Suggestions for a good cooking woodstove?

[Dan R-M]

Well, it looks like I'm going to leave the HearthMate in the barn to get a better layer of rust on it.
This leaves me with a question that I hope some of you will have good (read: well-based) opinions on. What's a good woodstove to cook on? I'm not prepared to get a wood cookstove yet, but I'd love to have a heating stove with a versatile surface for incidental cooking opportunities.
That, together with its "free-ness", was what made the HearthMate seem so desirable.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Any stove with a flat surface that is large enough for a pot or pan can cook. If your stove top gets to 400 degrees it will cook your food and boil water. I cooked all of the Thanksgiving sides on my little step top Century with a 4 or 500 degree top. I wouldn't call it fast, but it did the job.

Matt

 

[NectarNook]

I don't have an electric stove or microwave or anything else to cook on in my house yet. We're getting there, but in the mean time this Progress Hybrid is kicking butt as a range. My dutch ovens all have legs because I use them for open-fire cooking during warmer months. Yeah... I'll remedy that. Actually, my mother-in-law just got me a really nice enameled cast iron dutch oven yesterday. I'm excited to put that to good use.

I'll cook on it a lot more when we move into the house. Still waiting on final inspection. That's why I only said "occasionally," because technically we're still living in our apartment a half hour south so I'm also cooking on the electric range there.

 

[firefighterjake]

On . . . no.

In . . . yes.

Cast iron frying pan coated with olive oil. Rib eye or chuck eye steaks seasoned with salt. About a minute to each side. Pan is wicked hot when pulled off the coals . . . I typically need my thick hearth gloves to handle the frying pan. There is a bit of grease splatter on the inside of the stove glass, but it typically burns off on the next reload. Wicked tasty steaks.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Many a soup and stew has been on top our stove, going to try dutch oven biscuits and breads this year. We have not had cold enough weather yet to fire the stove up.. tonight that changes. Our high yesterday was 70.. tommorow 35 with snow.

EDIT: The family we bought the Mansfield from was switching out to a Prarie Princess because they cooked on the manny so much.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

check out hydronic cook stoves at (broken link removed)
Heats your whole house, DHW and serious cooking at the same time.

 

[branchburner]

 

[begreen]

The PE Alderlea series are great to cook on. The swing away trivets afford almost infinite temp control.

 

[Prof]

I have a quadrafire cumberland gap. I have to take the cast iron top off, exposing the steel box to cook effectively. It's no big deal, snce the top just sits on there, it's not connected in any way. I also love cooking over the coals--steak, hot dogs, etc. Another great trick is to take a baseball-sized onion and just throw it on the coals as is--no foil or anythng. Afterabout 20 min, the onion is nicely cooked and the natural sugars have started to carmalize, just cut away th charred surface.

 

[Dan R-M]

Woooooaah! You folks are blowing my mind. Thanks for all the ideas. Is the grill inset in the top-loader that stove of Branchburner's common, or custom-made?

 

[eclecticcottage]

Ok, that is freaking cool.


We've made some cornbread in a dutch oven on the stove, and roasted chicken in the dutch oven IN the stove. Only thing is, we have to shut off the blower when cooking on the stove top or it's harder to cook on.

 

[begreen]

Woooooaah! You folks are blowing my mind. Thanks for all the ideas. Is the grill inset in the top-loader that stove of Branchburner's common, or custom-made?

Available on some Harman stoves and the Jotul F50.

 

[adrpga498]

During hurricane Sandy the old Castine kept the house warm and food hot for over a week. Wifey did a great job cooking and we even had coffee with an old pyrex peculator pot. Good stuff.