What happened to the styled stoves?

[edyit]

We really want a cook top stove for the frequent power outages.

if the power is out that frequent and that long i have 2 words for you: gas grill

 

[SpaceBus]

if the power is out that frequent and that long i have 2 words for you: gas grill

Yeah, in the summer... It's winter and power outages are common along the coast with the high winds. Is it so uncommon for someone to want to have a cook top on a wood stove? Like, this was the primary means of cooking for 99% of human history.

 

[georgepds]

Re "woulda call Woodstock, but I will bet they will say it will cook you out. However, I was at one of their picnics and a fabricator told me you can always build a smaller fire..."

I have a Woodstock PH,1500 ft2 house

Until it gets very cold, I just build small fires.. works just fine

And, if you are looking for a "pretty"stove, it's pretty. good

 

[edyit]

Like, this was the primary means of cooking for 99% of human history.

drying and pickling. but more to the point, most stoves have to really be going to get them hot enough to cook on top of them, then there is the mess that goes along with that, simmering a stew or chili on top is probably the norm but if i was to actually have to fry up some chops or burgers for dinner during an outage i'd fire up the grill and use that

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

I was living in an RV for two years heating and cooking with Propane (in NC, not Downeast Maine), and I hate the glass top stove in the house. Maybe some day we will get a nice gas range, but first to deal with the cracked defiant. I think the Oslo would bake us alive. To be fair we do have four sliding glass doors, but otherwise only like seven windows. The Jotul F400 seems like a good stove as well. It just seems you can't get the exquisite Castings of the really old stoves but they are very hungry and dirty.

Sorry for my long winded reply regarding the Oslo - I thought you were using your Defiant in your current place and just wanted to comment that so far the Oslo seems to be a good replacement for my old Defiant. Good luck in your stove search!

 

[Simonkenton]

Good God haven't you looked at the Jotul Oslo? It is as pretty as a Vermont Castings. Plus it is a good stove, which makes it different from the Vermont Castings.

 

[begreen]

As much as I love the stove, I'm not sure the Oslo is a good fit for this situation. Like the Defiant it is a strongly radiant stove. A cast iron clad stove is going to have a softer, more even heating and will be less likely to cook them out of the space. They are also easier to cook on without your legs turning crispy.

 

[SpaceBus]

Sorry for my long winded reply regarding the Oslo - I thought you were using your Defiant in your current place and just wanted to comment that so far the Oslo seems to be a good replacement for my old Defiant. Good luck in your stove search!

No, I appreciate the input. We like the way the Defiant looks, and it does heat very well, but is a bit big for our house. I've been having to run it in a less efficient manner. I'll be cleaning my chimney a few times this season.

 

[KennyK]

Yeah, in the summer... It's winter and power outages are common along the coast with the high winds. Is it so uncommon for someone to want to have a cook top on a wood stove? Like, this was the primary means of cooking for 99% of human history.

Here’s a pic I found on this site of cooking on a Fireview. Guess it depends what you are trying to cook, but can be done for some things.

 

[Woody Stover]

Here’s a pic I found on this site of cooking on a Fireview. Guess it depends what you are trying to cook, but can be done for some things.

Right, for just warming something up a Fireview might be OK. That pic looks like they have the extra stones on top, that would be even less temp and slower heat transfer. Not sure what those pans would have in them; They're certainly not boiling water. If actual cooking is a priority, not just warming, I would go with a dedicated cook top such as the Alderlea. Like most people, I'd imagine, we never cook on the wood stove. For the rare power outage it would be a peanut butter sandwich, a can of salmon or maybe warm up a can of baked beans, corn etc. Or toss in a tin-foiled tater.
I would think a tube stove would work OK in a well-insulated house; The slow heat loss of the envelope would smooth out the heat curve cycle of a tube stove burning smaller loads, as would a cast iron jacket. It still wouldn't be the low burn and even heat of a cat stove, but pretty good I'd think.

