Cook Stove Basics
I use a cook stove for about 8 months out of the year.
A cook stove is a lot of work, but from my point of view it’s a lot of independence and security too.
No matter what the weather brings or what happens with energy costs, I will always be able to heat my home and cook for practically nothing as long as I am willing to pick up sticks in the front yard and split wood.
And if I should grow too old to split wood I can always burn coal.
My stove is a traditional Waterford Stanley and is a modern solid fuel stove.
It will burn peat or wood, and with a change of firebox liner it will burn coal.
The design of my cook stove is from the 1930′s and the stove was manufactured in Ireland.
My stove not only cooks but helps to heat my home.
It also has a place in it to plumb a pipe for hot water if I want.
All cook stoves have individual differences but work basically the same way.
Generally, cook stoves are similar to other wood fired appliances.
They are connected to a chimney, have a firebox, have some way to clean out the ash and air to the fire is controlled by some type of baffle(s) or damper(s).
Cook stoves unlike regular wood stoves have an oven.
The oven in a cook stove is simply a box within a box.
Some cook stoves have a water reservoir attached to the side for hot water and many have a top compartment called a warmer for keeping food or plates warm.
The top surface of a cook stove is call the hob.
There are round plates on the hob called “eyes” that are removable for cleaning out soot and ash.
They are not burners.
With some cook stoves (not mine) the eyes can be removed while the stove is in operation.
Stove eyes are removed to add small pieces of wood directly to the fire and to seat a pot into the hole for more heat if you need it to cook faster.
The eyes are lifted off with a “lifter”.
On a cook stove the entire hob is used for cooking.
The part of the hob that is directly over the firebox is the hottest part of the stove.
In the picture below the skillet with the blue lid is directly over the firebox as is the covered pan behind it.
When cooking on most cook stoves, the pots & pans are moved from the left to the right to control the cooking temperature.
The left side of the stove is the hottest part and the right side of the stove is the coolest.
Stove temperature is regulated in a few different ways; by type and amount of wood, amount of air that the fire receives and size of the fire.
The type of wood used in a cook stove has a great effect upon how hot and how long the fire will burn.
Small, dry pieces of wood are best for fast fires.
Poplar or pine burns cool and is considered “summer wood”.
It was used quite a bit during the canning season years ago in summer kitchens.
It burns quick and will leave a lot of ash.
I use maple and sometimes cherry for my everyday cooking.
Maple will build heat fast but will not last.
Hickory or oak burns very hot and throws off a lot of heat.
Both woods make a good fire for frying or rapidly boiling water.
Oak and hickory do tend to overheat the stove and will make the oven too hot for most baking or roasting.
Some cooks will avoid oak and hickory because they tend to burn out a fire box.
My favorite wood for rapid heat is apple wood.
The cook stove’s temperature can be controlled by how much air the fire receives.
If I need a quick burning fire I will open the bottom or firebox damper to allow more air to the fire, and if I need a long burning fire I will close the damper.
If I want to hold a fire from one meal to the next, I simply put a large piece of wood into the firebox after I finish cooking and close the bottom damper (the big circle thing on the door is the damper).
The wood will burn, but burn very slowly.
When it’s time to cook again, I open the firebox damper to give the fire more air and add wood to start the fire burning hot again.
If I need to let off heat from the firebox and cool the stove down,I open the chimney damper and allow the heat to go up the chimney.
For most cook stoves it takes about 15 or 20 minutes for the hob to heat up and be ready for cooking when first started.
For baking the stove usually needs at least 45 minutes to 1 hour before the oven is ready.
As a general rule, if the top of the stove is hot enough to boil water the oven will be hot enough to bake.
Over the last 150 years or so, many ways have been handed down for cooks to determine cook stove oven temperature.
Old timers would sometimes judge oven temperature by how long it took a piece of white paper to turn brown, a hair to singe or how long they could hold their hand in the oven.
