One thing I do a lot of when the woodstove is running, is to cook our meals as much as possible on top.
We don't have a cookstove (yet...in the wishing for phase). However, it is amazing how much can be done if you have a flat top woodstove.
Over time you will learn if you need to put a pan up on a grate or not, depending on how hot your stove is running at the time. We use both a cookie rack as well as a metal clothes hanger that has been coiled up in a circle.
I cooked all of our Saturday night meal as shown in the picture above. We had a pan for pasta, one to heat up sauce, a cast iron pan for the beans, and a cast iron pan with a cover for the meatballs.
We are looking to replace our woodstove as it is quite old, not efficient, and not sufficient to heat our home well.
Does anyone have a combination woodstove/cookstove? If so, I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts.
Warm wishes on this beautiful day we have been given,
Tonya
Tonya,
ReplyDeleteAsk the ladies on the Take Peace list. Alot of them have them..LaVonne, I know does:-)
You can get lovely cast iron trivets on ebay that are inexpensive and travel in a flatrate priority mail box they are soooooo useful :0)
ReplyDeleteI love cooking on the wood stove. I cook soups, chili, and sauces. It also keeps my coffee or tea hot if I set it down. I love how it makes the house smell. I have never cooked biscuits in it, but that is on my to do list. It will have to wait until next season as we hit 81 today and I think my woodburning season is over.
ReplyDeleteWarmly,
Tracey
I wish I had a wood cookstove!
ReplyDeleteYour picture brought a smile to my face - this is how I learned to cook when I was about 8-9 years old. My mom and I lived in the foundation of the house my parents where building before my dad died. A small black flattop stove was the only source of heat and cooking most of the time. I have great memories of spaghetti with meat sauce and fried fish, mashed potatoes and beans cooked on the surface pretty much on my own.
I had almost forgotten. Thanks!
I dreamed about having a wood cookstove but have finally come to the conclusion that it's not going to happen (my house is too small). I have a book called Mrs. Restino's Country Kitchen: The Complete Wood Stove Cookbook. It has a lot of information about cooking on one as well as purchasing one. If you would like it, I'd be glad to send it to you. I'm cleaning out my bookshelves. You can e-mail me. My e-mail address is on my blog.
ReplyDeleteWe have an Esse range cooker. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI love to cook on the woodstove. We used to have a very old wood/coal stove for baking and cooking. It heated the house too, it was an old , old farmhouse and an old, old stove. The new ones are much more efficient. I do bake in a cobb oven from time to time and that took time and practice to get used and the skill comes with practce, it is really satisfying to cook with wood.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a wood stove and have never cooked on one but it all sound slovely!
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds wonderful cooking on top of the woodstove. We have been thinking of getting a woodstove that has a cook top. I love cast iron cookware so I am sure the food would turn out wonderful cooked on top! It seems like a great resource. ~Enjoy your dinner ~Love Heather
ReplyDeleteWe have a Heartland wood/cookstove and I LOVE it. We mostly use it for cooking when the power goes out (which happens relatively frequently in winter)...one of my favourite memories of living in this homestead was making spaghetti sauce and pasta on the woodstove...closely followed by the night we did perogies and sausages! Yum. I wouldn't be without a woodstove, now that I've lived with one...just gives you a feeling of security, doesn't it?
ReplyDeletethat's wonderful...how you can get your whole meal cooked on top of your woodstove. what do you do in the warmer months when the wood stove is not going?
ReplyDeleteWe are wishing too! Lehman's sells a cookstove called Baker's Choice that is thousands! less than any other we have seen. It is not the prettiest (cause goodness, there sure are some beautiful wood cookstoves out there!) but it is very likely the one we would have to go for.
ReplyDeleteI will be so excited for you if you get one!!!
what an amazing way to make a supper! I have absolutely NO experience here, beyond a dutch oven in a fire pit, i'm pretty much completely dependent on a standard stove. It amazes me that people ever baked before the invention of oven thermometers. Someday I'll try...
ReplyDeleteThis is an inspiring post for me- we have our woodstove going all winter, yet somehow I rarely use it for cooking- I really need to get in the habit! My friend just bought a woodstove/cookstove combination and was pretty excited, I'll ask her about it.
