Do You Cook On Your Stove ?

[KDMANN]

So I've got the urge to go back in time. I'm Thinking I need to put all this heat to use. Maybe get a dutch oven , a griddle , and whatever else I may need. The top of my stove is pretty stout , but it's steal and not cast iron. Don't know if that matters. Maybe I'm just losing it ( my wife thinks I am) LOL

 

[TomatoLover]

Do it! We are newbies, having only been at this wood stove thing since we bought this house in March. However, in March, I realized that whatever I can cook in a slow cooker or crock pot, I can cook in a cast iron dutch oven on the wood stove. The dutch oven sits on little metal washers, so it's not exactly on the stove. My husband just picked up cast iron muffin tins and a skillet - he has all sorts of ideas but hasn't used them as we're not burning 24/7 yet. Finally, I bake potatoes and squash and other things IN the stove (double wrapped in foil). I have plans to do fish in there, using parchment paper. The trick for cooking in the stove is to rake coals to the front and push the wood to the back so you can place the foil packs on the hot coals. It's really no different than cooking in an oven or over coals while camping, other than the temperature regulation, of course. So far, we've loved the results. My teenage son would eat 10 pounds of potatoes cooked in the wood stove if I let him. Perhaps the novelty will wear off soon for me, but with electric as our only other power source in our location, I'd prefer to cook in or on the wood stove if it's fired up rather than run my kitchen oven for 1 hour at 350. May as well use the wood stove for all it's worth!

 

[KDMANN]

Thanks for the idea's ! I never thought of baked taters IN the stove. I'm gonna try that this weekend. Picked up a dutch oven at a second hand store today for cheap . Thinking I'm gonna make breakfast on the wood stove in the morning. We have an electric oven so I figure what the heck , may save a little $$ on the electric bill and still eat very well.

 

[coaly]

Normal pans you would use on any stove is fine. Make sure any griddle has a solid flat bottom. The double ones are made for sitting over two burners and do not make full contact on bottom. You don't want one with a lip around the edge. Same as a cast iron pan. For cookstoves you use one with a smoke ring to seal the hole it sits over. For flat cooktop you want a flat bottom with no ring for direct contact. You quickly learn to move pans around for the heat you want, unlike changing the stove top heat with electric or gas. It cooks much quicker on a cookstove with removable lids. Faster than electric or gas.

Sausage gravy, home fries, eggs, bacon, and tea simmering for iced tea is the norm year round here. This pic was taken in July. We use All-Clad on the stove top normally all winter. Copper bottoms work best. When you don't want to heat the house during summer, the lids (eyes) are removed so heat and flame goes directly to pan bottom. Then we use cast. And the proper stove doesn't heat the house much during summer months to cook on.

This time of year it dries onions and plenty of canning.



My wife prefers this over a Garland double oven gas commercial range !

There's the monster in the back ground.

 

[TomatoLover]

Normal pans you would use on any stove is fine. Make sure any griddle has a solid flat bottom. The double ones are made for sitting over two burners and do not make full contact on bottom. You don't want one with a lip around the edge. Same as a cast iron pan. For cookstoves you use one with a smoke ring to seal the hole it sits over. For flat cooktop you want a flat bottom with no ring for direct contact. You quickly learn to move pans around for the heat you want, unlike changing the stove top heat with electric or gas. It cooks much quicker on a cookstove with removable lids. Faster than electric or gas.

View attachment 142312 Sausage gravy, home fries, eggs, bacon, and tea simmering for iced tea is the norm year round here. This pic was taken in July. We use All-Clad on the stove top normally all winter. Copper bottoms work best. When you don't want to heat the house during summer, the lids (eyes) are removed so heat and flame goes directly to pan bottom. Then we use cast. And the proper stove doesn't heat the house much during summer months to cook on.

This time of year it dries onions and plenty of canning.

View attachment 142313 View attachment 142314

My wife prefers this over a Garland double oven gas commercial range !

View attachment 142315 There's the monster in the back ground.

I am inspired!

 

[coaly]

AND that is our only heat source for 2000 square feet.
After heating and cooking on a Fisher for years, this was the answer for a larger cook top and oven.

 

[begreen]

Man Coaly you folks like to cook! Not many houses where one is going to see a commercial Garland complete with salamander and double-ovens. I'm coming over to your house for Thanksgiving!

 

[coaly]

Don't worry, the turkey is done in the WOOD oven. Yes, I should be 300 pounds.......

 

[KDMANN]

That's some good lookin food your cookin up there! Do you use a lot of wood in that stove? I showed my wife your pics and she loved it ! I was shocked. Looks like cooking on a wood stove is making sense to her. (Thanks to your pics of all that food) LOL

 

[coaly]

Depends on the year. 5 + the coldest year. The stove will heat up to 3000 sf so we are warm heating 2000. Coldest nights the oven door is left open for more heat. On the back is a stainless 25 gallon water tank and I did not install the coil in the firebox to be able to boil 25 gallons per hour. It would over humidify the house if boiled. It is an Amish built stove for a large family with high water use. I sat the tank on a aluminum heat sink to conduct heat from stove top only. I did add a thermostat to control fire and kick the fire up much faster than the original UL listed version sold to "Englishers". This makes it capable of coal burning as well. In the case of coal, never more than 2 tons a year. Stack temp of 150 with coal compared to 350 wood. The appliance looses it's UL rating when modified, but Amish self insure and the builder sets many up for their use this way.
The best part is the oven stays around 300 to 350 with door closed while heating all the time. It is always ready to bake. A wood oven also bakes much better since it is sealed with a door gasket the same as firebox. No air circulation like electric or gas. You must keep face and body back when opening door to prevent steam burn. Food is steamed as well as baked, so it is very difficult to burn anything. You can't brown the top of casseroles and when you open door you have to put a towel on the floor under door to catch drips since it is so moist inside while cooking. Oven and door is stainless, no rust factor. I changed all screws and hardware on stove to stainless as well. Thermometer in door goes to 1000* f. 800* is very possible. I shut the oven off at 600* due to getting too hot in the house.
During summer, an elevated grate is used to prevent heating entire stove. This puts just kindling inches below the stove top. The oven cannot be used at that time. This is the only time the gas oven is used. There is a bypass directly out the stack to kindle fires or dump heat from fire out the stack when done cooking and prevent heating entire stove.

Stainless Oven

Thermo probe in door. Note all gaskets are flat type folded over and pushed into slot in door. No cement is used. Same as firebox and ash pan.

Thermostat door at bottom under tank and kitchen hot water faucet. Stainless tank is optional and I supplied stainless plumbing with brass faucet.
Yes, that's the clothes dryer behind the stove........ drying more onions.

I didn't go back in time. I just never moved forward.

 

[fbelec]

love it coaly great job. now for my question when making potatoes on the coals how long do you leave them in for?