Oven temperature is controlled by a separate damper(s) that works to hold the heat in the area that surrounds the oven.
If I need to use my oven I will get the oven temperature to within 25 – 40 degrees of where I want it and then close the oven damper.
After about 10 – 15 minutes with the oven damper closed, more heat will have built up in the oven, and the temperature will be just about right and hold steady.
If I need to reduce the oven temperature fast, I just open the oven door and allow heat to escape.
Once the oven temperature is where I want it, I can maintain the temperature by adding just a couple of small pieces of wood whenever I see the temperature start to fluctuate.
It’s important to keep in mind that a cook stove oven doesn’t heat the same way a modern electric or gas range will.
Heat collects at the top of the oven.
This is good for breads but a disaster for cakes.
A trick that is used to prevent a cake from burning is to place the cake on the bottom or floor of the oven and a pan of water on the top shelf.
The pan of water collects the heat and acts as a barrier to the top of the cake.
Also, the side of the oven closest to the firebox will be hotter and food needs to be turned often while baking or roasting so that it doesn’t burn on one side.
A well made cook stove will last more than a lifetime.
Cooks stoves are very safe if they are well cared for and common sense is used.
It is important that a cook stove be cleaned and inspected regularly.
Built up ash under the hob and around the oven will reduce the temperature of the hob surface and oven.
The ash and soot needs to be cleaned out from underneath the oven and the hob frequently
and any ash along the interior sides of the stove needs to be swept out.
Generally, cook stoves are cleaned from the top of the hob, then along the interior sides and then ash is raked out the bottom at the soot door.
A soot rake is used to get to the back of the stove and to all the hard to reach areas.
I clean out the interior ash and soot from my cook stove about every week or so.
Some people will clean more often.
The chimney thimble and stove pipe that service my stove are cleaned and swept out
about 2 or 3 times during the wood burning season.
I occasionally will knock gently along the length of the stove pipe when it is cool, to knock off any collected creosote or ash that may build up between cleanings.
Any debris that falls off the stove pipe, falls downward and will collect under the hob where it can be swept out during routine cleaning.
If chimney fires are to be avoided it’s important to keep all parts of a wood burning appliance very clean.
I think cleaning a cook stove is probably the worst part of owning one.
It is a very dirty job.
A heavy duty brush, newspaper, rags, rubber gloves and a bucket of ammonia water are necessary.
I wear old clothes and rubber gloves when I clean out my stove because soot will stain cloth and is hard to remove from the skin.
And just so you know, not all modern cook stoves have an old fashioned or nostalgia design.
There are quite a few modern and beautiful contemporary designed cook stoves.
I chose my stove because the hub is 34″ high which is more comfortable for me to work at (I’m tall), and requires a very small wall clearance.
I also chose it because it is solid cast iron and retains heat for a long time.
If you are considering buying a used cook stove keep in mind that antiques look great but may have cracks or other problems.
Many good cook stoves from the 1940′s and 1950′s are still out there.
Some are in pretty good condition and are reasonably priced.
Cook stoves are some effort and trouble, but for what you get back I think they’re more than worth it.
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Thanks for taking the time to post this awesome information. My granny always had a wood cookstove and our neighbor (90 years old) cooks only with a wood cookstove. Now I understand why the rhubarb pie she made was a bit darker on one side! I think I won’t be as intimidated to use one now. Great tutorial post.
Teresa
What a big job. I bet he food that comes out of you oven is wonderful.
Thank you for the lesson. I so want a cookstove one day. They are so pricey and it will be a while. I would love to see a picture of your whole kitchen with the cookstove in it to get an idea of how it sits. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful information. That’s the kind of info. I needed when contemplating a wood cook stove purchase. Lehman’s could use you as an advertiser.
kelly
Just googling a bit I came up with these:
http://www.antiquestoves.com/index.htm
and
http://www.goodtimestove.com/kitchen_ranges/victorian_cooking_ranges.html
The second one refers to them as Victorian cooking ranges or just cooking ranges for short. Is this the same thing?
