# Wood Cook Stove Questions/Help



## Ur5hittingMe (May 1, 2011)

Anyone have any tips on buying a wood cook stove? I know it depends on what I am looking for. But this is just a general question. If someone would approach you and ask you how often you use your wood cook stove and what advice can you give, What would it be?


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Ur, we had a 100 year old cook stove for more than 20 years until it had too many unrepairable cracks to be safe. After lot and lots of research, we bought an Pioneer Princess cook stove. It is far, far better than the old, traditional stoves. 

The Pioneer Princess has a 52" stove top surface (including the water tank), it is an air tight and it has a mechanical thermostat -- the thermostat makes a HUGE difference! It cut our wood consumption in half and it holds a good fire all night.

We got ours locally from an Amish stove shop for about $2100.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

We got ours in trade for some work we did. We use it mostly in the summer, and we cook on our heating woodstove in the winter. The oven has a temperature gauge but no thermostat. You have to keep feeding the fire in order to keep a steady temperature. If you can afford it, get the best you can. I drool reading horseman's post about their woodstove. Then I read it again and drool some more!


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

We had a very high quality wood stove made from steel plate that was our sole source of heat for over twenty years. The top was built with two levels, which made it nice for cooking. We could cook on the bottom level, and the top was like an electric stove setting on simmer...great for soups and stews.

I agree with the advice to buy a good stove. Like with any tool, buying cheap is false frugality.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Well ... I have a "plain Jane" wood cook stove. (Which I love)... :wave:

I would have loved to have the money to buy the "sweetheart" I wanted ... but there you have it.

I have a "6" eye stove, no oven temperature gauge ... lol ...I just need to remember, to turn the corn bread. For me it was having what the money could bring in... 

I have a bread warmer, but not the water jacket. That would be a plus ... but I can do without it.  

Look at what you can put into a wood stove and go from there... Don't forget to check local ads ... We misses an 1800 cook stove with all the extras... by one day.  It went to the scrap yard.


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## Kenny78 (Jul 12, 2011)

*Horseman,* I am glad you like yours 'cause thats what I'm saving pennies for! Does it put out a lot of heat while cooking? How about if you leave the oven door open for supplemental heat? I am getting a boxwood stove to heat my new home/BOL(dream come true) this winter but am going to get a bonified cookstove and have decided on the Pioneer Princess, with the warming oven, a water coil for thermosiphon. I plan to adapt the water heater to do thermosiphon but have thought about the side reservoir for extra utility, what do you think?

Biggest question is the heating factor when desired. TIA


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## archcpj (Dec 4, 2011)

we heat and cook almost exclusively in winter. First rule avoid the new ones an older one is better built and more reasonably priced. I prefer the porcelined ones mine is a 1920s qualified range unit. It is 52in with water res and 2 warming ovens a nice oven and 7 in oval thimble. Now a few things to look for is the firebox. If u can get it as a coal box great it is heavier and it is nice to be able to use coal in a pinch. Next is the top mine is maleable iron. It isnt made anymore but is warp and crack resistant. As far as price i saw one simular to mine on ebay a year ago for 700 i shy away from cast iron units as they are heavy and cracking scares me. Oh and before u buy one call lehmans to see if they stock parts mainly firebox parts like grates.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Kenny78 said:


> *Horseman,* I am glad you like yours 'cause thats what I'm saving pennies for! Does it put out a lot of heat while cooking? How about if you leave the oven door open for supplemental heat? I am getting a boxwood stove to heat my new home/BOL(dream come true) this winter but am going to get a bonified cookstove and have decided on the Pioneer Princess, with the warming oven, a water coil for thermosiphon. I plan to adapt the water heater to do thermosiphon but have thought about the side reservoir for extra utility, what do you think?
> 
> Biggest question is the heating factor when desired. TIA


Kenny, we live in an old farm house and the PP heats our entire house. We have no-vent gas heaters as a backup that we rarely use. As I type this, it is 13 degrees outside, and 70 degrees inside. I haven't put wood in the stove yet this morning. In about an hour or so I'll need to.

