The Art of the Wood Cookstove

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Most traditional designs of cookstoves have a lever to lift the plate over the firebox so wood can be loaded from the top. This may be convenient but it often results in smoke leaking into the room. The reason is no mystery: Hot smoke not only wants to rise, it always takes the path of least resistance. By lifting the top plate, an opening more than a square foot in area is created, while the entrance to the flue where the smoke should go is far smaller.

Even in systems of perfect design, with the chimney running straight up and no elbows in the flue pipe, top loading is likely to produce spillage. Although both the Tettemer-Keetch and Faris households have excellent venting systems, they both recommend against top loading because of the problem of leaking smoke.

In Illinois, Kaylegian loads her cookstove from the top and doesn’t find smoking to be a problem. Like King, she recommends new users first figure out what all the dampers and controls do and how to use them. She also cautions against burning wet wood and suggests taking the time to learn your stove’s idiosyncrasies. But she says not to be intimidated by the challenges of using a wood cookstove. “No one ever taught me how to cook on my stove,” she says. “I just did it.”

Once you learn the quirks and mannerisms of a cookstove, you may be unwilling to trade it in for a more conventional appliance. Kaylegian says she has reconciled herself to not using her stove during the hottest days of the summer, but for 10 months out of the year, she definitely prefers it to her gas stove. And King says, “There may be better stoves, but ours has stood by us for 20 years. It’s an old friend.”

John Gulland is executive director of the Wood Heat Organization, www.woodheat.org, in Killaloe, Ontario. He develops training programs for wood-heat professionals, is a consultant on wood heat to the Canadian government, and uses wood fuel for cooking and heating in his home.

What to Look for in a Used Cookstove

New wood cookstoves can cost as much as $5,000, so buying a used stove at a reasonable price is an appealing alternative. If you are lucky enough to find a used wood cookstove, the next challenge is to see if it is worth the asking price and suitable for use.

To inspect an old cookstove you’ll need: work clothes, leather gloves, a flashlight and a screwdriver. Make sure the cookstove has enough clear space around it so that you can get a good look at the back of the stove.

The first thing to establish is that all the parts are in place and functional. Finding replacement parts for old cookers is always difficult and often impossible, so starting with a complete stove is essential. Firebox parts are often the first to go, but luckily they are the simplest parts to replace. Sometimes a burned-out grate can be replaced with a facsimile grate from another stove. The casting on the oven side is another common failure point. With some care, a replacement can be formed using castable refractory, a high-temperature concretelike material.

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