Our New Wood Cook Stove
Here she is. Our new 1930’s South Bend wood cook stove. I think I’m in love.
I’ve been waiting to show it to you until I’ve actually had a chance to cook on it, but I’m not sure when we will get it all hooked up and ready, and I just couldn’t wait any longer to tell you about it!
I’d been looking for a wood cook stove for the past two years. I scoured Craigslist several times a day trying to find just the right one. We looked at several, but none were in good enough condition for me to cook on, or else they were entirely out of our price range (like, over a thousand dollars!). I kept praying about it. And then, we finally came across this gem. The guy who was selling it had just bought a little cabin in the mountains which came with this stove. He knew he wouldn’t use it, and wanted it out of the way. The previous owner had still been cooking on it up until he moved out, so we know it works fine. I talked the guy down to $175, which is a steal in my opinion!
For those of you who don’t know much about these stoves, they are heated with wood, not electricity. You just need to run a stove pipe out through the ceiling or wall for ventilation. We have our stove in my husband’s workshop for now. I’m waiting for him to have time to hook up the stove pipe.
Here’s what the oven looks like inside:
Pretty neat, huh?
The temperature gauge is on the oven door:
Though I’ve heard that these gauges were notoriously inaccurate.
There’s a place on the far right of the stove where a water reserve used to be. We’re missing the bucket insert that would have held the water. It was used to keep hot water on hand at all times. It would have slid into the top shelf…
Maybe the bottom shelf was a bread warmer??
And here is what is behind the far left door. The top slot is where the wood pieces go. The middle slot is where you turn the grates to dump the ashes. And the bottom door opens to remove the ashes. I think it’s really cool that you can then use the ashes to make lye, for soap. (I’ll get there one day.)
The top of the stove has six burners. Two are round ones which can be removed to place wood in through the top,
The other four burners make up the flat spot directly over the stove.
I know it’s going to take a LOT of practice and getting used to cooking on this thing. But I’m dying to learn!!
If any of you have cooked on a wood cook stove, or have any tips for me, I’d love to hear what you know!
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Woohoo! Congrats! We got ours for about your price too. SO fun right? Somehow we didn’t get ours set up this winter. With a new baby it was just crazy. Ours looks a lot like yours:Woohoo! Congrats!
http://braidsandboots.blogspot.com/2009/04/who-needs-flowers-take-2.html
Congratulations!
Very cool! Congratulations for getting it for such a great price!
This is SO AMAZING!! I can’t wait to see what you learn to make with it…! Good job waiting out a bargain, too…makes it all the more wonderful…
My mom used to put a pot of beans with ham in it and cook all day. Also soup….brings back memories
I’m jealous…
It looks awesome!
WOW!! Great buy! That is beautiful. Very happy for you. I am looking forward to hearing how well it works and how difficult it is to get used to.
i am so jealous!!!!!!!!!
This is so cool. I’ve been wishing for a wood cook stove for awhile. My dad remembers his mom and grandma’s stove and how they would have the wood cut specifically to fit; one inch square pieces, 12 inches long, to start the fire. And then several different sizes of 2,3, and 4 inch square to regulate the temperature. He said his grandma had it down to a science…if she wanted 350 degrees she’s put so many of each size in and it would work like a charm. Keep blogging about how it works out. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Julia M,
That’s a great tip! I wish I knew her exact formula
Maybe I can ask around and see if any elderly women can give me some advice on that. Thanks!
Lehman’s store online has a book about cooking in a woodstove. They also have parts and accessories for stoves.
When I was little we had a wood stove, but I never cooked on it, and it got taken out not long after we moved in, so it wasn’t much time lol, but I remember. (it was my great-grandmas house, I am only 26, don’t want to seem that old) They seem like a great idea, maybe you should try and get the water bucket from one of the trashy ones on craigslist, and maybe you should get some bbq thermometers so you can stick them inside the oven to gauge the temperature until you have the hang of it. There are digital scanning thermometers that read temp without probing, but I would think they would be too expensive haha.
Sweet!
I’ve had my eye on one of the groovy new/expensive ones that can also officially heat your entire house as well as cook/bake (plus with a window on the spot where your fire is burning so you don’t have to constantly open it to check on the fire – no getting smoked out!). But that’s mostly because if/when we move we’d want to get a wood stove anywho, might as well go whole hog and make me happy as well.
WOO HOO! I just love that stove!
I have to say, I’m VERY jealous!
How exciting is that? Good for you. I love it.
As a small child I remember living with my great aunt for a while and she had a stove similar to that one. The older I get the more I admire that woman. Raising her own children as well as my brother and I, no indoor plumbing, working very part time, caring for her sick FIL, taking care of the chickens, laundry by hand, etc. The list could go on and on. The biggest thing I remember is her doing it all with a smile on her face.
Wow, you stove brought back a couple memories for me. I hope it does the same for your family as well.
If you can find a source for corn cobs (after the dry corn is removed to feed animals or for grain) they are excellent for burning in the wood cook stove and easier to regulate the temperature.
I learned to cook on a wood stove as a young girl in the 50s but my parents got a gas one in the 70s. I remember it being nice to be near the stove during the winter but extremely uncomfortable to be around in the summer. It was especially hot in the kitchen during the months of July and August with no air conditioning back in those days.
Anita-
Yes! I’ve heard about using dry corn cobs. I was told that they are best to burn during the summer, cause they don’t burn as hot as wood, and won’t heat up your kitchen as badly. Thanks for sharing!
I grew up with Mom and g”ma who both cooked on wood stoves, there was nothing like coming home from school and there was always a pot of soup on the stove made with leftover vegtables and some tomatoes sometimes meat sometimes not what a great thing… I would love to have one.
After years of dreaming I finally got to cook on a wood cookstove this past winter. I have always heard what a pain it was, but I found it to be simple! Just a matter of keeping an eye on the fire. The food turned out to taste better than any I ever cooked on the gas or electric ranges! Hubby and I looked at one for sale this week and will probably buy it YIPPEEE! The one i looked at was built in the 1930 and looks very much like yours! “Lorraine” even has her water tank in tact! Good luck and much enjoyment to you on learning to cook on yours! I do reccomend getting one of those cheap oven thermometers to use when baking. Peace and happy wood cooking! Connie
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