I just purchased an old Kalamazoo stove and I am wondering how to go about cleaning it. It is wood/propane. I just ordered the part it needed and I am really excited about trying it out. I am really new to this kind of stove and I am also wondering how you go about switching from using wood to using the propane. Can you just go ahead and use the propane one day and wood the next?(No question is a stupid one except one thats unasked right?) Thanks for your magazine and Thanks to all the people out there who make it possible. I love country living. I'm a novice I'll admit, but I wish I had been doing this all my life. Evelyn

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), June 13, 2000

Answers

you should be able to use both at the same time unless you are talking about the oven. Some combo wood/gas stove ovens will work on either, others don't. You could be cooking on the gas side and be heating the kitchen with wood or coal on the other side and or/ cooking on both.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), June 14, 2000.

Evelyn, I've used Monarchs, I don't know how much they are like a Kalamazoo. With a Monarch, you can use the wood and gas burners at the same time. I think you can use the ovens at the same time, but I can't remember. I've got one out in the machine shed but haven't hooked it up since we moved out here. I've been dragging my feet about losing space to yet another chimney. But maybe this year it will go in.

As for cleaning it, start with the "softest" and move up as needed. A good wash with soapy water to see what shape it is in. Then a gentle scrubbing on the bad spots with a teflon safe scrubber and some baking soda or Bon Ami. Steel wool if you must. If this is old, you'll probably need to embrace the "character" of the dings and unremovable stains. Be especially careful when trying to clean any chips in the porcelain (if it has any) you're more likely to break off more porcelain than clean it up. You can get a porcelain paint for bathtubs, but I don't think it would take the heat of a stove.

For the insides, sweep and vacuum out the fire box, and clean the ovens. Give them a scrub, warm the ovens slightly and turn off. Put a glass pan of ammonia in and let sit over night. Scrub the ovens again. Soak the racks if at all possible. Use a bath tub or wading pool if you can, if you can't, get them in a sink of soapy water and leave them for a couple of days turning them occasionally. If there's chrome on the racks and it is peeling, work carefully so you don't dislodge any more than you have to. And then just don't bake directly on the racks (ie use a pizza pan under your pizza, a bread stone under your bread). Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 15, 2000.