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Author Farm Kitchen: Previous Topic Wood Cookstoves Next Topic  

NatureNymph
True Blue Farmgirl

73 Posts

Tracy
Barrie Ontario
Canada
73 Posts

Posted - Dec 21 2008 :  12:26:24 PM  Show Profile
Anyone cook on a wood stove? I am contemplating a cook stove to help offset our heating and energy bills at the same time.

"Everybody likes to go their own way--to choose their own time and manner of devotion." Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

http://simplicitysampler.blogspot.com/

http://blessewefarm.blogspot.com/

nubidane
True Blue Farmgirl

2916 Posts

Lisa
Georgetown OH
2916 Posts

Posted - Dec 21 2008 :  1:50:07 PM  Show Profile
Aunt Jenny has one I know
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JudyBlueEyes
True Blue Farmgirl

657 Posts

Judith
Spokane Washington
USA
657 Posts

Posted - Dec 21 2008 :  1:55:13 PM  Show Profile
There was a lot of discussion on wood cook stoves a while back. I bet if you did a search you'd find it. I have one in my basement, but it is more of a toy for me, as I have an electric range and oven upstairs in the kitchen. I love playing with mine and have cooked a couple turkeys and chickens in it, and am working my way up to doing bread in it, but first I have to get good at baking bread...good luck!

We come from the earth, we go back to the earth, and in between, we garden!
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl

2164 Posts

Teresa Sue
Tekoa WA
USA
2164 Posts

Posted - Dec 21 2008 :  1:56:09 PM  Show Profile  Send Contrary Wife a Yahoo! Message
I have one but I don't have it hooked up. I know you can get woodstove cookbooks. I also know different kinds of wood are used for different baking needs.

Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Badgebadger
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Bookclub Coordinator
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama
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LauriP
True Blue Farmgirl

239 Posts

Laurianne
Hertford North Carolina
USA
239 Posts

Posted - Dec 22 2008 :  12:38:32 PM  Show Profile
>> Yes, I had one!! <<

When we lived down in S.C., we got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Hugo one year after we bought our new house. We lived in an area where the elec. was not the best -- i.e., going out during thunderstorms, poor weather (not neccessarily raining..)etc., and after our Ins. wrote us a check for all of our damage, we had enuf left over, so that we contacted Lehman's Hardware in Ohio -- we talked with them a great deal, they were very helpful and assisted us with all the details of installation, fire code safety -- all of that.

After we ordered the stove, it came by freight carrier. What I didn't expect, was the Weight!! ACK! The Driver of the truck got out & asked, "Do you have a forklift, ma'am?" "A What??!!"" So -- after a few phone calls, and some help from the people who made our numerous repairs (roof, ceiling, walls..) we gathered a group of guys who came over, and with a truck, 5 grunting, grumbling men and lots of pushing, shoving and yelling, we got the woodstove installed!! Wow!!

It worked like an absolute dream!! We heated our home every winter with it -- whenever the elec. went out, we were never below 70 degrees in the house. It does have very accurate gauges, both for the oven and the overall temperature of the firebox. We baked plenty of turkeys at Thanksgiving...pot pies or bread any other time during the winter months. And on the 3 eyes of the stove, we made plenty of chili, chowders, and stews.

The brand we bought is called "Waterford Wood Stanley" -- because we lived in S.C., we didn't buy a large woodstove; just one of the smaller ones. Don't let the size of that smaller stove suprise you, it Really worked like all get out!! I don't remember what we paid for the stove, as at the time of purchase, we were still making repairs to our house, and it was all pretty much a blur. But I can tell you it was one of the best things we ever bought.

I highly recommend this stove to anyone considering the purchase of one. It has lots of additional pieces that can be purchased, for heating water, and some other features. When we sold our home & land, the woodstove was one of the biggest things that the buyers said was the selling point. Unfortunately, we had had some very bad renters in the house, and after getting them notified to be evicted, and after the home got sold, the renters attempted to steal the woodstove (shows how being on drugs can mess up one's mind) and ended up damaging the ceiling and floor of the dining room, plus smashing the stove into pieces on the back porch and immediate back yard. Legally there was nothing the buyers could do (our "local" judge was never around, and I couldn't get in touch w/him to even serve a warrant on the renters...)I think the buyers eventually bought another smaller stove, but never one as good as the Wood Stanley.

Contact Lehman's Hardware in Ohio (www.lehman's.com)and they'll be more than helpful for anyone. Even with my husband's experience installing woodstoves and fireplaces in Calif., Lehman's was a great help with this stove. Our dining room was the warmest ever!!

Lauri
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl

1818 Posts

Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts

Posted - Dec 22 2008 :  1:25:06 PM  Show Profile
Oh, Laurianne, that is a beautiful stove!

We have a Vermont Castings woodstove, and we do cook on it a bit. My husband loves to make his potatoes and onions on it and grilled cheese sandwiches. I make soup, heat tea water, and melt butter when baking, etc. That's just on the top griddle part. We heat entirely with wood -- even when it was -8 degrees yesterday, we were pretty cozy. And I have a drying rack behind it to dry clothes when the outside clothesline is not an option.

Would love that Waterford cook stove -- wouldn't that be fun??

www.youaretoocreative.blogspot.com
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LauriP
True Blue Farmgirl

239 Posts

Laurianne
Hertford North Carolina
USA
239 Posts

Posted - Dec 22 2008 :  1:34:16 PM  Show Profile
>> The stove was one of the best things my sons remember about growing up out in the country!! And the heat (!!) that thing would generate...we could dry clothes on one of those little wood clothes racks you can buy at the Dollar Store..and the boys would love to come in the house, grab some nice warm Dry clothes, take a bath an' throw on those clothes!!

And!! -- I also found the cookbook that probably would be a good guide for cooking on a woodcookstove -- "Woodstove Cookery - At Home On the Range" -- Jane Cooper $12.95 -- 196 pages. I think this is one of the better cookbooks for this kind of stove. And like you say Katie -- trial and error is how to learn on Any kind of stove & oven. But tha's just how it is!

We thot about buying a Vermont Castings when we lived up in Norfolk, but what Really sold us on this house, is not only the Huge kitchen & dining room, but a "Gatlin" woodstove. Tom & I had never heard of the brand before, but our realtor just about danced up & down when she saw it! "Oh!! You'll get a Gatlin!!" Tom was sold in 'bout 15 seconds!! LOL!! The stove is just about the same size as a Vermont Castings, and it heats like there's no tomorrow. It's 'bout30 degrees outside, but in here it's around 65. Gotta love that wood heat!!

~~ Lauri ~~ P.S. -- you can buy the cookbook thru Countryside Magazine..check out their website, www.countrysidemag.com Enjoy!!
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AmethystRose
True Blue Farmgirl

254 Posts

Rosemary
Huntingdon PA
USA
254 Posts

Posted - Dec 22 2008 :  6:59:57 PM  Show Profile
We used an old wood cookstove until we moved five years ago, and I still miss it.

You don't need a special cookbook, but get the biggest kettle that you can manage, and keep it filled and on the back burner for humidity. You'll have tea and canned soup heated faster than a microwave. Once the concept registers that to turn down the heat, you move the pot away from the firebox, it will become second nature. Store your cast iron cookware in the oven, and keeping it seasoned is never a problem.

Try to hang a rack over your head where you stand. It will warm those gloves, dish towels, and if you put all your laundry on hangers, it will dry a small load overnight.

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