With winter firmly here and Wimbledon around the corner, it’s the perfect time to enjoy an AGA oven or fireplace to its full potential. The AGA is known for its longevity, with many still operating after more than 50 years.

Originally heated by slow-burning coal, the Aga cooker was invented in 1922 by the Nobel Prize-winning Swedish physicist Gustaf Dalén (1869–1937), who was employed as the chief engineer. The cookers were imported to Britain in 1929, and were first manufactured there under license in the early 1930s. The cast iron components were cast at the Coalbrookdale foundry in the 1940s, a foundry with a 300 year history, where they are still made today.

The AGA is famous for its ovens and fireplaces, which works on the principle that a heavy frame made from cast iron can absorb heat from a relatively low-intensity but continuously-burning source, and the accumulated heat can then be used when needed for cooking.

Interestingly, ‘The Championships, Wimbledon’, commonly known simply as ‘Wimbledon’ has been held in London since 1877 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious.

Today's AGA, similar to Wimbledon, remains unchanged through time and is made in exactly the same way as it always has been. Quite simply, molten iron is poured into moulds. It's this technique that gives the castings their characteristic surface – each one is unique – and sets the AGA apart from the ubiquitous mass-produced uniformity. There is no spray painting, but rather the AGA cooker's multiple protective coats of gleaming vitreous enamel take three days to apply. It's this enamelling that helps ensure the working life of an AGA cooker is measured not in years, but in decades. Of course, the modern AGA also contains state-of-the-art technology and is subject to rigorous quality controls and adherence to the latest environmental standards. Each part of an AGA cooker – and there are many – is meticulously inspected and colour checked before engineers carry out the final build in the new owner's home. It is not unusual for three generations of a family to work side-by-side at the AGA foundry, and the passion staff feel for the cooker,  is second to none.

AGA represents a lifestyle, one that owners embrace and share fervently with others.

For more information or your local stockist visit www.agaliving.co.za.