# Not done yet



## old greybeard (May 25, 2021)

Was planning on cleaning my pipe this week.  Not yet. Fri forecast high 51, low 39. And a inch of rain. Sounds like a good day for a hemlock fire, a good book, and peach pie.


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## begreen (May 25, 2021)

old greybeard said:


> Was planning on cleaning my pipe this week.  Not yet. Fri forecast high 51, low 39. And a inch of rain. Sounds like a good day for a hemlock fire, a good book, and peach pie.


Been in the 60s here during the day. No fires, but I would love a slice of peach pie.


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## clancey (May 25, 2021)

I'll take the rest and I bet you have some peach trees around somewhere to where we all can have peach pie--sounds good..c


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## old greybeard (May 25, 2021)

This pie was from our peaches we canned 2 years ago. And our 2 trees this year are loaded with tiny peaches. Had 2” snow on the flowers on 5/10, was hoping they’d produce.


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## BigJ273 (May 25, 2021)

Still burning?  That’s wild


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## marty319 (May 26, 2021)

Woke up to a bit of snow this morning.going to start the stove as it's 32° outside


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## Rob_Red (May 26, 2021)

Now that I stopped burning I get my satisfaction by checking on my 2 year wood hoard and coming up with different schemes to fit another seasons worth somewhere in my yard to make it a 3 year rotation.  Starting to sell my fiance on the fact that a holzhausen is actually decorative!

oh yeah... and my new chimney is STILL not done!


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## PAbeech (May 27, 2021)

Rob_Red said:


> Now that I stopped burning I get my satisfaction by checking on my 2 year wood hoard and coming up with different schemes to fit another seasons worth somewhere in my yard to make it a 3 year rotation.  Starting to sell my fiance on the fact that a holzhausen is actually decorative!
> 
> oh yeah... and my new chimney is STILL not done!


Just dealt with some serious heat yesterday and tried condensing my 4 cords of seasoned wood to make room for ALOT more. Reminds me how much i hate humidity.. also theres nothing wrong with a holzhausen


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## clancey (May 27, 2021)

Gosh Marty--still having snow and its real hot here...but I bet the air is nice and fresh there...clancey


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## marty319 (May 27, 2021)

clancey said:


> Gosh Marty--still having snow and its real hot here...but I bet the air is nice and fresh there...clancey


Was 27° here this morning,brought in the hot peppers and flowers from the cold,never fired the stove as I just painted her up nice and pretty and don't want to deal with the stink,one more cool night tonight then we are going to cheer up


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## old greybeard (May 28, 2021)

47 this am, hi 52 today, with 1.5” rain predicted. Not going above 54 for 3 days, lows 41, rain every day. Started the hemlock fire this am




Good opportunity to try our new old Wagner kettle. Took two hard boils with loose tea bags to clean out a small amount of rust. Made good coffee water this am, plan is to keep hot water for tea or coffee on the stove all day.


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## PAbeech (May 28, 2021)

Same here in pennsylvania, cold and rainy. Just pulled out my old zero clearence fireplace and im staring at my new pacific energy summit insert. I wish it wasnt cold out because im dying to use this thing


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## begreen (May 28, 2021)

PAbeech said:


> Same here in pennsylvania, cold and rainy. Just pulled out my old zero clearence fireplace and im staring at my new pacific energy summit insert. I wish it wasnt cold out because im dying to use this thing


An insert can not be installed in that space. See manual.


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## jetsam (May 28, 2021)

begreen said:


> An insert can not be installed in that space. See manual.



Sure it can.


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## PaulOinMA (May 29, 2021)

Thinking of having a fire tonight.  Mid-40s, cloudy.  Put on a sweatshirt this morning

My wife is visiting her parents in NJ,  I'm  thinking, do I really want a fire?  I won't ask the cats.  I know what their answer would be.


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## Stelcom66 (May 29, 2021)

For the first time ever I have a fire going in the wood stove Memorial Day weekend. I don't think it went above 50 today. I did buy some more plants for the garden and got them in the ground since more rain is coming.

Seemed strange working in the garden with the wood stove going inside.


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## old greybeard (May 29, 2021)

41 this am, 48 for our high. 2” rain. 
Making Crab cakes, and baked potatoes in the woodstove. 
74-80 degrees inside all day.


