The duties of a traditional cast-iron range are typically three pronged: prepare food, provide ambient heat and heat water. They also happen to look like a million bucks. The trouble is, most take hours to reach proper operating temperature making them a poor match for busy households or those not fully entrenched in the slow food (prep) movement.
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who knows their hot iron better than the nearly century-old AGA. The company’s 80+ year legacy of self-maintaining thermostatic ranges is pretty much unrivaled and their new Total Control Cast Iron Oven ($15,500) marks the latest evolution. Concealed throughout the Total Control range’s walls and doors are electric heating elements that enable the range to heat up in as little as eight minutes and also give the resident gourmand individual control over the boiling plate, simmering plate, roasting oven, baking oven and simmering oven. But this isn’t just some ordinary range with ordinary controls. The AGA Total Control also features touchscreen controls hidden behind an oven door panel and will soon even be controllable remotely through an iPhone app. Seriously. All this whiz-bang meets old-world fricassee doesn’t come cheap though. With an asking price of over $15 grand, you might be tempted to forego your kid’s college tuition in lieu of home-schooling… in the culinary arts.
Buy Now: $15,500