Field trip: Yale Appliance

I'd called Yale Appliance and Lighting last week and discovered that they had an Aga 44" Legacy in their outlet. A multi-year Best of Boston winner, Yale Appliance has a reputation for fantastic customer service. True to their rep, the salesman answered all the questions I had about their Aga and invited us to talk to their on-site chef about his experiences cooking with them. So on a rare child-free Saturday, we headed to Dorchester to find out more about Agas.

The Yale Appliance outlet. If you're in the Boston area, this is worth a special trip. We didn't take our children, but I wouldn't hesitate to take them next time. Only open from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday mornings. Like Brigadoon (but luckily appearing more than one day every hundred years). This is not just a place for dinged, has-been throw-aways either. Not at all. Take a look at this faucet assortment. Beautiful and stylish and at a considerable savings. What's not to like?



In today's outlet, we found SubZero refrigerators of several sizes, a Sharp microwave drawer, a behemoth Wolf stainless hood, and a Whithaus fireclay farmhouse sink among other treasures. Plus many other ranges, hoods, sinks, grills, washers, dryers. Basically anything a home could need.

The Aga 44" Legacy is a gorgeous range that hides its thoroughly modern, dual fuel workings in an enameled vintage exterior. Here it sits nestled among less stylish compatriots. Imagine it as the centerpiece in your kitchen.



I'd loved what I'd seen online, but what about the small ovens? We'd brought our bakeware to test the ovens' capacities. We were pleasantly surprised. There was plenty of room for our most often used bakeware. The baking sheet measures 17"x11", and the pyrex casserole measures 13"x9" (doesn't include handles). It even accommodated our large turkey roaster (albeit at a bit of an angle).





My husband spoke with the chef at Yale Appliances who was extremely helpful. He said that the cooktop was very well laid out. The power was not that of the professional ranges (the biggest burner is 15K BTU), but he thought it handled everyday cooking from simmering to searing very well. He also spoke highly of the convection ovens.

We also looked at the Aga 6-4 on the regular showroom floor. Like the traditional, "always on" Aga cooker, the Aga 6-4 is built from cast iron. However, the 6-4 is a modern appliance that one controls like any other range. The ovens were smaller than the 44" Legacy's. The cookie sheet did fit, but just barely. But isn't this range a lovely beast?





The regular showroom? Amazing. I expected appliances, but the extensive displays of sinks, faucets, and lighting took me by surprise. Even though they were incredibly busy, the salespeople took the time to answer questions and look up pricing. And that lovely Aga in the outlet? Well...that story is to be continued.