AT WHAT TEMP DO YOU ALL RELOAD

[sandie]

How do you do the chicken, just put in the enamel ware and ????? Is it like baking it or do you put in other things like carrots and some soup to help with cooking?

 

[yooperdave]

That just means you should do more cooking more often so it isn't so strange when the power goes off. You will be better prepared. Lots of times it is difficult to see our stovetop because of all the pots and pans my wife has on it. Sure saves on the cooking bill and the food usually comes out great.

open letter to mrs. savage;
please go easy on dennis. what he really meant to say was "the food ALWAYS comes out great".
( dennis, if you need a place for awile just hop on that buggy with the plow and git on up here!)

 

[Vic99]

Stovetop 250-300. but maybe I'll aim for 300-350 now that I see some higher temps.

 

[woodchip]

How do you do the chicken, just put in the enamel ware and ????? Is it like baking it or do you put in other things like carrots and some soup to help with cooking?

I bought a secondhand Le Crueset cast iron casserole dish second hand quite cheaply (they were all the rage some years ago but were too heavy for some people and they then appeared in charity shops and junk shops).

I usually choose a small chicken, about 3 pounds, and start off with a thin film of olive oil on the inside of the dish. Then put some hard cider in the bottom of the dish (I have a small orchard here) with a chopped onion and a couple of chopped carrots and some herbs. The chicken then goes on top, and the whole lot spends about 2 hours on top of the stove. I do not stuff the chicken, and keep the body cavity open so it can cook evenly through. Next time I do one, I'll take some piccies and put it into the recipe thread.

My wife loves cooking with the casserole dish, because I'm the one who does the cooking on the woodburner

 

[raiderfan]

I reload anywhere from 250-300* stove top temp. This is after an hour or so of raking coals to the front and burning them down with the air open.

 

[wkpoor]

Stove top temp has nothing to do with when I reload. I reload when the stove needs more wood or before going to bed or leaving the house.

 

[mikepinto65]

I open it and if there is still wood in there I move it around to get flames and that brings the temp up for a while but when it is just embers I add wood but I do get left with some charcoal the next day as we do not keep it going all night. I feel like I waste some wood because I add wood before it is really time possibly so putting in wood too soon not getting all the heat out of what I have in there before I reload.

So long as you don't scoop any of it out of the stove, you are not wasting a thing.

pen

I reload like your diagram temps Pen

 

[firefighterjake]

I don't pay much attention though to the temp in this case

Same here.

although I do pay attention to temps after I load to know when to start closing the air.

What temp do you look for when shutting down the air?

With my probe thermo in the flue . . . I like to see at least 400 . . . prefer 500-600 degrees F before I start closing the air . . . and on my stove I like to see the temp around 450-600 degrees F.

 

[mikepinto65]

I don't pay much attention though to the temp in this case

Same here.

although I do pay attention to temps after I load to know when to start closing the air.

What temp do you look for when shutting down the air?

With my probe thermo in the flue . . . I like to see at least 400 . . . prefer 500-600 degrees F before I start closing the air . . . and on my stove I like to see the temp around 450-600 degrees F.

AhhH flue temps. Wish mine WERE capable of low temps like that... I start cutting the air down via probe readings of 1000, stove top 450-600.

 

[Battenkiller]

I too do not pay too much attention to the stove top temp when reloadinig. I open the top, see what kind of coals are in there, and then load accordingly. If the coals have gone down quite a bit I will run with the damper open for a while to heat the chimney and then fully load the stove. Shutdown at 600 degrees and then repeat the cycle.

We downdrafting top-loaders don't burn like mortal folk here. :coolsmile:

Fact is, with the old VCs you can add wood at just about anytime. The stuff on top doesn't get involved until it gets near the bottom, just gets charred a bit. The whole stove is like a big gravity-feed wood hopper when burning horizontally. The way our stoves work, there is very little danger of a runaway fire no matter when you add the wood. That 55" horizontal zigzag burn path works real well to attenuate an over-zealous fire.

I watch the flue temps. Below 250º I'm almost sure to find just hot coals on the bottom, regardless of what the stove top is. If the flue temp is below 200º, I missed my opportunity. If I wait until the stove top drops to 400º like many suggest, there might be just a small amount of coals, giving me a slow, smokey reload.

 

[Battenkiller]

AhhH flue temps. Wish mine WERE capable of low temps like that... I start cutting the air down via probe readings of 1000, stove top 450-600.

I think FFJ's talking about reload flue temps, not cruising temps. Surely your flue gases must drop below 400º at some point in the burn cycle... or I want your stove. :cheese:

 

[mikepinto65]

AhhH flue temps. Wish mine WERE capable of low temps like that... I start cutting the air down via probe readings of 1000, stove top 450-600.

