AGA Cooker Enamel Top Damaged

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Yesterday as Alan was ill I was out cleaning. I went to clean a four oven AGA cooker in a refurbished house in a remote area of Devon near Crediton. The AGA was was sitting there in a beautiful kitchen looking rather sad. It was one of the original four oven AGAs with a continuous towel rail on the front. Originally they made the top as a whole piece; later ones tend to be a two oven AGA with a module attached to give the four ovens.

I start cleaning it, scraping off the dirt from the enamel top, and then realised that it had been painted. This is only the second one in five years of cleaning AGAs that I have had like this. What has happened is that a previous owner of the house and AGA had decided that a solution to rectify a damaged area on the top is to spray it with matt black heat resistant paint. This gives the top of the AGA a uniform appearance after the top has become damaged from age. The only reason for this fix I can see would be cost. The overall look with a completely matt top isn't a good one especially on a newer 'delux' type AGA.

I scraped off all the paint and underneath was a gleaming AGA cooker with just a small area of matt on the top where the damage had occurred. I have noticed that even on newish AGAs, say ones that are eighteen months old, there can be enamel damage if the AGA has been well used. Just moving around heavy pans on the top without lifting them will cause the damage. I think its okay to live with it myself but I do know people who want to keep their AGA looking perfect like new and they decide to get the top re-enamelled by a company such as the AGA enameller Hytech in Highbridge in Somerset.