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9:27 am
April 20, 2011
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Does anyone here have a wood cookstove in their home? Why did you decide to get one in the first place? If you do have one, I'd be curious to hear what your experiences have been with it.
We were thinking of getting one for outside the house this summer, and possibly getting another one for indoors during the winter…unless it wouldn't be so difficult to move the outdoor one indoors for the winter? I have no experience with these things, so I guess I'll have to see! Our reasons for getting one revolve mainly around the cost of utilities these days…furnace oil, hydro. Wood is much cheaper and were we to use a wood cookstove that had water heating reservoirs, we could use it to cook, heat our water *and* heat our home in the winter. Sweet! 
11:47 am
November 18, 2008
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I've never owned one—-have almost always had a woodstove for heating though—-but have used one several times in "rustic" cabins in a state forest here in WV. They're pretty easy, but not terribly convenient. You have to plan ahead to get it going to the temperature you need, then watch pretty closely to keep it going without getting too hot. You need a good draft in the chimney, or you'll end up with smoke in the house. And smallish pieces of wood and a good bit of kindling is necessary. But, we/I have cooked/baked just about anything, including bread, cakes, biscuits and all the stuff you'd normally do on the stovetop. The ones I've used have a water reservoir which we used mostly for dishwater.
I think moving one in and out twice a year would be too much hassle for me—they're HEAVY !! 
12:11 pm
February 8, 2009
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I have a wood stove for heating the house and of course you can always heat up soup or cook something else on it if you want.
We do that if the power goes out, I cook on an electric stove so without power, we simply use the woodstove to heat up water for coffee and for soups and such.
Also in the winter I put my bread dough close to the stove to rise. we had one in our first house and simply love the heat, it is a complete different heat than from a radiator or hot air.
But like 52 said..to really cook on it..I think that is an art and VERY time consuming.
I also have an old woodburning cookstove..but because it is so old, there is not an insurance company who let you put that thing in the kitchen and let you cook on it..that means you have to buy a certified and insurance approved cookstove and that might cost you a "tat" bit more.
The old cook-stove I have, is in a shed and can be used to make hot cocoa and to keep the chili warm during our winter outdoor activities.
Those you can "scoop" up for a few dollars and it looks cute too in your yard, you can always try the cookstove outside and if you really like it, get an approved one for in the house.
12:39 pm
January 15, 2011
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We have a woodstove that we have heated with all winter. We got one because of the cost of fuel heat. We got the wood from the woods owned by my uncle, free. It was alot of work, but it really showed how we all could work together for the good of our family. We used the woodstove during the day and at night, we left it go out and set our fuel heat thermostat to 68 degrees. We used less than 75 gallons of fuel for the whole winter. In Pennsylvania, it was so cold this winter, but we stayed cozy. The dogs and the cat loved to curl up in front of it. We cooked soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and even eggs and ham! We will never go another winter without it.
4:51 pm
December 14, 2010
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We had a hybrid cook stove on the farm. Four lid wood fired cook top and four burner propane top. Each had a two section enameled cover that would fold down to cover the unused side of the stove. There were dampers to deflect the chimney gases around the oven when you wanted to bake and there was a gas burner for summer baking. We had a wood box next to the stove and it was the chore of the younger kids to keep the wood box full. That meant everyday or supper would be late. Ashes had to be shoveled out and taken out of the house often. The solid fuel section was equiped to burn hard coal but we never did.
5:06 pm
December 14, 2010
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A very good web site about wood fueled cook stoves. http://homesteadgardenandpantr…..ve-basics/
1:27 pm
April 4, 2010
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We just got an Oval wood cookstove 6 months ago and have been using it for just about all our cooking and baking. There is a learning curve to understanding how to operate and cook/bake on it. We'd heated with a woodstove for a long time, but I wish we'd gotten a wood cookstove a lot sooner! Now, I'm able to constantly do double duty…heat the house and cook/bake at the same time. We also want to find another one to put outside in an outdoor kitchen.
Our reasons were to save on our electric bill as well as the self-sustainability aspect. The one we bought has a hot water reservoir. One of our next projects is to hook it up to our hot water tank for the house.
I just bought "Woodstove Cookery" by Jane Cooper. It was recommended n Granny Miller's website. She also has a lot on her site on wood cookstoves.
Hope that helps!
Lisa
4:39 pm
April 20, 2011
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Thanks for all the replies guys! 
