Why BBQ when you can Aga-Q? It costs £4,000 and looks like a giant frying pan… So can the shiny new gadget from the middle classes’ favourite oven brand turn you into a garden gourmet?
There’s nothing like a bit of outdoor cooking to bring out the competitiveness in men.
And as I load up my new barbecue with enough food to feed a small army, I’m reminded of the famous scene in Crocodile Dundee, the 1980s comedy action movie in which a weathered Aussie bushman relocates to New York.
Mick Dundee, played by actor Paul Hogan, is confronted by a mugger who threatens him with a small flick-knife.
‘That’s not a knife,’ says the deeply unimpressed Dundee, producing his own fearsome, foot-long weapon in response: ‘That’s a knife!’
And, compared with the new alfresco cooker by Aga, normal barbecues are similarly put in the shade.
TOM RAWSTONE: There’s nothing like a bit of outdoor cooking to bring out the competitiveness in men
TOM RAWSTONE: And as I load up my new barbecue with enough food to feed a small army, I’m reminded of the famous scene in Crocodile Dundee, the 1980s comedy action movie in which a weathered Aussie bushman relocates to New York
Famous for cast-iron kitchen ranges beloved by country cooks, Aga’s outdoor cousin is not to be outdone. At £4,150 not only is it ‘reassuringly’ expensive, but it is also every bit as big and brassy.
Even its stainless steel lid is supersized. Removing it, I’m reminded of the giant gong struck by the strongman at the start of movies produced by the Rank Organisation.
But it’s what lies under the bonnet that matters. The circular cooking top measures 2½ ft across — or 76.2 cm to be precise.
Made of a weighty steel alloy, it is heated from below by two individually operated circular gas burners.
Unlike a traditional barbecue with a slotted ‘cattle-grid’ grill that exposes food to the open flame below, be it from burning charcoal or gas, here the heat is diffused across the solid metal cooktop like a giant frying pan — known as a griddle or ‘plancha’.
And if that’s too hot for your budget…
Plancha barbecues don’t have to come with an Aga-sized price tag. Here’s how to griddle for less.
ADDED STORAGE
OFYR classic 100 Pro, pictured, £2,245, morley-stoves.co.uk
Made in the Netherlands, OFYR’s products are described as ‘part-sculpture, part-talking point, part-firepit you can cook on’. The top is 1m across, and this version comes on a wheeled frame with space to store your firewood.
EASILY ADJUSTABLE
Bareface Tulip BBQ grill, from £1,520, secretoasis.co.uk
Available in 80cm or 100cm diameter, this attractive grill is also powered by wood or charcoal. It comes with a central griddle that sits directly above the coals and can be raised up and down to adjust cooking temperatures.
SPANISH MADE
Simogas plancha, £550, cookoutdoor.co.uk
Designed and built in Spain, the home of plancha cooking, this gas-powered griddle has a generous 70cm by 40cm cooking plate.
Also features a grease tray to the side of the unit which makes it possible to remove food residues easily.
FITS ON A FIREPIT
Bonfeu Plancha For Fire Pit BBQs, £119, firepit.co.uk
Splashed out on a lockdown firepit but now hardly use it? Well now you can turn it into a griddle with the addition of this steel cooking ring which simply sits on top of your wood fire.
Comes in four sizes as well as full or half circle.
The idea is that you can sear meat, fish and vegetables at a high heat, but without the risk of setting fire to your lunch. Not only that, but, according to one of the world’s most famous chefs, your food will taste better as well.
Earlier this week, David Chang, whose flagship restaurant in New York has two Michelin stars, claimed that flaming barbecues were just a ‘marketing lie’.
‘We have assumed as a culture that in summer, we eat a burger, and it’s grilled,’ he said. ‘I actually think the grill is a horrible thing for the burger … a juicy burger is going to turn into a guaranteed grease fire, why use it?’
And he added: ‘The success rate of the griddle is better than the grill, and also there’s no clean-up, you have nothing to worry about. This whole idea of imparting flavour from the grill, the only flavour that’s being imparted is the carbonised c**p that’s on it.’
