Who has one and what is it? I'm looking at ordering a Margin Gem from Ontario. Diane told me about her experiences on the other chat while we were down. Anyone else with an opinion on their favorite wood burning kitchen range?

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2002

Answers

Hi Alison,

I have an old 1936 Kalamazoo stove. I made a couple of comments about it on the Over the Fence thread this week. I've cooked a couple of things ON it (and a real *meal* this past weekend) but I haven't really baked anything substantial in it yet. I was pleased to see that the outside thermometer (on the oven door) really works, and also that I can control the oven temperature pretty well (now that I've learned a few tricks with types of wood, size of wood, damper adjustments, etc.)

Personally, if I could afford it (!), I would consider getting a new Waterford! I think something new would be better (has to be more efficient....more like regular woodstoves). Probably more airtight! Man, my little stove just EATS the wood. However, the last time I looked at a Waterford, it was well over $3,000 (US). I paid $350 for this one!

I think the cooktop is wonderful! I hope I get good results from the oven, and I would LOVE to hear more (please, please!) from diane on this...

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2002

Sheepish, those waterfords are very pretty but when I questioned a local dealer about them she told me that she would think twice about them. Since the replacement parts need to come from Ireland its not real convenient for you to fix your stove when it needs it. For instance a customer had her order a replacement part for something that doesn't need replacing YET but will...that was in November..the dealer has still not recieved a part. She's just glad it wasn't an emergency! I read an article in Cottage Life Magazine too about wood burning cookstoves and Waterford owners were interviewed and not one said that they'd buy another. Just incase you winn the lottery and can afford one....:o)

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002

PS....I had a chance to get an older wood cookstove but since its not CSA or UL approved its a no go house insurance wise. That bites!! I really liked the idea of an antique stove!! Lucky you!!

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002

Hi Guys,

I cook on an English Rayburn, which sadly makes a waterford look cheap. I love my stove though and it is supposed to also run radiators but we havn't gotten it hooked up.

I had friends with a Waterford in Wisconsin and I would certainly reccomend them. If we hadn't gone with the Rayburn we would have gotten a Waterford. My stove holds coals all night and is really efficient with the wood. WE hope to hook up a heated towel bar in the bathroom to heat that room from the stove. Buying it was a huge expense but our one major splurge.

I have a question though (and I just posted this on Countryside). I have an opportunity to buy a cook stove from a man for $250. I need a second stove for my outside canning kitchen. I just had the high bid for a gorgeous old stove on ebay but sadly didn't reach the womans reserve price (about 4x my bid). While I would also love an old stove I have to be practical about the canning stove or we will have more money invested in stoves than the property!!!!

The gentleman who owns this stove said he bought it new at Buck Stoves several years ago and has never hooked it up. It is basically a cast iron stove, I'm sure it's not airtight, has a warming oven and is made to look like an old stove but isn't at all decorative. Have any of you heard of cook stoves from Buck Stoves? I've looked at their web sites and can't find anything about them. I almost think this was something one of their dealers was carrying right before Y2K (which is when this man purchased it). It sounds like it might be ideal for our summer kitchen but I don't want to get it here and then not be able to use it cause it doesn't draw, or the firebox melts or something. David would kill me!!!

If you have ever heard of these stoves please let me know. Kim

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002

We have a Pioneer Maid.It is made about an hour from here.Lemans used to sell them but in y2k the demand exceeded the supply and the makers did not supply them.It is amish made and all that is used in the communities here. To my knowledge it is the only airtight cookstove?? We also have a consolidated dutchwest stove made by vermont castings,it sucks compared to the maid.I fill the stove and damper down before bed,and I can boil water in the morning by just opening a damper and adding no wood.It is'nt ugly but it more of a workhorse than a pretty stove.Mine hold eight loves of bread.We bought the warmer and the reservoir and it was under 1,500 Canadian funds (in 1997).They do ship anywhere too.My surface cooking area is 24 x 52.If you want to contact the gentleman he goes to a community phone only one hour a day to recieve calls.They are made in Aylmer,Onrario by the Stohl families.

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002

Teri, Pioneer Maids are NOT the only air tight stoves, they may be the least expensive available though. When we bought our first wood stove, an Enterprise we considered the Pioneer Maid but it's large size made it impractical for our small kitchen. I had heard that Mr. Stohl was no longering making the maid though, that someone else was. If people are interested I would suggest calling Lehmans as they are very helpful. We bought our Norwegian heat stove from them and they bent over backwards to help us and even got it sent directly from the ship to us at no additional shipping charge. Mind you, since then they have stopped carrying the JOtuls - I don't know why. Kim

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002

Alison, I know your laws are different, but our local stove company gave us the clearance specs for our (ancient) stove to be safely installed (we did it ourselves). (We also bought the stove from a private party). The stove takes up a LOT of space, though! Clearances are deep and we have metal walls (over that special tile board stuff) behind and to one side of the stove. Plus a concrete base under it.

Of course, I have a fire extinguisher close by, too...AND it's in the bunkhouse, not the main house...

Anyone want to talk about bread baking tips 'n' tricks? I'm thinking of trying to bake in it this weekend. (Probably won't have time, tho).

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2002

Sheepish, We bake bread all the time in our stove. The trick is to put it in when the temp. is holding constant or even decreasing, not when it is going up. If you are just heating your stove it is too easy to get bread dark on the outside but uncooked on the inside. I also turn my bread half way through. I bake on a middle rack.

Kim

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2002

Like I said before Sheeps, you are one lucky gal!! When I contacted my house insurance company it was basically "not approved, no insurance". I was told that it had to do with testing a sample of the appliance to make sure it met all codes including , in some provinces, emissions. The stove that I wanted to get was only $300 and needed a part replaced but would still be cheaper than a new one. And it is a drop dead gorgeous stove. But alas, no go for us. Hmmm...maybe the guy should list it on Ebay?? Teri, the Margin Gem is made by the makers of Pioneer Maid. Thats one reason why I am so excited about it. Its not the work horse the PM is but a really pretty stove and is purported to be quite good and its less expensive than the stoves I can get locally. A bit of thread drift here... Are Amish people and Mennonites the same? The propaganda for the Margin and Pioneer say Mennonites make them but then the dealer in Ontarion I spoke to said Amish and now it was said here too..are they the same or totally separate and different groups of people? Just curious.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2002

Kim,thanks for correcting me ,I wasn't sure.Mr.Mark Stohl died in 2000,and his sons and nephews are continuing to make the stove as it is.We just when up there for new bricks for the firebox.I also buy my flour from a couple there who grow organically and grind it while I wait.Alison,we are in Ontario and our insurance allowed us to put in an antique stove prior to us buying the maid.There were certain conditions and clearances .We coulda sat on it though when it was cranked,it never did put out much.!!!! teri

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2002

No, Amish and Mennonites are not the same people. During the time of the Reformation Martin Luther and Menno Simon and several others began reading the Bible and disagreed with the Catholic Church about infant baptism and many other things. There was a big riff and many persecutions and martyrs. Martin Luther recanted to save his head and Menno Simon kind of escaped with his life for a while anyway. Long story short, a man with the name of Ammon (I think I spelled that right) decided that the Mennonites were getting to "worldly" and broke off and started his own sect. Although in many ways their "doctrines" are almost identical, their way of moving about and relating to the world and their "rules" are very different, even among the Amish and Mennonite churches.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2002

Geesh, this is why I love this forum, there is always somebody who knows the answer to everything. Thanks Diane.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2002