Since the stove has a mechanical thermostat and it is airtight, you'll have to clean your chimney more often, but it's well worth it to us to come down to a warm house rather than a cold house and have to start a fire all over again as we did with the old one.

Having had two old model stoves in the past and now the PP, I can say the PP is far, far superior to the old ones.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I would also like to get the "princess" stove, but haven't been able to save up the money just yet. The one thing that has kept us from getting just a plain jane wood burning stove for heating is our insurance company. I've heard that they're VERY picky about which stoves you can purchase, how they need to be installed and what type of house you have. Since we have a 100 yr old wood frame, I don't know if they will approve any stove at all, or approve it, but only at a MUCH higher monthly premium. Plus, fire is an issue for me as well. Nightmare to think about the house catching on fire in the middle of the night and me not being able to get my kids out!  Having said that, we need to do something because we had our heating oil tank filled up and the bill was $800!! That's about enough of that!!


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## Kenny78 (Jul 12, 2011)

*Horseman* Thanks for the reply. When you heat, do you have the oven door open, or does the stove naturally convect heat when there is a fire?

I AM getting this stove regardless, I am just curious if cooking on this stove in the summer will run us out of the house.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Kenny, we do open the oven just to increase the efficiency, but it does a great job even with it closed. It will absolutely run you out of the kitchen in the summer time. In fact, I build a device that fits down inside the forward eye so we can do steaks, general cooking and canning using charcoal when the weather is cool but not hot. I don't have to heat the entire fire box that way. Otherwise, we'd have to open the doors and windows and turn fans on -- it would roast us out.

Speaking of steaks, yum yum. With a good bed of hardwood coals, you can put steaks on a rack, remove the forward eye, open the diverter and do steaks over the coals right on top of the open eye. The draft will pull the steak smoke down into the fire and up the chimney. We have been pigging our on venison steak since early muzzleloader!


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## Ur5hittingMe (May 1, 2011)

Horseman- when you say you use a grate for cooking your steaks, would a cast iron crate out of an old propane grill work? Tossed out the grill last summer and held onto those grates, not sure why but hey if it works, glad I saved them. 
Lehmans is having a 20% off sale on their stoves, only what is in stock and they only have 3 in stock (bummer) Will keep looking.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Ur, we use an old cast iron swing grate from a defunked Franklin Stove, and we use a heavy wire 2 piece grill that clamps together. Your old cast iron grate should work just fine.

Since you are near Pittsburgh, you might wanna check out some Ohio Amish places to get a better price than Lehmans. We were ready to get our PP from a place in Kentucky until my DW found the Amish Stove Store just an hour away. Saved us $500. ( I think I'll keep her )


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I had a ‘beater’ cook stove out under a shed roof for summer cooking. It WILL drive you out of the house to do anything more than a quick breakfast, at least it did at my place. Even 10 minute perked coffee from a cold stove takes a long time to cool down.

There are old cast iron grates specifically for grilling over the fire box. I had 3 or 4 different ones as well as waffle makers. Waffles were tricky and take a few times to get the fire right as well as the griddle heated properly. It is like your first loaf of bread or roasted chicken in the oven, don’t expect much the first attempt!

The grills are convex and fit perfectly in the opening, you take out both round plates as well as the ‘H’ middle one. There are grooves in the grate that let the juices flow to a collection reservoir. Sure, there is some flaring of flame but as Horseman pointed out with the back flue opened full ALL smoke goes down and out, like a Jenn-air grill. Keep your eye out at swap meets or ask someone who has a bunch of cast iron if they have one. Well worth purchasing one but I’m sure any grate over the firebox will work too. Just a bit messier with drippings on the stovetop.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

lazydaisy67 said:


> I would also like to get the "princess" stove, but haven't been able to save up the money just yet. The one thing that has kept us from getting just a plain jane wood burning stove for heating is our insurance company. I've heard that they're VERY picky about which stoves you can purchase, how they need to be installed and what type of house you have. Since we have a 100 yr old wood frame, I don't know if they will approve any stove at all, or approve it, but only at a MUCH higher monthly premium. Plus, fire is an issue for me as well. Nightmare to think about the house catching on fire in the middle of the night and me not being able to get my kids out!  Having said that, we need to do something because we had our heating oil tank filled up and the bill was $800!! That's about enough of that!!