ReplyDeleteLooks so homely, Tonya! :-)
ReplyDeleteTonya...We have a Heartland Oval cookstove and love love love it. We got it secondhand and unfortunately, the top-plate was a little warped when we got it from the folks using it too hot. No matter, it just makes it even less airtight than usual. It accomodates several pots and frying pans, has a warming oven (great for bread rising or yogurt making), and a nice sized oven. It is a real art to baking in, though. My mother-in-law said it took her several years to get the knack for it, and that's all they had. Lots of rotating pans. The trick is to build a hot fire, let it die down to coals, then add the same sized smallish logs to it consistently to maintain the same oven temp. A real art! But baking breads and pies is easy, it's the cookies and cakes, etc. that are the challenge for me. I love our cookstove...it is the focal point of our home and hearth. I also love how it looks. I did a post about it back in the fall of 2010, and I'm certain you made a comment about it. I truly hope you find one for your family...I wouldn't trade ours for anything!
ReplyDeletexo Jules
we just have a vermont castings, it's really nice and easy to cook on.
ReplyDeleteI live in England and we have a Rayburn. It is a wood or coal fuel stove that heats our downstairs as well as our water. You can cook on top of it or bake inside. I love it! LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteYou can find used cookstoves on craigslist for a low as $250. That's where we got ours. Search the Vermont and New Hampshire lists (or whatever you want!).
ReplyDeleteIts so hard to find a cookstove that is a real house heater--that doesnt just break the bank many times over. I think I would opt for a large vermont castings or jotul with a big flat top and using racks like you do. We have an old Queen Atlantic but it is SO NOT a house heater--have to load the tiny firebox every 20 minutes. We heat centrally with a big wood gasifying boiler. I have to admit I have really enjoyed baking in the cookstove though--and that is trickier on a plain ol woodstove. Its fun to dream about the perfect heater/cooker/baker...and start saving!
ReplyDeleteTonya,
ReplyDeletea wood stove has been my dream. Here in the cottage, it would mean taking down walls and reopening the chimneys...but the smell of woodsmoke and the joy of cooking over fire...
Thank you for sharing,
M.
I will cook soups and slow meals on our wood stove in my cast iron dutch oven and I love it! We are in the process of building another home and have looked into getting a pioneer princess, to cook, bake and heat our home with. It's not fun when somehting spills out on the woodstove or that it's in my living room far form the kitchen, but for slow meals it works!
ReplyDeleteSarah's Esse sounds lovely..they have the hotplate covers that are very useful . We have a Stanley cook stove (wood version) I grew up with the solid fuel version. The Stanley isn't fitted in yet so we cook on a Cawley 600 which is beautiful and keeps the whole house warm.We use no other form of heating at all. If you add a fan on top the heat travels round well. We have a fan that utilizes a Sterling engine and it is great. (ebay.. made by a canadian I think)We got our Stanley off Craigs list it has never been fired up and was a bargain $500 so keep a look out . Also ebay ..we bought our 600 from ebay had it strapped to a pallet and it arrived safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteJust check the stove is sound ..no warping or cracking anywhere and make sure you have some muscle and furniture dolly's around when moving one. I think the stanley needed 3 chaps , straps, 2 dollies and a pickup to arrive home safe!
Hi Tonya, I loved your post. For over a year now I cook and bake with my cook woodstove and I'm totally in love with it and don't regret investing my money. Besides the cook woodstove in the kitchen, that also heats our tap water together with a solarpannel, we have a Jotul woodstove in the livingroom. I also cook on the Jotul just for fun (or do I sound crazy know?).We always make fun by saying that food from our woodstove tastes and smells better but maybe that is caused by the wood hauling and splitting that is needed, lol. We even have quit our gas connection and are paying way less for electricity. So I say, go for it!
ReplyDeleteI too have found used wood cook stove. I love mine, it is half electric half wood. In the summer I use it as electric, and the rest of the year use the wood.
ReplyDeleteMine is very old and still works wonderfully. I have seen Waterford wood stoves going second hand for less the 500.00.
We have a Pacific enrgies airtight wood stove with a 24X24 top upon which we are always cooking something. Its a shame how so many folks only use them for heating. We just purchased a nice old Kalamazoo Prince cook stove in pretty much perfect shape for $400 . Great enamel coating, good Nickle, nice warming ovens etc. and can hardly wait to add the extra room and try her out. Keep hunting and you will find one too. Found ours on Craigs List.
ReplyDelete