You all seem to be such proficient chefs. Well here is a place to share some of that cooking knowledge. Or do you have a cooking problem? Ask away. Jams and chutneys go here too.
witch way wrote:We use ours for hot water, cooking and heating so at the moment we fire it up for an hour or two in the evening which takes the chill off, allows us to cook and heats the water. As for the amount of wood you need - make an estimate and then x it by about 5. I have no idea as to the formal calculations for different types of wood but if you can imagine the space of a half a normal domestic garage filled up to shoulder height with carefully stacked wood, well that lasted us for 3 (winter) months, and we are not wasteful. This was (I think) pine offcuts from a roof truss factory which burns through quite quickly. We also scavenge, tips and skips for pallets etc., The point is I suppose, if you are totally dependent on wood, overestimate your needs. ww.
Thanks WW.
Now that's a shock!! I'm well spacked out and it will only get worse in the next 10 years so maybe collecting this amount of wood will not be for me....hmmm I need to think about this.
Thanks.
Alan
Member of the Ishloss weight group 2013. starting weight 296.00 pounds on 01.01.2013. Now minus 0.20 pounds total THIS WEEK - 0.20 pounds Now over 320 pounds and couldn't give a fig...
Secret Asparagus binger
You can buy it, and it is still cheaper than gas/oil/leccy
Where I am £50 will buy a cubic meter, we go through a cubic meter a month, on full pelt I would imagine we would use less if we had an insulated house
Ann Pan
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
i'm in sweden and i havent lit my stove yet. and you are all firing up and cooking on yours already.
am i being very hard or are you lot just going very soft?
We've only lit ours a couple of times since March! We had double glazing installed in February and with south facing windows the full length of the house we daren't light the boiler until the evening or boil ourselves! Once it's lit it's hot for hours. Should cut our coal bills from £25/ week last year by at least half.
Google something like wood burning calculator. I've seen something that tells you how much you'll need, can't remember where though.
Maggie
Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Anais Nin
Member of the Ishloss weight group 2013. starting weight 296.00 pounds on 01.01.2013. Now minus 0.20 pounds total THIS WEEK - 0.20 pounds Now over 320 pounds and couldn't give a fig...
Secret Asparagus binger
Stews and soups yes... mine is definitely not a 'slow' cook! I'll have to get a trivet or two to enable me to simmer - thanks for the tip about old gas cooker rings. And boy do I wish I'd got myself a burner with a bigger top surface, now I've started cooking.
If foraging for wood just remember - nothing with tar in, and not first-year conifers - both will clog up your chimney with nasty resinous deposits, difficult if not impossible to get rid of.
The other really good tip is to put a drying rack over the stove if you have space. I used to be able to dry a pair of jeans over mine in less than an hour. Quicker than a tumble dryer. And no condensation to worry about either as it's all drawn straight up and out of the chimney.
And, of course, if you have cats or dogs they will love you for lighting the fire.