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## marty319 (May 29, 2021)

old greybeard said:


> 41 this am, 48 for our high. 2” rain.
> Making Crab cakes, and baked potatoes in the woodstove.
> 74-80 degrees inside all day.


Crabcakes,I'm on the next plane


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## Stelcom66 (May 29, 2021)

Yea crabcakes sound good, not a traditional Memorial Day meal then again this weather isn't traditional. Typically this is the weekend I remove the firewood rack  from the living room, clean and vacuum around the area to make room for a pedestal fan. None of that this weekend.


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## Prof (May 29, 2021)

Rob_Red said:


> Now that I stopped burning I get my satisfaction by checking on my 2 year wood hoard and coming up with different schemes to fit another seasons worth somewhere in my yard to make it a 3 year rotation.  Starting to sell my fiance on the fact that a holzhausen is actually decorative!
> 
> oh yeah... and my new chimney is STILL not done!


Holzhausens are decorative. I put one on either side of my driveway and get a ton of compliments about them!


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## Caw (May 29, 2021)

Stelcom66 said:


> Yea crabcakes sound good, not a traditional Memorial Day meal then again this weather isn't traditional. Typically this is the weekend I remove the firewood rack  from the living room, clean and vacuum around the area to make room for a pedestal fan. None of that this weekend.



We also went non traditional and I made fried chicken. I debated lighting the stove as it's 45 and rainy but I couldn't get myself to go out back and lug in some wood. I already did the spring stove cleaning and all my burning tools are in the basement too. I'm letting the heat pump will carry the load, it's warm enough to be efficient. The tomatoes are loving the rain at least!

Who's hungry?


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## marty319 (May 29, 2021)

Caw said:


> We also went non traditional and I made fried chicken. I debated lighting the stove as it's 45 and rainy but I couldn't get myself to go out back and lug in some wood. I already did the spring stove cleaning and all my burning tools are in the basement too. I'm letting the heat pump will carry the load, it's warm enough to be efficient. The tomatoes are loving the rain at least!
> 
> Who's hungry?
> 
> View attachment 279182


Looks yummy,I'll bet the big galoute is drooling


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## kennyp2339 (May 30, 2021)

I lit the stove yesterday, full load of cherry and oak, house is way warm, never even made it to 50 yesterday, 41 at night, loaded a few pieces of cherry before leaving to run a errand, was surreal to see a whisp of smoke coming from the chimney with full green leaves on the tree's, more then likely going to keep the stove going today, moderate rain, sill very cool out, and to think it was 90deg w/ the central ac running last Wednesday.
About the only positive I can think of is that the pollen this year was horrible, very heavy due to a very dry May, hardly no rain here, so its nice to have the stove going, a few windows open and fresh crisp air coming inside, really enjoying it.


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## Stelcom66 (May 30, 2021)

Yes, that seems like a conflicting sight - smoke from the chimney with everything green and growing, and maybe a window open!

Here too, we need the rain which will benefit the garden. A question for those who cook inside the woodstove - I assume anything is wrapped in foil? Next fall I may try a baked potato that way.


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## fire_man (May 30, 2021)

Caw said:


> We also went non traditional and I made fried chicken. I debated lighting the stove as it's 45 and rainy but I couldn't get myself to go out back and lug in some wood. I already did the spring stove cleaning and all my burning tools are in the basement too. I'm letting the heat pump will carry the load, it's warm enough to be efficient. The tomatoes are loving the rain at least!
> 
> Who's hungry?
> 
> View attachment 279182


Ok you can't just post something that yummie looking without giving some details. 
Is that battered and baked and then Broiled to get it so crisp looking?


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## Stelcom66 (May 30, 2021)

fire_man said:


> Ok you can't just post something that yummie looking without giving some details.
> Is that battered and baked and then Broiled to get it so crisp looking?



Yea really - that could be on the cover of a cooking magazine! 

I've brought in a couple of 5 gallon buckets of wood from the garage. I have wood from cut up pallets for kindling on hand, using some of that too.


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## PaulOinMA (May 30, 2021)

Chicken looks great!

Yesterday's high in Worcester, MA was 44 degrees.  7 degrees lower than the previous record of 51!


