'nother plug for the Oakwood...

[brider]

I grilled my first steaks on the Oakwood this weekend (after a heated debate with the wife, she's afraid the stove will turn the room into the back grille at Greasy Joe's bar-b-Q pit), and WOW! I've NEVER tasted a better steak in my life, and this time the wife agreed! She seasoned up a pair of ribeyes just like she always does, I got a good low 400 deg stove temp going, put them on the grill and dropped them in, turned them once (had to open the top door several times to admire the Oakwood in action), and the result was a steak that just melted in your mouth and was just exploding with smoky, woody flavor.

Next weekend I'm doing kebabs. If I'm successful for any length of time, maybe I can sneak some FISH in there without her noticing!

Anybody on the fence on an Oakwood vs some similar stove with NO grille feature, do yourself a favor and go Oakwood.

 

[branchburner]

Yup. The best steak I ever had was a ribeye in Argentina cooked over wood coals in an open fire pit, but I'm confident I can match or beat that once I visit a good butcher. As I said in another post, the Oakwood beats charcoal even better than charcoal beats gas - it is a perfect grilling setup. My first Oakwood steaks were chuck-eyes done a week or so back at 10pm, and good thing the rest of the family had already eaten!

 

[BJN644]

Gotta love it, I do some of my best grilling during the colder months.

 

[Shari]

You people a just tantalizing me! I've got a dealer searching for an Oakwood for me; I am vacillating on a Isle Royale (no grill); really hope the dealer can come through with an Oakwood for the grill alone - and Oakwood just seams to be a more even, level heating unit versus the IR. I need simple in my life, no 'tending' a fire all the time every 1/2 hour and I think the Oakwood would be the better choice.

So, how did the clean up go? Was wife happy?

If you have extra steak you could cook them and send them our way......

Shari

 

[xrayman]

I think i'm going to look into a oakwood they sound great yumm grilled steak when it's 20 below!!

 

[BJN644]

Grill clean up is not an issue, just leave it in the stove a while after your done grilling and it self cleans.

 

[titan]

I'm envious;I love a good steak and the Oakwood is way prettier than a bbq in the living room.I have but one concern:do you Oakwood owners have to fuss and babysit these "afterburner" stoves in a similar manner to what I've read about the VC "everburn" stoves?

 

[BJN644]

I'm envious;I love a good steak and the Oakwood is way prettier than a bbq in the living room.I have but one concern:do you Oakwood owners have to fuss and babysit these "afterburner" stoves in a similar manner to what I've read about the VC "everburn" stoves?

The key to the Oakwood is to make sure you have a good bed of coals before closing the secondary damper, and of coarse rule #1 use dry wood. I have never had any of the problems that I have read about with the VC and DW stoves, like runnaway fires, parts turning cherry red, ect. nothing like that with the Oakwood.

 

[titan]

Glad to hear that.I like a stove that is easy to use.....it greatly increases the odds of my wife keeping the home-fires burning when I'm out.

 

[branchburner]

I'm envious;I love a good steak and the Oakwood is way prettier than a bbq in the living room.I have but one concern:do you Oakwood owners have to fuss and babysit these "afterburner" stoves in a similar manner to what I've read about the VC "everburn" stoves?

Not a big deal, but you need to get to temp and have a good coal bed to burn smoke. It's just a learning curve. Early on I found that sometimes I thought the AB was working but would walk outside and see smoke coming out the stack. So go back in, open the damper, fuss with the air and push the coals around, etc. But when the weather is cold and you have a full box of dry wood, you can set it and forget it (hmmm... sounds like an infommercial I've seen). Granted, this is my first year with this stove, but I think I'm getting a good feel for what it wants to do.

That said, it will depend on your setup. Mine came used from a guy who had it in his basement and couldn't get a draft. I don't know his chimney, but if you have an insulated 6" liner and burn dry wood I don't think you could go wrong.

Another issue up in the air with these downdraft stoves is the fragility and potential lifespan of the ceramic fiber combustion package. They can clog up after a few years and are prone to accidental damage. But I think if the stove is maintained and not overfired and the owner is aware of how the stove is built, hopefully no major problems. While the basic tecnology is the same for Oakwood/Lopi Leyden/VC Everburn, I think the VC design has led to more issues, though I can't say I've followed the threads enough to know that for sure.