I thought the same thing about insurance, so I called and talked to them. No problem, they said, and that was all. Some companies want a UL listing on the stove you install rather than a homemade one, however.


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## Ur5hittingMe (May 1, 2011)

How about the cook top of the stoves? Which is better cast iron or stell plated? Easier to clean? I use a lot of cast iron skillets and such but for sauce pans I use stainless steel with a copper bottom. Do those work on both?


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Mine was cast iron, don’t know about steel ones. Really no maintenance to it, cook and go. Used the broom now and again to sweep away dust and ash that accumulated but never really officially cleaned or scrubbed it in the 12 years I used it. I’m a bachelor though so your mileage may vary. A damp cloth after the stove cooled down is the most I ever recall doing to clean up spills. Anything you coated the top with would just smoke and burn off when the stove got hot anyway. Enough of a grease coating built up from frying after a while and I never saw any rust. I don’t mean to say the whole top was slick and greasy! Over the firebox nothing would accumulate, it would get cherry hot at times.

I do remember something about using stove black on stove tops but can’t for the life of me recall if it was bad or good. I know I did not use it though so it might have been a bad thing.

I don’t think there would be a problem with using any kind of pan. I used cast exclusively but wouldn’t think the metal of the pan mattered. The top is cast iron, it’s not like you are going to scratch the crap out of it with anything or scratch your pans. The top should be smooth, relatively speaking, not abrasive.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Ur5hittingMe said:


> How about the cook top of the stoves? Which is better cast iron or stell plated? Easier to clean? I use a lot of cast iron skillets and such but for sauce pans I use stainless steel with a copper bottom. Do those work on both?


I don't know what "stell plated" is but the PP has what looks like very heavy milled steel. Maybe it's cast iron milled on top?

Usually once or twice a year we take the warmer off the stove and lightly sand the stove top surface, then rub in stove black paste. Stove black liquid doesn't seem to work as well. You don't have to use stove black if you don't want, but it keeps the stove looking nice.

When heating season is over, it's good to clean the stove top and apply a light coat of spray cooking oil to the top.


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## Ur5hittingMe (May 1, 2011)

I meant to spell, steel not stell. I noticed they come with a steel cook top but you can get it with cast iron and just wasnt sure if one was better than the other. I also didnt know you have to clean it with stove black. Is that just the cook top or the whole stove?


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Ur5hittingMe said:


> I meant to spell, steel not stell. I noticed they come with a steel cook top but you can get it with cast iron and just wasnt sure if one was better than the other. I also didnt know you have to clean it with stove black. Is that just the cook top or the whole stove?


Only the stove top. The rest of the stove is black porcelean -- just wipe it down with soap and water. Some places where grease splatter get cooked on, you can use oven cleaner.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Anybody seen this one? Know anything about it? I think it looks wonderful, but the price tag.....I don't have room in my kitchen for an actual cooking stove, but since we're wanting to put in a stove for heat we were thinking it's a good idea to get one that we could at least boil water on.

Vermont Bun Baker Soapstone Woodstove Baker's Oven and Hot Water


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

lazydaisy67 said:


> Anybody seen this one? Know anything about it? I think it looks wonderful, but the price tag.....I don't have room in my kitchen for an actual cooking stove, but since we're wanting to put in a stove for heat we were thinking it's a good idea to get one that we could at least boil water on.
> 
> Vermont Bun Baker Soapstone Woodstove Baker's Oven and Hot Water


I am in love! :flower:

The cast iron one is not "too" bad, but those soapstone ones are heaven!


