Our Refurbishment Process

PROFESSIONAL. RESTORATIVE. METICULOUS.

When an Aga Cooker enters our workshop on the Scottish coast, every piece is inspected by our team.

We have an intensive refurbishment process which produces Aga Cookers almost indistinguishable from new. We also work closely with UK-based suppliers and service providers - ensuring the best quality product for your refurbished Aga Cooker.

This process is perfect for sustainability, reducing the overall carbon footprint of your cooker, and longevity of the finished product.

Original, British-Made Aga Cookers that have stood the test of time.

How Old Are Our Aga Cookers?

We always use the original British-made cast iron Aga Cookers, produced in the (now closed) Coalbrookdale Iron Foundry.

This was a 300-year old foundry, specialising in iron castings and famously produced Aga cookers since the 1940s. Unfortunately, the foundry was closed in 2017 by the new American owners of AGA Rangemaster. This is another reason why it's important to us that we use these original British castings.

We aim to supply 'Post Deluxe' models as standard. After years of working with all models and ages of Aga Cooker, we see these models as the best design.

The very early Post Deluxe models are made from 1974 (pictured here), to around the 2010's.

If you're looking for a more traditional and 'heritage' look, we do have limited older 1950's models in stock, available in our controllable electric systems

Aga Cooker Dismantling

Most of our Aga Cookers are sourced from house sales. The new home owners contact us for removal after deciding to change to a conventional fan-assisted oven, or upgrade it to one of our brand new Everhot or Esse Range Cookers.

If you're looking to remove your Aga Cooker (in Mainland Scotland only!), you can find our dismantle information here: www.saltirecookers.com/removal.

Our engineers arrive onsite and professionally dismantle the cooker bit by bit, until it's completely stripped down. Inside the cooker is roughly 400 litres of loose-fill vermiculite, which is hoovered up and disposed of but don't worry, there is no known health hazard related to Vermiculite - we wouldn't want our engineers working with anything hazardous!

Once the Aga Cooker is stripped down, it's packaged into our van and brought back to our workshop for the restoration work to begin.

The Cast Iron Restoration

The cast iron components inside the Aga Cooker can look rather rusty after decades of daily use. Although it's rare for these solid pieces of iron to be so far beyond restoration that they are destined for the scrap pile, we still assess for any cracks or splits before starting the refurbishment.

The old rust and debris is professionally removed from ovens and hotplates using a process called 'shot-blasting'. This process involves firing small pieces of metal "shot" at high-speed, to remove years of dirt, grime or grease.

After shot-blasting, the ovens and hotplates are specially treated to reduce the risk of rust build up (a frequent problem when working with cast iron), then prepped for installation with new high-temperature seals and sealants.

Take a look at these before and after photographs from a few pieces of cast iron from inside an Aga Cooker.

Aga Cooker Enamelling

We don't 'paint' our Aga Cookers. Some companies in the past have treated them with high-temperature stove paint but this never lasts and looks horrendous over time. We believe the only way to restore these legendary cookers, is to stick to original processes used when they were first made, back in the 1920's.

Once you've placed your order for a Refurbished Aga Cooker, you can choose your perfect enamel colour from a range of our 40+ shades, including the classic traditional colours.

Before the enamelling process can begin, the old parts need to be prepped and cleaned. The old enamel is shot-blasted (similar to the cast iron restoration above), to reveal the bare cast iron. This is then annealed.

Annealing is the process of heating the cast iron to improve workability, and remove any impurities inside. The annealing process also reduces the stress on the iron, and improves the overall enamelling process. Once the parts are ground-coated (to improve durability and the enamel finish), it's time for the actual enamelling process.

Vitreous Enamel is created by mixing powdered glass with coloured pigments, then grinding it down to form a liquid 'Frit'. This is then sprayed onto the ground-coated parts by hand. This process has been found to have been used as early as the 13th Century! There are even reports of the Titanic Captain's vitreous enamelled bathtub surviving its life underwater.

The result of all this hard work, is a glossy, luxurious and durable surface, ready for another lease of life as your 'new' refurbished Aga Range Cooker.

Restoration and Replacement Parts

Whilst the parts are in production for enamelling and cast iron is shot-blasted, we asses replacements and refurbishment needed for other parts.

As standard, your Refurbished Aga Cooker will be supplied with the below replacement parts:

• New replacement aluminium door liners, with upgraded insulation inside.
• New replacement black steel side panels (colour-matched may be available).
• New replacement thermometer housing and facia plate.
• New replacement chrome lid domes and handles.
• New replacement chrome towel rail.
• New replacement lid liners, with upgraded insulation inside.
• New replacement stainless steel oven tunnels.
• Replacement nut and bolts.
• One chrome grill shelf for each oven.
• A cold plain shelf for our 'always on' models.

When paired with your newly enamelled parts and restored cast iron ovens, the end product is a showroom-quality Aga Cooker, costing thousands of pounds less than a new model.

Delivery & Installation

Our in-house engineers are highly skilled in our electric models, and have spent years perfecting the art of building these cast iron legendary cookers.

Our Refurbished Aga Cookers are delivered to you in parts and are designed to be assembled onsite. It's a very interesting sight to see all of the individual parts coming together to create a beautiful showroom-standard Aga cooker.

An Aga cooker can weigh approximately half a ton in weight once built, and required the correct seals and levels to operate efficiently. This is why they should always be assembled and commissioned onsite, the traditional way, rather than delivering in one piece.

The installation usually takes a day to complete and once finished, you'll be given a handover, walkthrough of the system, and the opportunity to ask any questions. We send copies of your 'unique to saltire' welcome documents, but if you ever need us for anything, we're only an email away!

Our traditional Oil and Gas Aga cookers are supplied 'ex-works'.

Professional assembly is required by your chosen installation engineer.