Next Oakwood accessory purchase... rotisserie!

 

[branchburner]

Glad to hear that.I like a stove that is easy to use.....it greatly increases the odds of my wife keeping the home-fires burning when I'm out.

I keep reminding my wife "shut the air"... I know I'm gonna be the one who finally forgets!

 

[titan]

ROTISSERIE!?Here I've cooked grilled cheese sandwiches and beans and thought I was livin' the high life.Wonder if I could turn my Regency into a top loader?

 

[Jags]

You people a just tantalizing me! I've got a dealer searching for an Oakwood for me; I am vacillating on a Isle Royale (no grill); really hope the dealer can come through with an Oakwood for the grill alone - and Oakwood just seams to be a more even, level heating unit versus the IR. I need simple in my life, no 'tending' a fire all the time every 1/2 hour and I think the Oakwood would be the better choice.

So, how did the clean up go? Was wife happy?

If you have extra steak you could cook them and send them our way......

Shari

Shari - you are comparing the Oakwood (cast iron 2.3 cu ft fire box) to the IR (cast iron 3.0 cu ft firebox). Not sure where the idea of "more even heat" or "tending the fire every 1/2 hour" is coming from.

I sure do like the grill option of the Oakwood, but I think you have been given or have deduced some incorrect info.

 

[branchburner]

You people a just tantalizing me! I've got a dealer searching for an Oakwood for me; I am vacillating on a Isle Royale (no grill); really hope the dealer can come through with an Oakwood for the grill alone - and Oakwood just seams to be a more even, level heating unit versus the IR. I need simple in my life, no 'tending' a fire all the time every 1/2 hour and I think the Oakwood would be the better choice.
Shari

Shari - you are comparing the Oakwood (cast iron 2.3 cu ft fire box) to the IR (cast iron 3.0 cu ft firebox). Not sure where the idea of "more even heat" or "tending the fire every 1/2 hour" is coming from.

I sure do like the grill option of the Oakwood, but I think you have been given or have deduced some incorrect info.

Yes, what are you trying to heat? I don't know a thing about the IR, but another fellow got rid of his Oakwood 'cause it wasn't up to his house size. I have low sf to heat, so the Oakwood was an up-size for me.

Curious as to other Oakwood owners - how big a space, and how well, are you heating?

 

[MishMouse]

The grill option is one of the main reasons why I went with the Harman over another stove.
Some of the things I cooked were, HF sausages (Brats, Polish, Turkey etc..), Veggie Burgers (You will be surprised how one of those tasteless sow patties taste after cooking over the wood), steaks (T bones, Sirloin, Check etc..), Chicken, Mushrooms (Portabella, Button), Onions, and Hamburger's. The flavor that this gives anything you cook on it is just amazing. Kinda strange when it is -20 outside and your making your neighbors hungry grill steaks.

 

[Shari]

Jags,

I probably have wrongly deduced things! But that grill on the Oakwood sure is tempting! Hubby and I are kind of stuck at home retirees due to his health issues so grilling on wood in the winter could just add some 'spice' to our life!

Right now I am sitting here, in decent weather, wondering if we should contract with someone to get the stove piping in - at least from the roof down to the fireplace flue as it might be hard to get someone out here when the weather turns. We are working with a masonry chimney, central fireplace.... There is an ad on CL right now for insulated stove pipe. Seller doesn't know interior diameter, stainless or aluminum, etc. I am trying to get more info on that ad.

So far, I have not gotten good vibes from our closest IR dealer but have gotten good vibes from the closest Harmon dealer. We have 31-1/2" opening height in our fp for a hearth mount so, depending how an IR or an Oakwood could be mounted will determine which one we finally decide on. The IR is 30" tall, the Oakwood is 29" tall; apparently neither model currently has the hearth style legs available. I believe any problem we would have doing any style wood burner in this fireplace is that the upper lip of the fp opening is 5-1/4" thick due to the stone face therefore the first pipe connection off the stove flue must clear this 5-1/4" lip.

