The AEG Mobile Academy comes to Marks Electrical

You certainly couldn't miss the AEG Mobile Academy when a truck carrying a huge trailer rocked up outside headquarters here at Marks Electrical.

The purpose of the manufacturer's visit to further educate our staff on how effective the appliances really are, by putting their product knowledge into a practical setting.

Most of our sales team have been selling these goods to our customers for many years. Indeed, a fair chunk of the 5,000 plus items we stock are made by AEG.

Intricate as our know-how may be in this area, it's one thing to know how an appliance works and another to put it into action.

That's something we don't always get the chance to do at Marks Electrical. We're certainly not professional chefs either, so this experience was going to be most interesting!

The AEG contingent spent most of the afternoon setting up the trailer as a cooking station, ready for the training session that evening.

We were welcomed ahead of time and in some fashion, with an arrival drink and a starter, which began with a selection of delicious home-cooked quiches.

AEG product expert Andrew Dickens was our teacher and the first to take to the cooking suite, preparing seared asparagus, wrapped in Parma ham, on the hob.

These three rows of induction hobs are where we would all rustle up our own dinner, a dish of creamy pasta with pancetta and mushroom.

The induction pans required were provided, but we were reminded we may already have suitable cookware at home. If in doubt, stick a magnet to the underside and see if it attracts.

Among the appliances was a Maxi Sense induction hob, where the self-sizing heating zones automatically adapt to how big the pan is. Buy them from Marks Electrical here.

These hobs had a stop and go button, which temporarily paused the process, and a boost function, which gets hot enough to boil water in 90 seconds.

The programmable timer couldn't be more dependable, with responsive power levels. It definitely switched us on to induction cooking. See the entire range that we stock here.

We certainly enjoyed the mains, prepared by our own fair hands, but there was still dessert to think about. That's where the AEG built-in single ovens came in.

It was the AEG Steam Bake oven that proved to be the show-stopper. Just add water to the relevant compartment, within the appliance, and let the vapour works its magic.

None of us are home bakers, either, but the chocolate orange madeleines and star-shaped pastries we made didn't turn out to be all that difficult.

Andrew was there to guide us, right up to the time the ingredients were ready to go into the oven. The steam baking method took over from there.

The main benefit of this environment is how the water vapour clings to the surface, forming a crust without the oven drying out.

It took a little more time to rise but, when it did, our baked goods were still moist on the inside while retaining a fluffy texture. Not a soggy bottom in sight.

The pastries, in particular, expanded beautifully when exposed to the moist heat, which dissipated at just at the right time.

AEG's steam ovens should certainly be deemed impressive and can be purchased from Marks Electrical. Buy here.

And so ended the lesson, delivered by AEG's brand ambassadors and host to the Marks Electrical staff, who enjoyed being the test subjects.

These amazing AEG products, along with many more brilliant appliances, are available to buy now through us. Browse and shop here.