Cooking on a woodburning stove

Latest Articles

Cooking on a woodburning stove
Page 1, 2 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing

Author

Message

Toffer

Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 247
Location: Sutton St Edmund, Lincs

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 3:47 pm Post subject: Cooking on a woodburning stove
I was reading the thread about wood burner appreciation with interest, we have a Clearview pioneer which burns wonderfully, when we finally move to the country I'd love to get a wood burning range in the kitchen and another stove with a back burner in the living room. Does anyone have a similar setup? Can you cook normally on a woodburning range or is there a limit to what you can do?

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 3:52 pm Post subject:
IMO, there's not really a limit other than you have to plan ahead a little more with your cooking.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 4:24 pm Post subject:
The biggest bit to plan is having a LARGE FREE SEASONED wood supply. Till you use one 24/7 you wont realise just how much wood it can eat in a year. I did some calcs once & worked out I would need to spend 6 full working weeks doing 5 days a week & 8-10 hour days to cut split & move enough wood to feed a wood rayburn for a year worth of cooking & domestic hot water.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 4:24 pm Post subject:

bodger wrote:

IMO, there's not really a limit other than you have to plan ahead a little more with your cooking.

I agree with bodger. You do have to pay more attention to fuel too, and get to know not only how your burner performs, but also how different types, ages and sizes of logs each produce a different [temperature] burn.

We do all our cooking on our small woodburning stove, and not preparing correctly can mean you end up eating at ten to midnight but apart from that you can eat just as well.

Trudging back from Wharram Percy last night we mused on how we were doing exactly the same thing as the people who lived there must have done- walking home to a wood burning fire to cook tea [albeit they wouldn't have been getting in the car at the end of the lane

]

welshboy454

Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 187

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 4:37 pm Post subject:
Has anyone seen one of these wood burning ranges ? https://www.broseleyfires.com/Range-Cookers/Thermo-Rosa-DSA_Range-Cooker.html

Toffer

Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 247
Location: Sutton St Edmund, Lincs

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 4:43 pm Post subject:
That is a good looking range, bookmarked for future reference

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 5:29 pm Post subject:
Nice looking. How much?

Dogwalker

Joined: 20 Mar 2007
Posts: 1231
Location: Mid Wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 7:17 pm Post subject:
I've got a solid fuel rayburn, burning wood at the moment, heating water, house, 3 radiators, drying washing and even learning to cook on it. Difficult to get it really hot for yorkshire pudds but possible. Having cooked on mains gas for the last 25 years it takes some getting used to but I love it. Also got a woodburner in the sittingroom that heats that room and the study.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 7:21 pm Post subject:
It would be interesting for those running solely on wood burners to provide an estimate on their fuel consumption. Some sort of base line in terms of rooms/occupancy would provide a measure by which others could get some sort of idea of how much wood they'd need.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 7:43 pm Post subject:
I think a beginners guide to cooking on a woodburner would make a super article? Any volunteers?

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 7:52 pm Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

It would be interesting for those running solely on wood burners to provide an estimate on their fuel consumption. Some sort of base line in terms of rooms/occupancy would provide a measure by which others could get some sort of idea of how much wood they'd need.

My place is heated soley by a Bosky Range, I am expecting to get through 6 cords of well seasoned hardwood this winter, A cord is 8ft x4ft x4ft here. It provides all of our hot water, we cook on it and it runs 9 radiators.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 7:56 pm Post subject:

i had a solid fuel rayburn for a while and have cooked on the top of a woodburner as well...

to ge t the temp up on the rayburn, i chucked a couple of well seasoned lumps of wood on the fire to burn quick and hot.some times it worked quicker than other times..you have to plan your meal carefully and be prepared to take longer than you would normally

on the woodburner top plate i could do everything but boil water quickly...i got into the habit of boiling the kettle and then pouring that into a prewarmed saucepan on the woodburner but even then it was a bit of a long job

whe we had no kitchen here for 4 months, i used the barbie outside to start off the meat to put into a slow cooker for the day...again a long old job and a real pain after a while...we ended up eating a lot of junk food from the microwave to be honest

but it can be done

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 8:11 pm Post subject:
I cook when-ever I can on the woodburner but find it is better to get things up to boil on the gas first then simmer on the woodburner. I also do jams and chutneys on the woodburner (brought to boil first on the gas) as they tend to burm on my rather vicious gas ring.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 8:20 pm Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

For this winter I have set aside 15 cubes (m3) mostly softwood but about 1/4 hard woods. Thats for a 5kw Aga Little wenlock.

I dont expect to use it all (I hope). When we cooked on the wood fired rayburn (and a 10kw stove) we used a about 30 cubes per year.

When cooking (or heating with no rads) on wood the numbers cooked or heated for dont matter that much. Either the cooker is hot enough or its not & the room / house hot enough or not.

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 09 8:23 pm Post subject:
it is great for some things...i used to do toast on the rayburn by just slapping the bread on the hot plate....best toast in the world i think, , proper toast..i really miss that rayburn, can't have one here... great for slow cooking stuff

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing	All times are GMT Page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

View Latest Posts