Cooking on wood burner

[rockchick]

We have just moved into a new house and now have a woodburning stove. Lit it for the first time at the weekend - it was fantastic. Anyway, its got a flat top, is it possible to cook on the top of it? I thought if I got everything boiling hot on the hob then tranferred to a casserole and left it on the wood burner I should be able to slow cook something? Or is this wishful thinking?

[Annpan]

You sure can cook on it, I do stews and soups on mine (like a slow cooker) you can also cook baked potatoes and other things in the hot ash (when the flames have died down)

When I have mine on full blast in winter I transfer everything from the hob to the wood burner after it is boiling (sauces, pasta, rice, etc)

If you don't have one already you might find it useful to get a stove thermometer for it, then you'll know when it is hot enough to cook on.


ETA - get a stove top kettle too

[Big Al]

You sure can cook on it, I do stews and soups on mine (like a slow cooker) you can also cook baked potatoes and other things in the hot ash (when the flames have died down)

When I have mine on full blast in winter I transfer everything from the hob to the wood burner after it is boiling (sauces, pasta, rice, etc)

If you don't have one already you might find it useful to get a stove thermometer for it, then you'll know when it is hot enough to cook on.


ETA - get a stove top kettle too

Any more tips from people for cooking with wood please. I'm looking at a borsky on Saturday and would dearly love ot be able to cook from the first day without too much trouble.

Alan

[farmerdrea]

It also helps if you can temper the heat by setting the pot or pan on an iron trivet, and be sure to use insulated pots or pans, or cast iron, or you will scorch things on it when the winter fire is going. We use our wood stove all winter, as it's our only source of heat, so I cook on it often, stewing and steaming mostly, but I've made some puddings with a casserole dish inside a pot with a shallow level of water in it, and they've turned out pretty well. You just have to experiment. Our top on our woodstove is cast iron, so holds a LOT of heat. It's an Osburn from Canada.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[Thomzo]

Well, all of the above really.

I do miss my stove, when I had a Rayburn, I used to cook on it all the time. I have used a flat top as well. No need to put things on the hob first. Just pop the pan straight on the flat top. It might take a bit longer to get there but no wasted gas. You will need really thick cast iron pans though (think le creuset then buy a cheaper equivalent). A thin pan is fine on a gas stove but I've had them melt on the solid fuel.

Do get a trivet or two as suggested by farmerdrea. This really does help to moderate the temperature. Get the stew boiling by putting it straight on the stove then simmer on a trivet.

Keep a kettle of water on there for your tea. When you've used some, top it up and you'll have hot water whenever you need it. Stand it up on a trivet to keep warm and then stand it "down" to boil it. You can keep a metal tea/coffee/chocolate pot warm on there as well.

You can roast as well if you have a big enough cast iron casserole pot. Put the pot straight on the stove and put the trivet inside the pot. Put the food on top of the trivet. You just need to keep checking it and allow plenty of time.

Check the fire regularly as wood can die down quickly.

Happy cooking
Zoe

[Penny Lane]

We have an outdoor wood burner and have cooked potatoes, red peppers, onions etc all wrapped in foil in the hot ashes. The most we've done with the 'hob' part is heat baked beans but I plan on using it more if we have a dry winter

[witch way]

[quotequote]

Any more tips from people for cooking with wood please. I'm looking at a borsky on Saturday and would dearly love ot be able to cook from the first day without too much trouble.

Alan[/quote]

Hi Big Al, good luck with the boski. We love ours. ww.

[John Headstrong]

right now I have a small pan of chick peas simmering away and a huge pot of chicken stock bubbling down.

soups and stews are the way.

also for a cheap/free trivet you can use the tops from old gas cookers.

[rockchick]

This is all fantastic news! Unfortunately (?) it has been quite mild here today so haven't lit the stove but am getting quite excited about the possibilities. I may need to consider investing in a slightly more serious cooking pot as I'm not sure my 2.99 casserole from woolies will be up to the job - we'll see, it has served me well so far.

[gdb]

hey you lot!

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?

[Mrs Moustoir]

I've been tempted to light mine some evenings - but I put a cardigan on instead!

[Green Aura]

Don't forget your kettle! I keep mine on a trivet on the coal-fired central heating boiler and lift it down when I want a cuppa - only takes a few minutes. And I dry my herbs and seaweed above it (although that's probably an obvious one).

[Big Al]

Don't forget your kettle! I keep mine on a trivet on the coal-fired central heating boiler and lift it down when I want a cuppa - only takes a few minutes. And I dry my herbs and seaweed above it (although that's probably an obvious one).

It's not an obvious one at all green aura.... at least to a potential newbie like me for wood burning stoves.

I wasn't going to buy wood prefering to scrounge old window frames, pallets, waste wood out of skips etc How much wood do you stock pile at any one time for your fuel ?

Can anyone point me in the direction of web pages that give burn rates of woods or is this a suck it and see type of situation??

[Annpan]

hey you lot!

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?

So far I am only burning last years hedge prunings, and even then I have only lit it about once a week.... If I had a never ending supply of lovely free dry logs I would have it lit much more, but jumpers and 2 pairs of socks are always used first.

[witch way]

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.