiling plate - 700F

Simmering plate - 350F

Warming plate - 120F

Roasting oven - 450F

Baking oven - 350F

Simmering oven - 250F

Warming oven - 150F

As with any oven temps often vary based upon rack placement. That is since heat rises things could be cooler on lower rack versus upper. Long enough use and you became adjusted to the various quirks of each oven.

Cooking wise if you look at English and pretty much other countries both in Europe and here in the USA, things varied pre-thermostatically controlled ovens and gas or electric burners with precise controls, versus what came afterwards.

In early part of the last century you had lots of roasts, stews, soups, porridge, pies, etc... Things that could be done in ovens and if needed left to their own for much of the day as you got on with other things. For range top cooking you had almost only three choices, things that were fried, boiled or "stewed/simmered". A good cook probably could make the deft transitions between simmer, high and low plates, but not everyone had that kind of skill and or time.

When you really think about it how many oven temps are really required? Roasting and baking take place at about the same range of temperatures as the set ovens of an AGA. More delicate cakes or other things may require some finesse, but then again many housewives didn't often bother with such things then, or the cakes weren't up to bakery quality standards.
 

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