A month or so ago Ken surprised me by announcing that it was time to start researching wood cookstoves! We've talked about getting one for a long time but I thought it would be in the far distant future. Well, our gas (propane) bill has been so high this winter and the electric bill doubled too! We have to do something. With almost 30 acres of woods it's crazy not to take advantage of all that free fuel. It's also tax season and the refund we will be getting back will almost pay for the stove.
So, after much looking and weighing of pros and cons we boiled it down to the Pioneer Maid. It's made by an Amish man and used in many Amish and Menonite households. We chose it because it will also heat up to 2000 sq ft. of space. So hopefully we can wave goodbye to those high heating bills. The one we ordered is just like the one in the picture above. It will have the optional water reservoir and warming oven.
We're expecting it to be delivered on Monday and the sweep is scheduled to come and inspect the chimney too. Not sure when we will have it up and running though. Ken will have to set it up and connect the stovepipe and all that. Then the fun will really begin. Cooking with wood is a whole lot different than using a regular stove. There are no knobs for setting the temperature you have to learn where to place your pans for high or low heat and regulating the oven temperature is something you have to learn too. I have no previous experience with this so look forward to pictures of burnt offerings!
I found some neat looking recipes on the Maine Windjammers Association website. All the cooking is done on wood cookstoves in the galleys of these schooners.
Also found this interesting article .
I'm so excited! Can't believe I'm actually looking forward to cooking. It's a breakthrough!
No comments:
Post a Comment