 

[SpaceBus]

Right, for just warming something up a Fireview might be OK. That pic looks like they have the extra stones on top, that would be even less temp and slower heat transfer. Not sure what those pans would have in them; They're certainly not boiling water. If actual cooking is a priority, not just warming, I would go with a dedicated cook top such as the Alderlea. Like most people, I'd imagine, we never cook on the wood stove. For the rare power outage it would be a peanut butter sandwich, a can of salmon or maybe warm up a can of baked beans, corn etc. Or toss in a tin-foiled tater.
I would think a tube stove would work OK in a well-insulated house; The slow heat loss of the envelope would smooth out the heat curve cycle of a tube stove burning smaller loads, as would a cast iron jacket. It still wouldn't be the low burn and even heat of a cat stove, but pretty good I'd think.

What is a tube stove? I imagine the old barrel stoves, but I have a feeling that's not what you mean.

 

[begreen]

What is a tube stove? I imagine the old barrel stoves, but I have a feeling that's not what you mean.

Slang created by the local cat community for a non-cat stove, though a misnomer. Many non-cats don't have secondary tubes.

 

[georgepds]

Re cooking

My wife cooks potatoes in the WPH.

She wraps them in foil and throws them on top of coals, much like I used to do as a kid with burning leaves

 

[firefighterjake]

We've been trying to get a chimney inspector, but there aren't very many and it's difficult to get them out here. I really don't want to do anything to the chimney unless there's a problem. The chimney was serviced before the house went up for sale. The chimney was built to accommodate a stove with an 8" flue. This house was bought by the previous owners to be a summer house, but it wasn't intended to be used like that. On the bright side the house is mostly in great shape since they rarely used it.

You're a little farther east . . . but if you cannot find anyone send me a PM. One of our Lieutenants on the fire department is a chimney sweep. He's in Orland . . . which is admittedly a fair distance from Machias, but I know him and his work.

 

[firefighterjake]

There are also a few antique wood stove restoration shops. We aren't opposed to buying an antique Parlor or cottage stove, but I have a feeling it will be hungry. I'm the kind of person that likes to buy one of something and be done. We really want a cook top stove for the frequent power outages. All of the cook top stoves I've seen, antique or modern, so far are bigger than we need. I'm hoping to make a lifelong purchase, so I'm pretty thorough and I don't want to compromise if I don't have to. I hope I'm not being unrealistic in my search.

Many stoves may not have an official cooktop . . . but if one really wanted to cook a bowl of soup, beans or chili on their stove top I am reasonably sure most every stove could do so . . . although there may also be some mess.

In my own case I prefer to not use my woodstove for cooking, although I have been known on the rare occasion to cook a rib eye or chuck eye in the stove by putting them in a cast iron frying pan and placing this on hot coals . . . it cooks remarkably fast, but the pan is HOT!

 

[SpaceBus]

You're a little farther east . . . but if you cannot find anyone send me a PM. One of our Lieutenants on the fire department is a chimney sweep. He's in Orland . . . which is admittedly a fair distance from Machias, but I know him and his work.

I'm actually in Machiasport on the other side of East Machias. Orland is pretty far, but so is the next closest chimney sweep in Gouldsboro. I'd be glad to pay him if he is willing to make the drive, but it would have to wait until early December.

 

[SpaceBus]

Many stoves may not have an official cooktop . . . but if one really wanted to cook a bowl of soup, beans or chili on their stove top I am reasonably sure most every stove could do so . . . although there may also be some mess.

In my own case I prefer to not use my woodstove for cooking, although I have been known on the rare occasion to cook a rib eye or chuck eye in the stove by putting them in a cast iron frying pan and placing this on hot coals . . . it cooks remarkably fast, but the pan is HOT!

I don't plan on cooking on the stove frequently, but it would be nice to be able to cook a pot of soup or stew if the power is out for a few days. Some day I'd like to get a early 1900's combination stove for the kitchen that can cook with wood or gas. I don't know if those gas stoves would work with propane, but I've heard the conversion is easy. I hate this glass top currently in here.

 

[georgepds]

In ordinary gas stoves, if you want to use propane in place of NG, you use a different nozzle (not sure what the technical term is)


These come with the stove if you buy at HD

Probably the same technique for older combo stoves

 

[SpaceBus]

Thoughts on a Morso 2B Classic for my house? We do have four sliding glass doors, albeit with insulated drapes. Otherwise few windows. It's a salt box with 1300 sqft, most of which is a large open space where the stove will be. The 2b classic is only rated for 1200 sqft, so we would be running it wide open most of the time. I do feel like even in this mode of operation, it would be more efficient still than my old, beat Defiant. I have to operate the Defiant closed down quite a bit unless it's bitterly cold, which is also not good for efficiency. Even when it was in the single digits and windy, I still couldn't operate the stove very high. The bedroom is right above the stove and the chimney runs through the bedroom as well. The Morso seems like it might be just enough, but if anyone has experience with it, I'd like to hear it.

