# Woodburning cookstove?



## msweeten (Jan 22, 2015)

We've had heat woodstoves in the past and with our new place we put in an outdoor boiler. I would love a woodburning cookstove. What should I look for in an older stove? Any brands I should consider or stay away from? Definitely not a new one.


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## red-beard (Jan 10, 2016)

I suggest you talk to Julie and Scott at http://www.offgridstovesandmore.com/. I work with them on Hybrid Solar energy systems, but their bred and butter is woodstoves. 

James


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

This is a 1932 Monarch stove that I bought in Orange county, Ca. for just 500$ Found it off of Craigslist.

I've installed it in my cabin's kitchen and use it extensively in the winter. What I've found is if I stuff the firebox totally full of 4"+ pieces of oak at ~11pm, there might be enough hot coals left the next morning to get the breakfast fire built.

Whenever you're looking at any used woodstove, cooking or otherwise, carefully check the firebox for cracks or burnt-out spots. The second place to look is the exhaust boot that comes out of the stove and connects the stove to the piping. Small holes can be patched with furnace cement, but intact metal is best. Look to see if all the control levers and flaps are functional. There should be a bypass lever near the boot to switch from burner heat to oven heat. Make sure that's working. Finally, use a flashlight to look inside the oven to make sure there are no cracks in the metal.

BTW, when I first met the seller, he said he had the stove appraised at 3000$. I showed him some pictures of the my cabin and the homestead, explaining that I was buying the woodstove because I needed a working stove, that I wasn't a collector. Told him I could afford 500$. His response was OK, if you're buying the stove because you need a stove, I'll sell it to you for 500!


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

That's a true work of art, Michael.....

Ours is a more boxy Pioneer Maid, of probably 1980-90 vintage, we also bought used locally. I stored it about 10 years until I got around to building our "auxiliary" kitchen/butcher shop off the back of the garage, and put it in there. Ours is more for a backup source of cooking than day to day use. Had I designed the house differently, I would have put a wood cook stove in the main kitchen, and designed the kitchen around it's use....but it was hard to go back and work it in later, which is why it ended up out back.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Hi msweeten. I've cooked on woodburning stoves a long time ,have a few. I look over every one I see, antique collector here. The +1 spot to check is the side of the firebox that is up against the oven. Firebox usally on the left, There should be guards that go between the oven and the fire. Those guards are usally missing or burnt out in areas of the Country that commonly burn coal. Here in michigan, I find many good stoves because we mostly use wood. Good old stoves arround here can be bought for 200. to 500. There are a few new ones I'd settle for too if cost did not matter. Good luck on your hunt and if there is anything I can help with, you can mail me on this site.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

msweeten said:


> We've had heat woodstoves in the past and with our new place we put in an outdoor boiler. I would love a woodburning cookstove. What should I look for in an older stove? Any brands I should consider or stay away from? * Definitely not a new one.*



Interesting you wouldn't consider a new one.....because the newer gasifer technology solves the problem all older wood stoves (cooking and heating) have, which is creosote. 

Wood cookstoves are especially prone to this as you often just want a small amount of heat to cook with, you're not using it to space heat.....which means you build a small fire, and keep the air choked down on it, which is EXACTLY what produces creosote.

You see that pic above of my wood cook stove install ? Now let me show you what you DON'T SEE....the 'behind the scenes' pic of liquid creosote that has leaked out of the horizontal flue, and run down the face of the tile.










THAT is what old stoves do....they produce lots of this....because when you stick that oak in at 11pm, choke the air off so you'll have a bed of coals in the morning, you get a slow burning, smoky, creosote producing machine.

The new gasifier technology they incorporated into new wood heating stoves, and a few cook stoves, reduces this to almost nothing...because it re-burns that smoke and particulates in the firebox before 95% of it escapes to condense out as creosote.

IF I were in the market for a cook stove, and *REALLY* planned to use it, *I'd be looking for the cleanest burning, low emission stove I could find.

*And those ain't the old ones...........

