Cook Stove with Catalytic Converter

[begreen]

Running it hot with the bypass open may help a bit, but if baking the flue gases get cooled down a lot more as they circulate around the oven. Plus you normally don't want a too hot oven for most baking so you normally burn a more moderate fire.

Personally, my experience with Swiss Army knife type tools that do a lot of things is that they are handy for occasional light use, but a pita for daily serious use.

 

[bholler]

Running it hot with the bypass open may help a bit, but if baking the flue gases get cooled down a lot more. Plus you normally don't want a too hot oven for most baking.

Yeah cook stoves generally burn dirty. Even ones without dhw systems still make allot of creosote. The only ones I have worked on that don't are the esse 990s

 

[SpaceBus]

Yeah cook stoves generally burn dirty. Even ones without dhw systems still make allot of creosote. The only ones I have worked on that don't are the esse 990s

I'm attracted to the 990 and Irhonheat since they are more for cooking than heating. I don't need this to heat, just cook and help the DHW load. Obadiah's seems to have many happy customers with cook stoves heating DHW. I do expect more creosote and maintenance for a cook stove. It's more economical for me to clean the system twice a year than pay for propane, oil, or electricity. I also like the cook stove because of the rave reviews they get as cooking appliances, especially since I hate the glass top that came with the house.

 

[trguitar]

While not technically a cooking stove, there are regular wood stoves with catalytic converters that have cook tops. The Woodstock Progress Hybrid is one. It has three burners on top, all at different heights. You probably can't bake bread in it, but you could definitely cook food in it at the end of a burn cycle when the temps are not so blazing hot inside, and coals are all that's left.

 

[begreen]

Good point trguitar. There are many stoves can be cooked on top of. Our stove works very nicely this way. However, what makes cook stoves unique is that they have an oven. The best of them have an evenly heated oven. The poorer cook stoves have ovens that have hot spots, typically on top, that tend to broil better than they bake. Because the flue gases are circulated around the oven, a good cook stove also has access ports or some method to facilitate cleaning all passages that the flue gases can take. The poorer units do not and can be a royal pain to clean.