Also, instead of ammonia, you should try the old vinegar and baking soda trick. I used to use ammonia for cleaning out tough stains, but after trying white vinegar and baking soda, I found it’s much less caustic and easier on the eyes/nose/mouth. It doesn’t work QUITE as well, but if you clean as often as you say you do, you shouldn’t have any trouble switching over
This is just fascinating to read. I have used these sort of stoves twice but was never shown how to use them etc. Cooking on these stoves is a lost art. It must be wonderful when it is cold but it hot here and I am grateful for some of the modern advances. Thank you.
We have a Waterford wood stove and it has the same ash pan! Great stove!
Thanks for the tour of your cookstove. I am a little jealous. I have one of those antiques, and yes, it does have a crack in the hob. They have also made improvements in functionality and ergonomics since then. A larger firebox that can be fed from the side would be nice.
But our old Glenwood does a good job with it’s tasks. It burns well, cooks fine and throws plenty of heat to the kitchen. With the stove, the only part of the house we feel we need to heat is the bathroom.
MMP
Thank you, this has been very informative and appreciated.:) Dh and I have been considering buying a wood stove for some time now. We would like to be better prepared in case we would not have electricity. I love the new modern looking wood stoves from Heartland that you included the link to. I didn’t know you could buy wood stoves in a any color but black. The cream color is beautiful!
Thanks again! Joyce
Very informative post about a useful piece of equipment. My grandmother grew up in a 3 room house and her mom used a cookstove. It was their source of heat & cooking.
What a cool post! Almost makes me want to try a cook stove. Maybe someday.
My mother cooked on a wood stove, in fact took out her “modern” stove to do so. Thank you for such a highly informative post.
Thank you for answering my question about your cookstove! You are a treasure!
Now I know what to look for when I buy my cookstove and setting it up in the house.
Christine
Granny,
Does Lehman carry this cookstove? If not, do you have a source?
I love the look of the stove, and that it’s tall too!
Thanks,
Christine
Hi Gran,
I’ve got the same stove, in green enamel, and I love it. I’m wondering what kind of oil you use to treat the stove top. I’ve brushed and steel wooled it and it’s crying for something. I’m thinking I should treat it like a cast iron pan and use vegi oil… or maybe mineral oil is a better choice?
Christine -
Last I knew Lehman’s did have this stove. You might want to check online.
I do know that the the Waterford Stanley is getting as scarce as hen’s teeth in the US.
Dan & Mary -
I use vegetable shorting or cheap vegetable oil on mine.
Many Thank You’s for this post!
I am saving my pennies to purchase one of these for our coming move.
You have inspired me again!
Thank you so much for the sharing info.
Blessings,
Kris in WA
Great Post!
I just jumped over from 2 Frog Home.
I wanted to say Hi and nice Blog!
Carolyn
shelt28@yahoo.com
thank you so much for sharing about wood stoves. I would love to have one, and you answered a lot of my questions.
Ginnie
nice blog
thanks for taking the time
My folks bought a farm in the mid-1940s. It had a wood/coal stove in the kitchen and running water–a pump that you had to prime to get it going. One of my early memories is listening to my Dad shake the cinders down into the ash box. The he’d add more fuel, grind some coffee, and pretty soon the wonderful smell and sound of the percolator bubbling would fill the old farmhouse. Then we knew we couldn’t stay abed any longer. Chores and school awaited.
Thanks for stirring a great memory.
Thanks Grandma Miller!
We recently bought a reproduction cookstove called an Elmira Oval (aka Heartland) and their instructions leave out the necessary details you provide. I had had to scour the internet looking for tidbits here and there, so kudos.
If you want to get one, check your local paper, pennysaver, or craigslist. There are usually some around because they are not in high demand, but they are GREAT to cook on and heat with.
I just discovered your web site and I think it’s very interesting.
I read with special enjoyment your article about your wood cook stove.