While accepting that chicken and lamb were better suited to traditional barbecues than burgers, his conclusion was that the only real flame-grilled ‘champion’ was ears of sweetcorn. Controversial stuff. But the proof is in the burger. Or whatever it is you choose to cook.
My immediate concern before firing up the Aga wheeled cooktop grill (built in collaboration with Aga’s sister company Evo) was how I would stop the raw food from welding itself to the super-hot, metal cooking surface.
But, so long as the griddle is properly prepared, that should not happen. Like a cast-iron cooking pan, the cooktop has to be ‘seasoned’ before use.
This is achieved by rubbing the metal surface with a suitable oil prior to cooking — a corn oil is recommended because it can be heated to high temperatures without burning.
After that it’s a case of turning on the two gas burners, selecting a temperature and lighting them with a click of a button. Heat is reached in just five minutes.
I sear two côte de boeuf in the hot centre and then move them to the edge for a slower cook through. A pair of sea bass join them on the cooler perimeter.
Later, I add eight lamb chops, a couple of burgers and a selection of vegetables. The idea is that the asparagus, carrots, peppers and sprouting broccoli will char cook — the exterior blackening slightly, sealing the juices within.
Last to go on are the tiger and king prawns which only need a couple of minutes on each side to take on a beautiful shade of pink.
Had I been cooking a larger joint of beef I could have used the giant lid to create an oven-type effect to slow cook. In the same way food can be steamed or even smoked.
If needed, a small pot can be placed on the surface and heated as if on a conventional stove.
My cook-up goes pretty well. The beef has a charred exterior, the veins of fat maintaining moisture within. The prawns are particularly tasty — benefiting from the intense heat which means they are done in a sizzling flash.
TOM RAWSTONE: My cook-up goes pretty well. The beef has a charred exterior, the veins of fat maintaining moisture within. The prawns are particularly tasty — benefiting from the intense heat which means they are done in a sizzling flash
TOM RAWSTONE: Instead, because the cooking surface of the Aga Evo is slightly convex, the grease runs off the edges into a circular gutter below and is then channelled into a removable container for disposal
As for the vegetables, asparagus cooked this way is a favourite. The only issue I have is with the fish, whose skin glues itself to the metal surface. More oil — or silver foil? — needed, perhaps.
And what about the burgers? As Chef Chang observes, there are no flare-ups using a griddle. Which, judging by the rivers of fat that the chops and beef give off, would have been an issue had I used a traditional barbecue.
Instead, because the cooking surface of the Aga Evo is slightly convex, the grease runs off the edges into a circular gutter below and is then channelled into a removable container for disposal.
Cleaning the griddle is straightforward. A wipe down with some paper towels is followed by a scrape down with a metal spatula.
That’s followed with the application of more, clean oil that’s scrubbed into the surface with a nylon scrubbing bush. According to the instructions, no soap or detergent must ever touch the cooking surface, so no wrestling with it in the sink.
My confidence buoyed, later in the week I fire up the grill for a barbecue with friends in a bid to see if it delivers another promise — ‘sociable cooking’.
According to Aga’s spokesperson, people are drawn towards the grill. ‘The shape encourages social cooking as it allows everyone to join in,’ she says.
TOM RAWSTONE: The biggest plus for the chef is that the food can all fit on the griddle at once. It’s also Instagram-friendly, too — so long as you choose the right menu
I didn’t have guests clamouring to take over the tongs but the circular shape and absence of a hood do make it easy for people to stand around and chat while you cook.
The biggest plus for the chef is that the food can all fit on the griddle at once. It’s also Instagram-friendly, too — so long as you choose the right menu.
Earlier this summer, Christian Horner, the boss of the Red Bull F1 racing team and husband of former Spice Girl Geri, was roasted online after posting pictures of a ‘bland’ barbecue of burgers and chicken that he had cooked on a similar, griddle-style cooker.
‘Married a Spice Girl yet there are no spices to be seen on that food,’ one commentator observed rather cattily.
But get it right, and you’ll be racking up the likes as if there’s no tomorrow — a barbecue bonus for us competitive male chefs.
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