The electric power went out this last Saturday. I decided to fire up the wood cookstove and fix eggs and pancakes. However, I spent so much time running back and forth to the main part of my kitchen to get salt/pepper etc. Where do you who use a wood cookstove set anything down without melting it? My stove does not have a warming oven or anything above the cook surface so there is no place to set anything like spatulas etc. For you that do have a warming oven attachment does that inable you to put spices and utensils on it without being too hot? Also, every fry pan I tried the handle became extremely hot. I have tried those cotton potholders that slip on the handles of castiron, but they are easily burned. It was very unhandy to have to use a potholder to work with any pan, especially flipping eggs and pancakes. Lastly, I had some refrigerator cookie dough so got that out and when oven was 350 degrees I put in the cookies. No problem other than how do you cool it down when it heads for 400 degrees. How is this controllable? I tried opening the oven door for a little bit. I have to admire you who do this on a full time basis, by the time the power came back 3 hours later I was ready to turn the air conditioner on!! Since it was only 37 degrees outside I had every door open and still it was 80 degrees in the kitchen.

-- (Mamafila@aol.com), January 14, 2002

Answers

if the pot holder dont work well,,use a leather glove, like a welders glove,,or the like. How far away is your stove from your kitchen? How about a "TV " tray ? or some other small table that can be easliy moved out of the way?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 14, 2002.

COOKING ON A WOOD STOVE IS BECOMEING A LOST ART----- I still have to keep moveing things atround on the top of the stove to keep from burning things --as I sometimes don't have the art of controling the fire box well enough---- Where do you put it to keep it from melting???

I have a tray -kind of like a T.V. tray I put the things I will need while I'm cooking----it is really kind of like when you cook on an outside Grill---you have to plan a head-- & I also have a small table I put things on that is not far from the stove---the trick is to plan ahead!! What will you need & have it there & ready to use--

I have a warming oven---but I use it to keep things warm as I'm working on something else I'm cooking---as sometimes I'm not good at cooking several things all at one time!! Yes sometimes things could melt if it was placed on the warming over--depends on what it is!!

I use oven mitts to move things around on the stove by the handles-- don't put anything on the handle unless you want a fire on the stove top!!!

Ok let your fire dye down to the temp you want to bake---don't poke up the fire to increase the heat---while you are bakeing--- kind of get it to the heat you want & then damper it down---

Did that help---mainly practice!!!!! Practice makes perfect!!

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), January 14, 2002.

You need a two-shelve tv-cart (on wheels) handy for all the necessities (spices, pot grippers, welders gloves) of cooking. Then you need to have a water pistol (sprayer will do) to cool down the firebox when it gets too hot and finally a temp gauge to indicate that it is too hot.

-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.

It takes a while to get the hang of it. The first year we had ours (it is our only source of heat in a large house), we learned a lot. One night it was about 10 degrees outside and we had every door and window open it was so hot in there. =) Do you have not only air inflow controls, but a flue type of control? I have a Pioneer Maid. When I want to bake, I don't have to make the fire so hot, but close the flue a bit so that the heat circulates around the oven and not up the pipe. Also, if things are too hot, just keep moving them across the surface away from the side with the fire box. We also have one hot spot back and center where I keep a pan of water to put humidity in the air. I use those little handle potholders for my cast iron skillet, but I take them off, when I am not actually using them. A little table near by is needed. Don't put it on the firebox side though. As far as turning down the oven... Good luck. When I bake bread in the oven, I go by looks and smell. Sometimes it takes 15 mins. and sometimes 45. Hope this helps.

-- Marci (TheBlubaughs@amazinggrazefarm.com), January 14, 2002.

You will LOVE cooking on the stove when you get the hang of it! If nothing else, put all the spices and stuff in a box and sit it somewhere you can reach it.

We cook a lot of stews, soups, dry beans, and that kind of thing on our stove, something that needs to simmer all day.

For other things, our Ashley wood heater's top raises, and we can set a skilled right down on top of the fire box and then you can do everything you want to from frying eggs to frying pork chops. good luck!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), January 14, 2002.

An apron, with lots of pockets, or how about your husbands tool belt you could hang the spatula off the hammer clip :) HA! Use an apron, and then try to figure out lots of one dish meals that you can whip up. Fry your potatoes first when nearly done put in any precooked ham or steak leftovers, then swirl in the eggs, all in one skillet. Now is not the time to be making cookies! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 14, 2002.

