I've been looking at buying a used wood stove to save money for a shop building (approx. 800 sq. feet). I've noticed that the newer EPA certified stoves do not get really hot on top due to the baffles, and I want this stove to get hot enough to cook food on top of the stove in an emergency situation. What would happen if I was to take the burn tubes and baffle out of a used "newer-type" stove in order to try and get the stove top get hot enough to, for example, cook some eggs and bacon, or a cook a thin steak in a skillet? And, what do people think of the "Grizzly" tent stove in such of a situation?Thank you!
Stove Top Cooking?
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Not sure what would make you think the top doesn't get hot on most modern stoves. They absolutely do unless they have a double layer convective top. My tube stove would regularly run at 800 degrees. Where is this stove to be installed?
Yes, our stovetop is regularly between 5-600. Hot enough to boil water readily. If it weren't for the trivet top it would be a real pita to cook on being too hot.
Prof
Minister of Fire
I cooked about 200 meals on top of my PE Summit last year--soup, steaks, eggs, etc. Not too much I can't cook. I even bought a small antique oven for the stove top. I can't do a turkey in it, but pies and cookies are no problem. My old stove, a Quadrafire Cumberland Gap, was a steel stove with a cast iron jacket. The top of that stove took a while to get hot enough to cook, but it took some time and usually wasn't worth it.
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I cooked on top of a BK princess last winter just to see if I could do it, a little slow, but the cast iron skillet made one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I had in a while, no doubt my dutch oven would make a great pulled pork on top of the stove.
It's wonderful that so many have had the ability to cook on their wood stoves, but such was not the case for us. In 2015 we bought a new Napoleon (can't remember the model) that had two cooking plates on top. It heated our house wonderfully but the top would not get hot. I called the factory rep and explained the situation, and he said that the cooking plates were there just for "looks" as the stove was made to not get too hot on top. Since then we have moved, and as I said, I am wanting to put a not-so-nice and expensive stove in our shop not only for heat but also to do basic skillet cooking in case the electricity goes out. The used wood stoves I've seen need the tubes and baffles either cleaned or replaced, and I don't want to do either. So my question is, what would happen if I used the stove without the tubes and baffles?
Secondary tubes do not need cleaning and cleaning a baffle top is very easy in most cases. Running the stove without a baffle would be just sending dollars up the flue. For the shop, why not buy a new, value stove that doesn't have a convection top?
Prof
Minister of Fire
When I was shopping for a stove I decided on the Summit in large part because the heat path goes around the baffle and right next to the steel plate/top of the stove. It is not a fancy stove, but quite functional for cooking. The T6, which is essentially the same stove, but with a cast iron jacket and swing out trivet on the top to allow access to the steel for cooking. I have no doubt there are perks to this set up, but with my Summit I can have a big pot doing an all-day stock and have 2 frying pans going to make lunch or dinner. My stove top can jump up to 700F with little effort and with flue gases still being in the acceptable range. I also bought an antique toast rack that can hold 4 pieces of bread. I open the front door and hold the rack vertically and have nicely toasted bread in 20-30 sec. In these hot humid days of summer I'm chomping at the bit to get soup season underway!
This couple seems to cook OK on a Jotul F100, set up with rear exit.
I plan to do mine the same way.
https://www.ourtinyhomestead.com/our-wood-stove.html#heat
I plan to do mine the same way.
https://www.ourtinyhomestead.com/our-wood-stove.html#heat
Any suggestion on which stove would be a value stove that doesn't have a convection top?
An ice cold shop will need a lot of heat when it's 10-20º outside. Even more if it is blowing a stiff wind outside. If that is the case, go large (3 cu ft) with a basic Englander or Drolet unless the shop is under 600 sq ft.
What size area will the stove be heating and from what temperature will the shop be starting from?
What size area will the stove be heating and from what temperature will the shop be starting from?
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