I tried internet search engines, but most of the dealers seemed to be in Europe. I noticed that your home is in Pennsylvania, did you find a dealer there?
Thank you.
Dottie
Dottie -
I bought my stove at Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio a few years ago.
They are linked on my front pages under "blogs & links.
Kidron,Ohio is within easy driving distance for me so I just drove over & picked it up.
Lehman's will ship stoves if you want one.
Good luck.
I hit on your website quite by accident in my search for a used Oval wood and coal cookstove. I am only 54 years old, but I grew up with my mom’s Guelph oval cookstove. And it was the first thing I learned to cook on. In fact, when I got married to my first husband in 1973, I was ecstatic that I would never again have to scrape the soot or ashes out ever again.
However, my first husband bought me a brand-new Elmira Oval way back in 1985 when we lived on an Army base in Ontario. Unfortunately, we were never allowed to hook it up. Eventually, we sold it, having never, ever used it, and I cried the whole way over to deliver it, and all the way back home. I am aching to have one again. Every time there is an extended power failure in the winter, I miss my mom’s Guelph.
It still exists in her home, although she has since passed away, but my brother won’t let it out of his hands on our 160 acre farm in British Columbia. I will just have to scrimp and save to get another one.
I still have a picture with it behind me as I am cutting my daughter’s dinner when she was 5. She’s 32 now.
Linda -
I sure hope you find a way to get another cook stove.
Know just what you mean about the soot and ashes.
By this time of the year (spring, I'm getting pretty darn sick and tired of the ashes, soot & entire wood mess. I'm looking forward to the warm weather when I won't be using my stove.
After a summer's vacation – I'm ready to go again
Well, I am alot smarter about wood cook stoves now. That was alot of good info in one small package there Granny Miller. Thanks for all that information.
Granny, if you don’t use the wood cookstove in summer, how do you cook? I live in a rural area and many people here are off the grid, so I’m sure there are more than a few of these gems out there. I’ve considered one for my kitchen, but not sure how it would work out. I’m thinking it could easily heat our house, though! But summer – ugh! Do you cook outdoors?
Mamma D -
I keep a camp stove in the kitchen during the summer months for all my canning and I have an barely functioning electric stove also in the kitchen.
When the electric stove gives up the ghost I’m going to buy a small LP gas stove. If you check the archives I think I have a rant somewhere about my electric stove. It might be under “Summer Kitchen”
Mamma D -
I keep a camp stove in the kitchen during the summer months for all my canning and I have an barely functioning electric stove also in the kitchen.
When the electric stove gives up the ghost I’m going to buy a small LP gas stove. If you search the archives for “camp stove” I think I have a rant somewhere about my electric stove
I have seen kerosene “Perfection” stoves in Amish homes. That would be my second choice for a replacement summer stove after LP gas.
Great post! Thanks for writing it. We just bought a farm in Maine with a Waterford Cookstove. Can you explain more fully how to adjust the two cook-top dampers? The say open & shut, but I can’t seem to adjust them to get the oven hot enough to bake anything very well. The whole thing is pretty clean, but as soon as we can allow it to cool off–very cold here at the moment–I will give it a thorough cleaning.
Podchef -
I’ll answer your question in this month’s ASK GRANNY with pics. Should be posted April 1
HI Granny, I am so excited to find your blog! The cleaning information will be invaluable! We are looking at a wood cookstove that has a potential problem and I am not sure if it can be fixed or if its even a worry. The inside of the firebox has a cast iron “liner. It is made with holes in it of course but the bottom of the outside has a piece about 1 inch by the full depth of the box looks either broken or burned off. Is this a problem? There is a door for filling over this area. If so do you know if it can be repaired? I want this stove so badly and live in Alaska so a wood stove can be used about 9 months (or more) of the year quite nicely! We heat with a wood stove already. Peace Connie in Alaska
Connie -
I don’t know without looking. If you can – email me some very clear pictures from different angles so I understand exactly what you mean.