Thank you for your help. The kitchen is about 15 feet away from the woodstove, which is actually in the eating area. It does have a lever on the side of the stove and the back of the stove that controls the airfow, but moving those did not seem at the time to make a great difference in temp. Since I had no idea how long the power would be off I wanted to try something in the oven and didn't want to face the disappointment of ruining bread. I have seen those silver teflon coated potholders, anyone have any better luck with them? I guess the small table will be the way to go.

-- (Mamafila@aol.com), January 14, 2002.

Go to a cooking ware store and check out the leather sleeves they make to fit over handles. Very nice and less likely to catch fire in use. I leave them on the handle when the pot is off the heat, to keep us from picking up the handle and forgetting how hot it is! They have a grommet that you can hang them from if you wish. Reasonably priced.

-- Anne (Healthytouch101@wildmail.com), January 14, 2002.

Anne: Did you get yours locally or mailorder. Our nearest town with a kitchen store is 45 miles away and I will be surprised if they carry anything like that. Do you have a name brand? They may be willing to order something for me.

-- (Mamafila@aol.com), January 14, 2002.

We have used our cook stove for years now. It does take a while to get the hang of it for sure. Try and get the book Woodstove Cookery or another great book for all homesteading ideas is Countrywomen...this book has a chapter on cooking with a cook stove that is easy to understand. You will soon learn how to control your drafts to control the heat. It does take some work to keep the wood going and I guess that is why they might have invented the "modern" stoves and ovens. But...give it another try and I'm sure you will be great at it. Nothing like pancakes made on a cook stove !!! Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), January 15, 2002.

I used one for a few years, it had air controls that basically controlled how hot the fire got and another air control the diverted more or less of the air around the oven. Even with a quite hot fire the oven temperature did not go very high unless air was being routed around the oven. It was necessary on that particular stove to get the fire well started prior to opening the oven control. I was in the tropics then so the temperature in the kitchen was probably 75 or 80 degrees Farenheit without the stove!

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), January 16, 2002.

I have both of the books that Helen mentioned, and second her opinion that you can learn a lot, FAST, with either.

My cookstove is a beautiful blue antique (covered with nickel-plated decorations)from an old farmstead in Maine. It has a double warming oven and an eleven gallon water reservoir on the right side. I mooned over it for two years where it sat in a flea market with a $1500 price tag attached. Finally managed to save enough to buy it, and now I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Everybody told me that I would regret not buying a modern stove (electric or gas) - especially in the summertime - but I don't. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually easier to use than a modern stove. You have so much more control over temperatures. (Too hot? Just move your pan over to the cooler side for awhile. And with a cooking surface area 30"x36" (not counting the warming ovens and top of reservoir) you can put a lot of stuff on to cook at once - no juggling pots and pans to get everything done for big holiday meals or intense bouts of canning.

Besides various vents and dampers, you can control the heat by understanding the heating properties of different kinds of wood, too. For instance, where I live, we have a lot of cedar as well as ash, oak and hickory. Very dry cedar burns hot and fast so it is good for starting all fires in a cold stove, as well as making a good fire for quick meals when you just want to whip something up fast and let the fire die. (Like in the summer.) If you're baking, get the stove hot first, then keep and even temp. with a slower burning wood like oak or hickory. Experiment with the woods you have available. It doesn't take long to figure out what works best for each purpose.

As for a place to put things... since my stove is the main attraction in my kitchen, pretty much everything I need is handy to it. I wouldn't put spices on the warming oven though - they go stale fast with so much heat. Try buying or making a little caddy to hold salt and spices, utensils and oven mits. Then take that to your tray or small table. When you're done cooking, you can just put it all back in the caddy to return it to the kitchen. Saves lots of steps both ways.

Right now, my stove is busy boiling a pot of water for a cup of tea and keeping my dishpan full of dirty dishes hot while I answer this letter. (Guess I should have answered the one about washing dishes without running water too, since I haven't had any for ten years!)

Good Luck, and don't give up! Deborah

-- Deborah Stephenson (wonkaandgypsy@hotmail.com), January 16, 2002.