I never saw my grandmother spit on the top of the stove to see if it was hot enough, but she sure could have since she sometimes chewed tobacco when she ran out of Winstons. It was over a 10 mile drive to the closest store to buy more, so she would grab a chaw of my Grandfather's plug tobacco in the meantime. She would grab an old paring knife and cut off a hunk for a chew. We won't even talk about the coffee she made. They were a tough old breed!

My grandfather ran a sawmill outside of Skowkegan for years, and I can remember him telling about the old lumber camp cooks he knew when he was young who would never scour out a cast iron skillet. They would just wipe them out after use, but not wash them. My wife and I use cast iron fry pans all the time, and we don't wash them either. Just wipe them out with a paper towel. They almost get like teflon after years of proper use and care.

Someone on the post said that breads and cakes seem to turn out better in a woodstove oven. I agree. Someone told me that the reason is that the hot air circulates around the outside of the oven in a wood stove. In a regular oven, the electric element or gas flame is inside the oven itself and tends to dry the air out inside the oven and also dry out the food. Don't know, but it seems to be possible.