Oven for the Wood Stove

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I have a grain grinder and a supply of both whole grain and flour. My weak link was the ability to bake bread, cassaroles, roasts, etc. without power.

I have heated solely with a wood stove for 10 years, so I wanted to make the woodstove act as an oven.

What I did was to fabricate a sheet metal box (open on the bottom) that just fits on the top of my woodstove. I had an old, rusted out charcoal grill that had a neat cast iron door for ash removal. I incorporated this in my design and ended up with a box roughly like a microwave oven in size. It also has a grill about 2" off the bottom so whatever is cooking will not be sitting on a cooking surface. I found a thermostat for 2 bucks at wally world that allows me to keep an eye on the temp.

I have no problem maintaining 300 degrees F. This bakes bread in about an hour (and, yes, I have tested it). BTW I am using one of those 39 dollar grinders, and am very happy with the results. It should also bake many other dishes, just have to develop the cooking times.

Hopefully will not need to use this come summer, but if I do - I can easily move the woodstove outside and still have an oven that does not need electricity.

-- justtryntohelp (beenthere@donethat.com), November 20, 1999

Answers

Thanks for your inovation. Think this would be a great idea for all of us to have, that use a wood stove. Will get hubby to make one. We will enjoy the smell of hot bread, through the holidays too. Thanks again.

-- Suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), November 20, 1999.

For those not mechanically inclined, or with less than the full 41 days to spend constructing one, COLEMAN makes a little portable bakeoven just like this, designed to fit over our outdoor propane stove. It includes a thermometer front-mounted on the door. Should be at your GI Joe's or other sporting goods store. I thnk there are 3 or 4 manufacturers selling this sort of item -- very useful -- for about $30.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), November 20, 1999.

I purchased one of those colman ovens and it works well but somewhat small. So---I went to the local St. Vincent de Paul and got an old metal bread box---it'll heat up to around 300 (so far) enough to cook slow and has much more room than the colema---this particular one even has a shelf in it! so I can bake maaybe 2 loafs of bread at a time.

-- catherine plamondon (anotheridea@junkstore.com), November 20, 1999.

Ooooo.... Good idea. Probably dirt cheap too. I'll check out Good Will this week. I hear tell you can also get great OLD cast iron there, cheap. Thanks.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), November 20, 1999.

My local Wal-Mart sells pizza cooking stones with rack for under $10. I think it will be a great item for the top of the wood stove. Especially to keep soups and stews simmering without scorching. I had a great metal bread box and gave it away a few year ago because it had some rust spots on it! Oh to be that innocent again!

-- Carol (glear@usa.net), November 20, 1999.


I don't remember who said this,but you can use a metal mail box,maybe for loaf pans.

-- Maggie (aaa@aaa.com), November 21, 1999.

Well, I never got to fancy, but a large roaster pan on the surface doesn't work half bad. Elevate the roaster pan or the food container in the pan depending on what you are making. Cornbread in a cast iron skillet, flipped once it is done enough works. *Johnny Cakes they are called I think. You can also do alot in a cast iron skillet with a good lid.

I have gotten a dutch oven also, but haven't tried it out yet.

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), November 21, 1999.


There's another method to make bread using
a dutch oven. Dig a hole about 2'x2'. Build
a fire and wait until it is just coals. Cover
with green leaves. Put your bread in the dutch
oven and onto the bed of leaves. Cover the pan
with leaves then dirt. In an hour your bread
is cooked. Make sure that you have plenty of
insulation between the coals and the cast iron,
otherwise the crust will be too thick and hard.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), November 21, 1999.

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