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## kennyp2339 (May 30, 2021)

Stelcom66 said:


> Yes, that seems like a conflicting sight - smoke from the chimney with everything green and growing, and maybe a window open!
> 
> Here too, we need the rain which will benefit the garden. A question for those who cook inside the grill - I assume anything is wrapped in foil? Next fall I may try a baked potato that way.


I've gone about things a few different ways, assuming your referring to cooking on the woodstove itself. 2 type of cooking w/ a cast iron pan, 1st way the typical on top of the stove - grilled cheese, grilled vegetables, 2nd way when the fire is down to coal - throw the pan into the stove on top of the coals, great for a quick ny strip steak, grilled / roasted vegetables, chicken cutlets, 3rd way is the when the stove is down to coals, move them to one side and wrap potatoes in foil and throw them on the opposite side and turn them after 20min. 
Cooking with cast iron direct to coals is by far my favorite though. I went to walmart and bought a cheapo lodge 10" skillet, took it home and re-ground the metal with a grinding disk on a drill, took about 15min that left the metal smooth like butter, washed it out then took some vegetable oil and seasoned the pan in the over at 450 for 15min, that cheap pan is my favorite pan, so much so that I bought a 12", 16" & dutch oven, all doing the same with grinding, nothing sticks to the bottom and all it use is a little olive oil and butter when cooking.


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## Stelcom66 (May 30, 2021)

kennyp2339 said:


> I've gone about things a few different ways, assuming your referring to cooking on the woodstove itself.....



My bad - meant to say in the woodstove itself. Good tips on cooking inside the stove. I have a small pan I use in the outside grill, it may be suitable for use in the stove too.  Cast iron of course would be better.


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## Caw (May 30, 2021)

fire_man said:


> Ok you can't just post something that yummie looking without giving some details.
> Is that battered and baked and then Broiled to get it so crisp looking?



Haha OK fair enough and thanks for the compliments! We're a dark meat house so I use bone in thighs and drumsticks:

Start with a quick 5-7 minute parboil, cool on drying rack, then a 12-24h soak in buttermilk. Remove from the milk and coat extremely liberally with seasoning then dredge in flour that also has more of the seasoning mixed into it. I use a mix of paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and, pepper. I let the chicken sit for at 15 minutes before frying to allow the flour to adhere well. I use canola oil at 350 in my Dutch oven to fry until golden. Peanut oil also works very well, actually a little better imo, but its very expensive so I stick with canola.

You can skip the parboil step and go with raw chicken but I find that just the quick 5-7 min really helps the chicken finish in the oil without burning the crust or sacrificing flavor and you can just focus on getting that golden color. The real key is being heavy handed on the seasoning and allowing it to adhere before frying. 

Bon Appétit!

Perhaps frying in the stove top would take it to the next level but I wouldn't want all that splatter on my stove!


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## fire_man (May 30, 2021)

Caw said:


> Haha OK fair enough and thanks for the compliments! We're a dark meat house so I use bone in thighs and drumsticks:
> 
> Start with a quick 5-7 minute parboil, cool on drying rack, then a 12-24h soak in buttermilk. Remove from the milk and coat extremely liberally with seasoning then dredge in flour that also has more of the seasoning mixed into it. I use a mix of paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and, pepper. I let the chicken sit for at 15 minutes before frying to allow the flour to adhere well. I use canola oil at 350 in my Dutch oven to fry until golden. Peanut oil also works very well, actually a little better imo, but its very expensive so I stick with canola.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the great details! 

The darker areas on some of the pieces looked like broiling was involved but it sounds like it was totally deep fried. I agree with the parboil, I use a similar method making the greatest buffalo wings.


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## Caw (May 30, 2021)

fire_man said:


> Thanks for the great details!
> 
> The darker areas on some of the pieces looked like broiling was involved but it sounds like it was totally deep fried. I agree with the parboil, I use a similar method making the greatest buffalo wings.



Yep, parboil makes more dishes but it's worth it. I think steaming would work too if you had a big enough apparatus. 

Full deep fry on the chicken. The dark spots are where the chicken contacted the dutch oven as it was frying. Those are the best bites!


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## begreen (May 30, 2021)

Moving the cold weather cooking to the Inglenook.


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