 

[nola mike]

Not to get too far off topic, but interesting reading through this thread that the fact that my cook plate on the 602 runs 150-200' hotter than the rest of the stove top I'm now realizing might be an intentional design feature. Always thought it was just a quirk of the stove. Learn something new everyday.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

Not to get too far off topic, but interesting reading through this thread that the fact that my cook plate on the 602 runs 150-200' hotter than the rest of the stove top I'm now realizing might be an intentional design feature. Always thought it was just a quirk of the stove. Learn something new everyday.

I'll get off topic with you for just a second and second your comment about learning something new everyday! This forum was a huge help in my making the decision to go with the Oslo 500 to replace my old VC Defiant, then more help with learning how to burn it, and I now I continue to pick up little tidbits of information that are interesting to me and help me to be better at heating with wood!

Regarding the cook plate (or the Top Cover) I too was a bit shocked at how much hotter that was than the Stove Top where Jotul tells us to measure the stove top temp. I figured out that the main flame (heat) path to the stove pipe is right under the Top Cover, so that's why it's always going to be hotter, especially during the first parts of the burn cycle. I've never checked, but once you get to the coaling phase of the burn, it's probably a bit hotter than the stove top, but probably not by much.

 

[1000degree]

Have you had the chimney inspected by a pro thoroughly? As i said before it may be fine and if so thats great. But if it is from the 70s it probably doesnt have proper clearances and chances are the clay isnt in as good of shape as you think

 

[1000degree]

our 1599 sq ft one story Ranch style home built in mid eighties, had a centrally located masonry chimney that was tile line, we bought it in fall of 1994. Tried to use the chimney for 1.5 seasons with an Ashley, then a VC Resolute.
Constant draft problems,
How that old masonry chimney past the
Mortgage home inspection is a mystery.
So in fall of 1996, we had professionally installed a 15 foot x 6 inch straight, stainless, insulated, no bends or elbows, from top of stove to the cap. That flue served the VC Resolute from 1996 -2017
No regrets,
Fast forward to jan 2018, we had this chimney inspected buy a professional sweep,
Before we installed a Woodstock absolute steel hybrid, he said condition was excellent , not bad for a chimney starting its 24th season..

 

[SpaceBus]

our 1599 sq ft one story Ranch style home built in mid eighties, had a centrally located masonry chimney that was tile line, we bought it in fall of 1994. Tried to use the chimney for 1.5 seasons with an Ashley, then a VC Resolute.
Constant draft problems,
How that old masonry chimney past the
Mortgage home inspection is a mystery.
So in fall of 1996, we had professionally installed a 15 foot x 6 inch straight, stainless, insulated, no bends or elbows, from top of stove to the cap. That flue served the VC Resolute from 1996 -2017
No regrets,
Fast forward to jan 2018, we had this chimney inspected buy a professional sweep,
Before we installed a Woodstock absolute steel hybrid, he said condition was excellent , not bad for a chimney starting its 24th season..

I ended up with a Morso 2B Classic, but the flue is a bit oversized. I cleaned the stove pipe and clay liner just last Wednesday and got less than a gallon of flaky creosote and I've been burning since around Thanksgiving, we got the Morso to replace a broken 1975 Defiant mid December. I'm hoping to get an insulated liner into my chimney without breaking the clay flue liner. I think this will make my setup much safer and improve performance a little. I can't imagine this stove putting out more heat than it already does, but I guess anything is possible. I do find cold starts, even with a small bed of coals, are fairly difficult because of the six 90° bends in the smoke path. I have a feeling double wall pipe with two 45's and the liner will make cold starts much easier.

 

[TWilk117]

drying and pickling. but more to the point, most stoves have to really be going to get them hot enough to cook on top of them, then there is the mess that goes along with that, simmering a stew or chili on top is probably the norm but if i was to actually have to fry up some chops or burgers for dinner during an outage i'd fire up the grill and use that

The manual for my cook stove says to put aluminum foil on top of the stove if you didn’t get the enamel upgrade..