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Cooking With A Wood Cookstove

on Wednesday 10 December 2008
by katlupe

in Homesteading Articles > Homesteading How-to
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The thing most people ask me about after coming to my homestead is about cooking on my wood cookstove.

One of things I love about country living is the smell of wood smoke! I had never been around woodstoves very much until I got my own. So I had to learn alot! How to start a fire, how to clean my stoves, how to keep my fires going, how to open and close the dampers and when to open and close them. I can go on and on with all the things you have to learn. As living with a fire inside your house, safety must be your first concern. So take the time to learn all the basics of fire safety as well.

If you are considering a wood cookstove in your future, maybe I can give you some insight on what to look for. I have been cooking on one for over ten years. Food does taste much better cooked on one. In my opinion, it is much easier to cook a large meal on than a gas or electric stove. It is also a myth that it heats up your kitchen too much. My propane cooking range heats up my kitchen more than my cookstove. So I use my wood cookstove even in the hot summer. You just use it and let the fire go out. In the winter, I keep it going.

One of the the things to consider before you even think of buying one, is that you will need a constant supply of fire wood. It needs to be split down to the size of your firebox. Some are larger than others. My firebox will take up to about 12 inch wood. Another thing is that you have to deal with ashes and dust in your kitchen. Some people can't live with that. I can and think it's worth the trouble. I feel that I could never live without a wood cookstove after having had one. There are some stoves that use wood and coal, wood and gas or even, wood and electric. My own uses wood and coal though I have never tried coal in it.

Cooking on one takes lots of patience until you learn your stove. Having to wait for your fire to heat up the oven or stove top takes patience as well as time. It is a must that you learn to start a proper fire. Nothing is worse than not being able to start the fire with hungry people standing around looking at you! You will learn how to cook on your particular stove.

Different types and sizes of wood are used for different cooking temperatures. For a hot fire, like for French fries I always use pine. If I want to just simmer something all day on top of the stove, for recipes that you would use a crock pot for, I like to use a harder wood, such as maple, beech or oak. You could bank (shut the damper on the side of the stove) the stove back for the day and let it simmer.

When you look for one to buy, check it over real good for cracks. Mine is an antique, a Jewel, made by The Detroit & Chicago Stoveworks Company. It has many cracks and has even more since I got it. Especially since I use it daily and it is old and has seen better days.

When my family comes for my Thanksgiving Dinner, I always have it all ready when they drive in my driveway. It looks like a picture in a magazine. Completely cooked on and in my wood cookstove. So even with cracks, it cooks and holds the heat well. You can have them repaired, by having the cracks welded. I think mine might be beyond that kind of repair. I plan on buying a new Pioneer Maid cookstove in the future.

A brand new wood cookstove will cook with no problems, as long as it is hooked up properly to your chimney. A older stove, which many people seem to want, is another story. It may have been abused by previous owners. But that doesn't mean it won't work. The first thing to check is the top of the stove for missing parts or cracks. As I said above, cracks can be repaired. Missing parts can be bought from a stove company. Be sure to check carefully the back, bottom, sides and base of the stove for rust or cracks. If it's too big of a repair, I'd pass on it. Unless you want it for a project. Some people like to repair them and sell them.

Check the firebox, grates and liner under the lids. This is a essential part of your cookstove and you need it to work properly. You can replace the grates, and the liner can be repaired with steel plates. A machine shop will cut steel plates that fit your stove's firebox for you. A firebox crack is more serious. But it is fixable as long as it's not completely deteriorated.

The oven door needs to shut tightly, so that should be the next thing to check. Open and close it a few times. You don't want to have to prop it shut to bake in it. Doors and all moving parts can be replaced or made out of steel plates from a machine shop. They should all be tight and move easily. Just remember that you don't want your repairs to amount to too much. One or two items wouldn't be bad - especially if you get a good price on the stove.

Check the water reservoir to make sure the cast iron is in good condition. Some stoves do not have vents for the steam to escape and moisture collected on the inside of the reservoir. Mixed with the ash from the stove, do you know what it produced? Lye! And do you know what that could do to the cast iron? Corrode it, and corrode it badly. Mine did not have the reservoir, so I did not have this worry.

When you transport it, do it as securely as possible. Remember how those pioneers packed their cookstoves up, and transported them out west in a wagon? Some of them must have been in rough shape after that trip! My particular stove can be taken all apart piece by piece and that makes it easier to move. I would take special care with transporting one. Especially if you get an antique one.

Make sure you hook it up properly. Using the same guidelines you would use for installing any woodstove. My stove does not get that hot on the opposite side of the firebox. It sits near a wall but not closer than a foot. And the firebox is on the side away from the wall. You can find an installer or at least someone who knows how to connect one to the chimney. It should have a fireproof pad underneath it and around it, especially around the firebox side. Then if your damper is open and a spark flew out it wouldn't start a fire.

Once you have figured your stove out, you will love it. You just move your pans around according to the heat. I love it. It is my microwave, my crockpot, my warming oven, my water heater and my heater, and does even more than that. Establish a regular routine of emptying the ash box out daily. Take your stove top apart to clean and remove the ash that settles on the top of your oven on a regular basis. It can be weekly or monthly. That really depends on how often you use your stove and what kind of wood you burn. Keep your chimney cleaned reularly and you should have no trouble with it. Enjoy it and I am sure you will come to love it as much as I do.