Yes, I've worried that it'll end up being a little inconvenient (or possibly more..lol). Maybe the best solution would be for us to get a used cookstove for outdoors for the summer, possibly experimenting with running a line inside to the hot water tank, and see how that goes, doing our cooking on it and such. I love to cook and have been having a lot of fun lately with all the recipes I've found on here…made my first pan full of cornbread the other day, with a big mess of beans, and made my first-ever batch of biscuits today. 
I'm kind of excited to get to experiment with cooking with wood heat. Hopefully I don't burn too many things! 
9:39 pm
August 15, 2008
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My hubby built a summer kitchen last fall and we just got the finishing touches done. It has water hookup via water hose…so I heat my water on the stove…countertops, baby fridge, shelves all around the top for storing empty canning jars, giant stock pots and canners..there is an herb drying rack over the large wood cookstove, there are 2 other stoves in there a fold down table for canning convenience and a barbeques pit. I have pics if I learn how to post them again.
We did this as a matter of simplicity and frugality. The self-sustaining thing. I did all of my canning outside last year and it saved bundles. I have learned to cook on the wood cookstove and it is quite a learning process. Bread has been my biggest challenge. Almost there. I use it to cook many meals and will until probably Thanksgiving. Practice and patience is my biggest advice to those who want to learn. Its great and I encourage all interested to try it.
11:10 pm
August 15, 2008
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Pete told me that pictures got easier…I will give it a try
It wasn't quite finished when I took these a week or so ago..I will post the inside tomorrow. Thanks for letting me share. I love my little kitchen!
5:55 am
October 17, 2008
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Great job, Birdi :)
I would LOVE to have a summer kitchen with a wood cookstove. Then one in the house in the winter…..sigh.
7:44 am
February 22, 2010
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Birdi, I have a touch of envy here…would love to have a summer kitchen! I hope you enjoy it this summer.
8:38 am
April 20, 2011
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What a beautiful summer kitchen! Sounds like it is set up wonderfully. :) Up here in Canada I've never heard of anyone having a summer kitchen but, with the temperatures getting up as high as they do in some areas during the summer, I have to say I'm surprised! Seems like it would be a good idea…
Ross: I've been perusing that website and there is so much information there! I knew there was a difference when it came to burning different types of wood, but didn't know what they all were…that site definitely explains it well.
9:42 am
May 14, 2005
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Birdi, now I need a summer kitchen!!!!! That is fabulous!!!
3:08 pm
May 5, 2011
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Oh, I bet that summer kitchen would be nice for doing your canning too. I would love to have a wood cookstove. We heat our home with a forced air wood furnace. It's the best heat. I don't really have a good place to put a wood cook stove, but I would love to have one. Especially when the power goes off!
9:29 am
February 10, 2009
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Oh my, that is absolutely fantastic cindi! I can't wait to see pics of it in place!
9:39 am
April 20, 2011
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Did I mention I CAN'T WAIT?? 
I'm so excited at the prospect of not having to use our old, oversized, fume-expelling oil furnace!! And equally excited about the thought of connecting the cookstove's reservoir to our hot water tank and then watching our electricity bill going DOWN!
We've decided to keep the electric range & oven connected for the first while though, so the learning curve isn't so steep. ;)
10:14 am
February 10, 2009
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Well, I only know a few people who have wood cook stoves, but they all have their modern stoves still available to them, either in the old spot in the kitchen or else moved to a basement or back room. Ontario is really not so far north that it doesn't get hot enough in the summer that firing up the woodstove is just not appealing, also, there's times turning on a burner is much more convenient than starting a fire in the fire box. I do know that getting a wood cookstove is a commitment which you have thought out completely, but there are just times that the modern version will really come in handy… just sayin' !
10:23 am
April 20, 2011
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lol…no doubt! Though we haven't completely figured out what we'll do come summertime (because you're right – it gets downright sweltering in this region in the summer months), we were bandying about the idea of getting a secondary old cookstove that would do for out on the deck, and then also running a water line from that one up to the hot water tank so we could still have our hot water paid for. ;) I'd LOVE to have a summer kitchen out in the yard, but it's doubtful that will happen. lol
As for having to start up a fire in the box for cooking, at least we won't have to worry about the inconvenience of that over the winter since the cookstove will be our primary (and hopefully ONLY) source of heat, so it will constantly be going. Fortunately the Flameview is supposed to be an efficient stove!
I'm sure I'll have many "oops" moments to report once I start cooking with fire…heehee
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