Further info:

Yes....I burn well seasoned, dry, hard wood.....15-18% moisture content (Yes, I have meter)...that is about as low an MC as you will get with any air dried wood....that still leaves a lot to produce creosote.

Yes.....I do have a chimney cap on this flue, no rain enters it.

Yes.....I do have a clean out door built into the outside of the flue, about 3' below where the thimble enters the vertical flue liner.

Yes, I poured vermiculite between the flue liner and the outer block to insulate the flue (cold flue for hot stove gas to condense on is a major cause of creosote) when I built the chimney.


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## ronjnk (Oct 1, 2011)

For the last 36 years, we've had a wood cook stove. A couple different kinds. 
There is already some good advice given. My 2 cents are the following: I'd want it air tight, fire brick lined in good condition and perhaps the potential to retrofit with a water jacket in case you want hot/cold running water heated by your stove. Water reservoir on the side might be an option too.


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## msweeten (Jan 22, 2015)

I can't afford a new one and just want one for back up and to supplement the heat from our boiler in the winter. I love the look of the older ones. I really like the idea of the water reserve. 

We have experience with small inside wood stoves, so creosote is not new to us.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Andy, I am happy to say that I can see your pictures of your stovepipe. My company has some kind of picture blocking software built into it's firewall, so I can see pictures while at work. What procedure are you using for inserting a picture into your posts?


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

MichaelK! Can you see mine?


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

MichaelK! said:


> Andy, I am happy to say that I can see your pictures of your stovepipe. My company has some kind of picture blocking software built into it's firewall, *so I can see* pictures while at work. What procedure are you using for inserting a picture into your posts?


Did you mean "can't" see above ????


I just use what is on this site.....click the yellow 'post card' looking button, when the box opens, (please enter the URL of your image) right click "paste" the image location you have gotten from someplace else on the web into that box, and it inserts it into the post.

For that image storage, I use a free one, Shutterfly (there are others). I upload my pics from my computer/camera to folders I have in an account there. I open them, right click on "save image location", the paste it as above.

You can right click on about ANY image on the web (unless they have it protected so you can't copy it), and do the same.....for example, I just right clicked over YOUR stove pic, copied the image location, and pasted it like so:











IF you can't see the above at work, then HT is a site they have blocked (among others) for images. Perhaps they don't have Shutterfly (the website I use for image storage) blocked, and that is why you can see them. 

You should probably tell your IT guy to add Shutterfly to the blocked list, as we wouldn't want you screwing off during work hours, huh ?


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

MK, I click on the long box under where one writes out a post. It says "Manage Attachments". A box will open and I can upload right from my computer.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Yeah, I don't use that one because I don't like websites having direct access to my computer.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

TnAndy said:


> Yeah, I don't use that one because I don't like websites having direct access to my computer.


ACK, I didn't know!!!!


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

Oops, yes, I meant "can't see".

For 7thswan, yes, I can see your pic of the stove surrounded by all your cast iron. Nice collection.

Andy, I can not see the copy of my stove pic in your response while at work. I can however see it when I'm at home.

Thanks for your assistance.


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## iahomesteader (Nov 9, 2011)

I have a large Pioneer Maid that I love! Bought it used at an Amish auction for $100 but did put new bricks in it. It bakes beautifully and puts out great heat in the winter. Probably the only thing I would like even more is if it had a side load wood box instead of loading from the top. Just means moving a pot, if you are cooking, to add more wood. We live near several Amish communities or there are some a couple hours away and when they move and have an auction there is usually a wood cook stove available. Hope you find something.


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## msweeten (Jan 22, 2015)

Finally found what we wanted! Needs some love, but that is ok!







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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I love the stove and can hear the door swinging open revealing real pie. Have fun with it.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Enjoy it! I have a Jewel made by the Detroit Stove co. tha was in an antique store and we put it on layaway. I didn't check it out as well as I should have, so it has cracks and things, but I am still able to cook on it. In the future, I have my eye on the Pioneer Maid.


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