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## Ardkeen (May 15, 2014)

I find the discussions interesting. 
I have worked with solid fuelled cookers for about 50 yrs. I have only burnt wood but they will also burn coal which is used in some areas here in NZ and especially when a coal mine is not far away. There is many grades of coal and there is really only 3 or 4 which are ok when having neighbours reasonably close. 
As for wood, yep, light weight wood, like willow or poplar, are short lived as fuels but will do the job in summer when not too much hot water is needed and only short cooking times are wanted. Radiata Pine ( i think the Yanks call them Ponderosa Pine) and Douglas Fir are very common but are still a lot of work if one is trying to get a warm house in winter or when there is snow about. Aussie Eucalyptus or our some of our Kiwi native trees, which are hard woods, are best for when lots of heat is needed.

When it comes to what makes cookers work well, I find that its often the diameter of the flue that is often the limiting factor and also, whether or not the flue is insulated. If there is a lot of creosote, then the condensation from the moisture in the gases going up the flue condense on the flue walls. Depending if its a single storied house or a two storied house, but which-ever it is, the flue MUST be hot all the way to the outlet or end of the flue for the condensation not to be a problem and subsequent creosote forming.

We have old 1880's tp 1920's Kiwi made cookers here, which were cast iron front and tops with a sheet metal oven were functional but them were the days when a wife in the kitchen WAS NEEDED. Water jackets were mostly cast iron or a mixture of copper and having a cast iron heat sink attached to them. The heat sink was basically the bricks that the cooker was built into, in the form of a chimney.

Then in the 1950's English Rayburn's came in. These were a huge improvement on the old cookers. These were, and still are, made of beautifully enamelled cast iron and were fully insulated. The Scottish Wellstood and smaller Doric's came in as well and these two Brands and types of cookers are so much better. 
The later Rayburn's and ESSE are far more controllable & with larger fire boxes and will run over night with out much trouble or skill needed. There is gas fired options, diesel as well as the more common, multi solid fuelled cookers. ie. wood & coal.

There are cookers made of welded (& folded) sheet steel brought into NZ, as well as made here but they are not cookers which last anywhere near as long as cookers made of cast iron. The steel rusts but cast iron, although does rust, it doesn't rust anywhere near as quickly as steel.
Another factor about these newer Pommy cookers, is that they have fire bricks in them which can be removed for winter use or fitted for summer use. 
These removable fire bricks cover some of the boiler surface which in turns reduces the surface area & consequently, reduces the heat the boiler will pick up. It makes no difference for when cooking on the hot plate or when using the ovens but there is less energy being able to get to the boiler, hence less hot water. That way, if you have water filled radiators running through your house, they can be isolated and still not have excess hot water needing to be used (or wasted). 
Im not up with the [play so to speak with the Nth American made cookers. We seem to get cookers for the UK and a few from Italy. (as well as some glitzy Chinese crap that wont last for long and usually have a lot of steel rather than cast iron in them.)

Another comment which might help the novices especially, the cookers that I have experience with and I'd be surprised if it wasn't over here as well, it that the fire door must be kept closed at all times. 
The reason for this, is that the air flow OVER the fire bed (if its coal) or coming up from UNDER the fire bed or up through the grate (if its wood fuelled) must be sealed with NO AIR GAPS between the grate, & all the way to the top of the flue. 

Some HiTech systems have a secondary combustion system set up where a secondary air supply is injected into an area just above the main combustion area/fire box but these are not common cookers and infact, I have only ever seen one in 40 years. (A pro-toe type which it didn't get off the ground commercially)

If there is air able to be sucked in from above the fire box, (or even above the grate) then that air leaking INTO the flue channels is reducing the volume of oxygen that is able to move THROUGH THE FIRE BOX / COMBUSTION AREA is being able to be had. This lack of the essential Oxygen factor, means less fuel. 
Its not just wood or coal thats burning, its the Oxygen and there is specific quantities that different solid fuels need to gain optimum results. So Oxygen coming from the right place and the correct amount of draft, from a good sized and insulated flue, is pretty much, what its all about, when trying to work out what is making a fire really working effectively.

Sure there is also the moisture content factor and surface area of the bits of wood and spacings of the wood in the fire box etc but when people come to me asking for solutions, generally, its those areas which I have written about, that 'sorts' the problem/s.

Best wishes and.... Tis a Great web site. Thanks to those who have contributed.


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