This is a raised hearth fireplace so I have been tossing around the idea of cutting down the hearth a bit, say 4" the thickness of our hearth stone and then ceramic tiling this new area and yes we would have to extend out 16" or 18" with a fire proof surface taken from the hardwood floors. We have mason contractors in the family so of course all this hearth work, if it must be done, will be done by them.

Sorry if I sound like I am mumbling to myself....... just thinking things over.......

Shari

 

[Shari]

PS We are heating a 1750 sq ft ranch.

Shari

 

[Jags]

PS We are heating a 1750 sq ft ranch.

Shari

Please don't take my above post with any negativity towards the Oakwood. It is one might fine looking stove (and I really DO like the grill option). By all means, get the stove thats gonna give ya that big 'ol silly grin when you fire it up. I simply wanted to point out that you are probably going to deal with similar behavior of the two stoves (both being cast) and as far as fuel loads and burn times, the IR is actually a bigger stove than the oakwood. Just wanted to make sure you weren't being feed "a line" from a salesman or something.

A good stove shop versus a bad stove shop would also weigh heavy in my decision making. Go with your gut (and a little help from your friends )

Edit: I'm with ya on the grill thing, I really, really like hardwood cooked steaks.

 

[branchburner]

PS We are heating a 1750 sq ft ranch.

Shari

The Oakwood should handle that. Might not want the stove piping in 'til you have a stove. An Oakwood could be rear-vented with a tee in this fireplace (not sure how the upper lip of the fp plays into this - are you planning a liner right through the existing damper, or?)

Before you think of cutting down the hearth or extending it, go on line and look at all the specs in the brochures, especially required r-values/k-values. I did this after I got the stove - caused a little anguish. To use the Oakwood grill/top loader you will need at least 18" of the stove out of the fireplace opening (meaning only about 6" of the stove in the fireplace) - if the lip you speak of is less than 42" above the hearth floor, you will need the stove all the way out of the fp for the top-load door to open fully.

 

[Shari]

Branchburner =

That's the term I was looking for - 'rear vented'. We saw an Oakwood in the store yesterday and the way the pipe comes out of the top of the stove has us concerned. Anyway, we have an appointment for the IR dealer to come take a look at our fireplace. We would like to also get the Oakwood dealer out to take a look.

Shari

 

[Todd]

Dang it! I wish Woodstock made a top loading grill option!

 

[brider]

The Oakwood can rear-vent, or top vent.

There was no clean-up at all, it's a perfect world with the Oakwood!

Rotisserie option?! Are you kidding! Where? How? How much?

Mine is a 1800 sq ft ranch, so far I can get the back bedrooms warmer than they ever were on 68 deg thermostat oil heat.

BUT, it's not really even cold yet! But we're also not burning big, long, hot fires yet.

At a good coal base and dry wood, I ditto the experience that you can set a good 400 deg (or higher) temp and it will hold it for hours.

 

[Shari]

[quote author="brider" date="1225919009"]The Oakwood can rear-vent, or top vent.quote]

How would you rear-vent the Oakwood? How much additional height would that add? Reason I ask, I just spoke to our local Oakwood dealer - sounds like this is a no-go for us.

Shari

 

[branchburner]

The Oakwood can rear-vent, or top vent.quote]

How would you rear-vent the Oakwood? How much additional height would that add? Reason I ask, I just spoke to our local Oakwood dealer - sounds like this is a no-go for us.

Shari

The flue collar and adjacent plate have a couple of bolts - loosen 'em, do the flip-flop - top-vent is now rear-vent in under five minutes, no additional height. Why a no-go?

 

[Shari]

The Oakwood can rear-vent, or top vent.quote]

How would you rear-vent the Oakwood? How much additional height would that add? Reason I ask, I just spoke to our local Oakwood dealer - sounds like this is a no-go for us.

Shari

The flue collar and adjacent plate have a couple of bolts - loosen 'em, do the flip-flop - top-vent is now rear-vent in under five minutes, no additional height. Why a no-go?

Really? Now why couldn't I see that yesterday and why didn't the dealer point that out to me? Also, I don't see this option in the Oakwood spec sheet.

Thank you!

Sharii