I think FFJ's talking about reload flue temps, not cruising temps. Surely your flue gases must drop below 400º at some point in the burn cycle... or I want your stove. :cheese:

Yes those are my cruising temps, but those are FFJ's temps when closing down after a load gets going. Some people report freakishly low flue temps at cruising here. Its been a mystery to me and my stove. My flue temp stay about 900-1100 for 2-3 hours before dropping (and yes I get below 400!).

 

[woodchip]

Some people report freakishly low flue temps at cruising here. Its been a mystery to me and my stove. My flue temp stay about 900-1100 for 2-3 hours before dropping (and yes I get below 400!).

Equally mystifying to me as my flue temp gauge indicates the flue overheating above 500f, and the ideal temp is between 350 - 450f

 

[mikepinto65]

Some people report freakishly low flue temps at cruising here. Its been a mystery to me and my stove. My flue temp stay about 900-1100 for 2-3 hours before dropping (and yes I get below 400!).

Equally mystifying to me as my flue temp gauge indicates the flue overheating above 500f, and the ideal temp is between 350 - 450f

I have a probe thermometer (which measures gas temp), your is measuring the pipe temp. You flue gas temp is actually at about 850-900 by looking at your pic.

 

[northwinds]

Mike Pinto beat me to the punch with the distinction between probe thermometers and pipe thermometers

So since I can't delete this post, I'll just add that probe thermometers can be very useful. I routinely
hit 800 on my setup before cutting down the air. At the time of my typical reloads, my stovetop and
flue air are generally in the 200-300 range, depending upon my heating needs. I like to get as much
heat as I can from the coals at reduced air before reloading.

 

[woodchip]

That explains a lot, I was anticipating someone melting the stove pipe

 

[chris-mcpherson]

Maybe Jake will chime in. He's using a probe and looking for 400 deg before closing down the air... that does seem low. If all else is equal, that would mean a pipe thermometer would be reading in the 100 deg range...? That doesn't sound right.
I haven't been using a thermometer at all yet and wanna add one. I guess a probe is most accurate? Do I just drill a hole through my double wall stove pipe?

 

[mikepinto65]

Maybe Jake will chime in. He's using a probe and looking for 400 deg before closing down the air... that does seem low. If all else is equal, that would mean a pipe thermometer would be reading in the 100 deg range...? That doesn't sound right.
I haven't been using a thermometer at all yet and wanna add one. I guess a probe is most accurate? Do I just drill a hole through my double wall stove pipe?

Thats about it! 1 hole with a metal bushing/sleeve (or whatever you wanna call it) and a magnet.

 

[LLigetfa]

Equally mystifying to me as my flue temp gauge indicates the flue overheating above 500f, and the ideal temp is between 350 - 450f

I wonder how much higher that would read if the "Safety Screw" was penetrating the pipe.

 

[woodchip]

I wonder how much higher that would read if the "Safety Screw" was penetrating the pipe.

Now you have me worried, the flue temp touched 600f earlier when I had loaded some hawthorn on, it is renouned here for burning a bit warm.........

 

[Mcbride]

Interesting. I've never considered what temperature the stove is when I reload. I just wait until there are coals left and reload. Need heat, reload. Don't need heat? Don't.

Exactly my method.
But I will add this if going to bed, or going out, and its cold out, I will stuffit full of wood, even if its still half full of wood and burning well.

 

[mywaynow]

I usually reload when the pipe thermometer is around 275-300. That is when there will be a good amount of coal that makes the next load an easy start. With 3-4 medium size logs, it gives me about 3.5 hours. My running temp on the pipe is 450.

 

[rdust]

I try to load with a stove top temp between 200-300.

Today I came home after visiting family over Christmas and had the t-stat set at 58. I needed heat fast so I loaded small then loaded three big splits into the stove at 450. I hate loading that way since it takes off like a rocket! The stove top was pushing 750 but hey the house was warming up fast! As I tossed the splits in the stove I looked at my wife and told her I hate breaking my rule of loading with a higher temp, she smiled and said "no you don't, you like the excitement." :lol: Really I don't, I've only loaded the stove one other time like that this year and it was after coming home from visiting family after the long Thanksgiving weekend. All the holidays are done so I'll be sticking to my rules now.

 

[oldspark]

Varies but usually between 60 to 68.

 

[firefighterjake]

AhhH flue temps. Wish mine WERE capable of low temps like that... I start cutting the air down via probe readings of 1000, stove top 450-600.

I think FFJ's talking about reload flue temps, not cruising temps. Surely your flue gases must drop below 400º at some point in the burn cycle... or I want your stove. :cheese:

Yes those are my cruising temps, but those are FFJ's temps when closing down after a load gets going. Some people report freakishly low flue temps at cruising here. Its been a mystery to me and my stove. My flue temp stay about 900-1100 for 2-3 hours before dropping (and yes I get below 400!).

Mike is right . . . I start closing down the air when my flue temp with the probe thermo reaches 450-500 generally . . . sometimes earlier around 400 . . . sometimes later.