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.
I have an antique and a modern cookstove. The antique one is a real pain, I know what was meant by Grandma was chained to the cookstove. All you do is keep feeding it with wood.
My home had a Waterford Stanley (also at Lehman's for more info) We love it. I can load the fire box at night and still have a fire in the morning. We usually use it on winter weekends.
We are fortunate to have two small windows above ours, which allow us to keep the kitchen a little cooler/.
Cambridge, NY, in the beautiful foothills of the Green Mountains.
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Re: cooking on a wood stove
Thanks for the info, Mike. We also receive the Lehman's catolog and I was thinking of getting the Waterford. It's nice looking and smaller than most. My husband though, wants an antigue stove. Although old ones look nice, I think we'll have problems with it in the long run. Maybe your reply will help him decide. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
Just a thought on house insurance policies. There may come a time when any stove but an airtight may not meet the insurer's standards and void the insurance policy. There are airtight cookstoves on the market.
My grandmother cooked on a woodstove till she was 85 years old. They do not provide instant heat but the stove has a lot more surface area with more variable heat areas to work with and provide the knowledgeable cook more latitude.
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