If you want to be more self sufficient and not be shackled to the local utility company you might consider installing a wood cook stove. This is definitely an alternative lifestyle choice and will likely be more suitable for country dwellers rather than suburban dwellers. However, that being said, it would be worth a trip to your building code office to see what options you have even if you are a city dweller.

Antique and Restored Stoves

Be especially careful if you are buying an antique restored wood cook stove. Some might be restored to be visually beautiful and decorative but may not have been properly restored for cooking. There are many manufacturers of new wood cook stoves that take advantage of new technology and emissions standards that would make it worthwhile to buy a new rather than restored cook stove.

Placement of your stove

Consideration must be given to clearances from combustibles such as walls and furniture. The specifications for the wood stove that you are considering can be acquired prior to making a final decision. This is important because you will need to determine if you have the appropriate space to provide the stated clearance from combustibles and protected surfaces for each model.

You will also need to consider how the stove will be vented. If you have a fireplace and can locate the stove to be vented up the chimney it would be ideal. If that is not the case you may have to install new venting.

Flooring should be non-combustible such as cement or brick or stone.

Size of cook top and oven

The size of your cook top and oven will be dependant on the size of your family and how much you cook or bake. The other consideration will be your living space. If you bake a lot then you will probably want to give more attention to the size of the oven. The entire surface of the top is used for cooking and you will either move you pots closer or farther away from the firebox depending on your needs.

Firebox

The size of wood the firebox will accept is different for different models. It could be 12 inches up to about 24 inches.

Side load, front load or top load are all options for loading your fuel.

Fireboxes can be lined with firebrick or cast iron lining and either is acceptable.

Availability of fuel

You need a readily available pile of wood in your kitchen. It needs to be cut to fit the firebox in length and needs to be split to a small girth. The stove specifications will indicate the size of log it will accept. Your stove will not be built to take a large log that will smolder and burn all day. Different types of wood should be available for different types of cooking. A hardwood will burn longer and will be appropriate for longer simmering or baking. A softer wood such as pine will be used for a sizzling hot frying application.

Time

Wood stoves take a long time to heat and get ready for cooking. You must plan ahead.

Optional water tank

Many wood cook stoves have optional water tanks that operate with heat exchanger coils. You can heat enough water for cooking and bathing or you might choose to just have a small reservoir that would provide water for cleaning up.

Optional gas burners

It is a nice addition to have a couple side gas burners for convenience for quick small meals.

Cooking on a wood stove will take some practice and you will have to get familiar with the dampers and experiment with how much wood to load and when to reload and what kind of wood works best.

Be prepared to spend significant time cleaning and maintaining your stove. The ash will need to be cleaned out daily and the soot that builds up around the area will have to be cleaned up regularly.

For some good advice on how to cook on a wood stove see the article Off-Grid Cooking with Your Wood Stove by Bethany Learn

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