Tips and tricks for cooking with a wood stove (and my adventures with learning to use one!)

There are so many types of wood burning stoves and cooking on any of them takes practice. One great tip I gleaned from a vintage wood cook stove book was the use of what the author referred to as "kitchen wood".

Kitchen wood is simply pieces of branches roughly the same diameter and length. By adding one at a time you can keep a steady temperature for your oven. As mentioned in a comment above, first get the stove hot and then start cooking as it stabilizes / cools.

On a modern wood cook stove with a stainless steel top, although there are rings you can remove I haven't found that necessary. I simply cook with them in place. Stoves are hottest over the firebox and cooler the further you move away from them.

We have an advantage our ancestors didn't have: handheld infrared thermometers. You can use one to check the actual temperature anywhere on the stove top and in various locations in the oven.

What you don't want to do when using the oven is to get impatient about how long it is taking to get warm and add too much wood. Then you'll end up with your oven too hot -- and better be watching what you're baking so you don't burn it!

There are many advantages of a modern wood cook stove. They can be more airtight, fuel efficient, and burn for 12+ hours so it is still warm when you wake up even if you sleep in.

Features like a summer grate allow you to cook on the stove top without getting the stove very hot for very long. And optional water reservoirs are a great heat sink for retaining water when you're asleep or not adding firewood.

You can also get a glass oven door, a thermostat (not accurate, but a good guide) with airflow adjustment to control oven temperature, and even a coil for heating water for your sink and bath.

Many stoves offer a glass firebox door, a feature I wish I had but couldn't get in the stove I wanted. I feel in love with the Kitchen Queen Grand Comfort because of the two glass doors, but it is way too big for my square footage.

Kitchen Queen Grand Comfort



Kitchen Queen Hearth Master (for smaller spaces)