Rayburn Recipes Anyone?

Debt_Free_Chick

emujuice wrote:

oo, while i'm here.
does anyone know how much the rayburn costs to run?
ours is gas powered. we think it uses around 11 units of gas per 24 hours - which is around 3 quids worth, which seems a hell of a lot, if you're meant to keep it on all the time.
any help or advice would be much appreciated.
thanks

The Aga-Rayburn is reputed to be the most efficient heating/cooking appliance in the world. It stores heat, so actually costs very little to run. It only uses heat when you lift the lids or put stuff in the oven. So, although its on, its not actually consuming a lot of fuel ... the heat is stored within the Aga/Rayburn and not heating the house - although it does emit a constant warm glow.

I never turn mine off as it takes about a day for it to get back to full power. I fill my oil tank 4 times a year, but this includes oil to run the central heating boiler. During the summer when the boiler is off, I use less than a tank of oil. This serves all my cooking and hot water for about 6 months (May-Oct).

Call that 184 days. Currently, with oil prices so high, it costs £300 to fill the oil tank. So that's £1.63 per day - and I get all my hot water for that, too!

My oil tank is 900 litres (actually, it's 1,000 but I never let it run to empty).

HTH

Debt_Free_Chick

emujuice wrote:

Hi,
just moved into lovely rental property with a rayburn. my boyfriend's mum gave us an aga know how book, which is increadibly useful (although it's not an aga, and so is slightly different).
so far i've had some success with it, although we're not leaving it on all hte time, as we can't afford to, and it makes the whole flat warm, as the access heat goes into the radiators, even when only the oven is on.

Even with the thermostat turned off? There's a problem with the set up if the radiators are warm, with the heating turned off.

As it takes hours for the Aga/Rayburn to get up to full retained heat, then you are likely to have mixed results if you're constantly turning the Rayburn on & off. Your radiators should be governed by your heating thermostat, not the Rayburn. My Aga is on all the time, but the radiators are off from May to October. I think you should speak to the landlord about this and get it checked out. With the radiators turned off, my Aga only costs about £1.50 a day to run and that includes all my hot water (at current oil prices, its more like £1.63).

i've found that stir fries, with chicken in, that you'd normally do on the hob, cook nicely at he bottomof the roasting oven for about an hour or so. the chicken was sooo tender.
i aslo made some brillinatly simple lemon curd in the simmering oven. came out beautifully - just a shame the scones didn't - they're a bit hard.
oh well.
i'm looking forward to giving it another go in the winter.
but if anyone has any hints or tips i'd really appreciate them.
also, should the thermomator read 400F? it never seems to go above that, is that right?
Thanks

What about the indicator on the front? It's usually black on the left and red on the right. Somewhere along there, there's a black line. When the indicator reaches the black line, its at full power and ready to cook. There are some different indicators - what does yours look like?

N9eav

I have one of these. It's fab and personally i think better than an Aga or rayburn.... heavier, bigger and does all the rads, cookign and hot water. there are some recipees on this site too.These type of range cookers do the best roast in the world! Yorkshires the size of Yorkshire.

emujuice

Hi guys,
thanks for the help.
they rayburn has an actual thermometer on the front of the roasting oven, and it is this that shows 400F, and never goes above that even when left overnight untouched.
the meter readings i took were after it had fully heated, but we did do a fair amount of baking that day, so i supposed it used more then just left standing.
i think you're right that there must be a problem with it, as the radiators do heat up. not a lot, but warm to the touch, and that must be wasting energy. esp when it's not wanted.
there are two nobs, one for the boiler and one for the cooker. we have the boiler off, and have only turned the cooker on (the shower is electric).
both the nobs are broken, so at the minute we have pliers to turn it on. perhaps we are doing it wrong.
the land lords have been on holdiay the whole time we've been here, but should hopefully be back soon. they've ordered some new nobs apparently, so i think they are keen to have it working properly. hopefully they'll be helpful. and hopefully they'll have some cookware we could borrow for it, as it don't think my cheap rubbish make the full use of it, and we can't afford stuff when we'll probably only be here for a year. they have a big aga, so hoepfully they'll have a spare roasting pan.
but if anyone knows where to get good cheap stuff, i'd really appreciate it.
thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

Hello Emujuice

The fact that the radiators are warm could be a Rayburn problem - or it could be a valve ... i.e. that there is a valve that drips hot water from the Rayburn to the central heating system. Either way, as you're renting, you should let the landlord know. There's no point in you paying for fuel to heat radiators that you don't need during the summer.

Re the bakeware .... whether you use a conventional oven or a range, you need robust bakeware to cook at high temperatures. You don't need special bakeware for the Rayburn, but if you have it, its more convenient (and more robust). If your landlord can lend you some, great - otherwise, don't get too hung up about it You do need the proper shelves though, otherwise your non-Rayburn bakeware will have nowhere to sit on!

Economical bakeware tends to buckle under high heat. This is not a problem, as such, but you might need to alter your cooking habits/timings accordingly.

Enjoy your Rayburn - hope you get converted!

emujuice

hi,
thanks for the advice. i'll try not to get hung up on the bakewear stuff! i have some nice tefal bun and muffin trays, and they seem to be lasting well.

Play.com just delivered my new rayburn cookbook. i'm very much looking forward to trying some new recipes.

i'll post the ones that work well!

tootles_2

OOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhh how I envy you. I have wanted an aga for years, we had a Rayburn when I was a little girl, coal fired in those days, but oh how I remember the warmth and the pot of soup that Mum used to keep on the back of it for when I got in from school.

The last house I worked in as a housekeeper had one in the kitchen and I got to use it from time to time, it was great............. but not for cooking shortbread, I once forgot and put shortbread in the hot oven by mistake, ended up with toffee!!!!

How I envy you, no way could I get one into my present kitchen, its far too small....apart from anything else I doubt we would be able to sit in there it would be too hot...........

penni

I had a new rayburn five years ago to replace an old nouvelle, the new one is not a patch on the old one, the cook heat switch has never worked a lot of the enamel has blown due to rust underneath, the chrome lids have pitted and the door doesnot seal properly and it is a nightmare to cook with as the oven is one sided. I had the old rayburn for twenty years and it was excellent, I loved it not so much the new model.