Old Woodstove, New uses?

marinemomtatt · #1 05/30/11, 12:49 PM

We've been given an old woodstove, this thing is HUGE (could fit a family of eight in it).
The stove is way too big for the house, so we're thinking about putting it in the backyard to use for cooking, melting wax for candles and the like.

We've always wanted to build an outdoor baker's oven.
Any thoughts on whether or not a woodstove could be used as such? Should we line the inside with bricks? Should we also put bricks around the exterior?
Fire in the box or under it?

I've tried to find such information on the web, but the best idea we've found is using old woodstoves as smokers.

Sanza · #2 05/30/11, 03:22 PM

Pictures please!!! I'm so jealous!
What kind of shape is it in?
Personally I wouldn't leave a old stove outside to deteriorate because of the weather .

Soon I'm going to start on making my own clay oven, but even those need some type of protection from the elements.
pm me if you want some good info.

7thswan · #3 05/30/11, 03:24 PM

Are you saying this is a wood cookstove or a woodstove?

meanwhile · #4 05/30/11, 03:40 PM

Was it a wood Cooking stove or oven to begin with?? Photos would help.

We use an old wood heating stove for cooking on top of. It is just setting on our porch, we do have it properly piped out, and we fire it up and cook on it.

marinemomtatt · #5 05/30/11, 03:54 PM

Regular woodstove, it has a two tiered top, double doors, pipe comes out the back (one of the reasons it won't work in our single-wide aluminum mansion).

We plan on putting it under a shelter back by our fire ring/cooking pit.

Our property owner purchased a piece of commercial property that he plans on renting out, this woodstove was in a pile of stuff in the back (building has another stove installed). He doesn't want to haul it off to the scrap yard and doesn't think he'd use it if it was in his shop, so he gave it to us (he and his wife unload a lot of stuff on us...they don't want to keep the stuff but also don't want to toss it).

The stove has yet to be delivered, I'll take a picture then (it took a ceiling mounted engine hoist to get it in the back of the pickup, don't know how we'll unload it).

I may be just wishing for something that we can't make work, but I think it would be grand to be able to bake bread during the summer (no AC here), and when the summer wind is howling it'd be fun to cook up a chicken or two where the fire and heat from the coals isn't constantly being blown away from the dutch oven.

I thought of another string of words that I can put into a web search, will check back.

7thswan · #6 05/30/11, 07:36 PM

Gosh, you could really do alot with it. I know what you are talking about, they have a bottom and top "shelf"( the top surface outside) usually made of sheet steel. Of course you could build something to make a box of a sort to cook in. Picture a H made of metal that goes over the wburner, and the top of the H is enclosed with a door. you could use it for all kinds of things, with different adapters made. A pan for boiling sap down, oven and if you don't mind the smoke, sure, fry and cook right on top of the surface. A bit of testing will tell you which Level is where a certain food wants to be. Just (like you said) keep it under a roof and as you use it , you will come up with many uses. If you really want/need to use it in your home. it is easy to put on an elbow and run it up thru the roof. Just need a good heat proof barrier where the pipe runs up.

trucker101 · #7 05/30/11, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanza

Pictures please!!! I'm so jealous!
What kind of shape is it in?
Personally I wouldn't leave a old stove outside to deteriorate because of the weather .

Soon I'm going to start on making my own clay oven, but even those need some type of protection from the elements.
pm me if you want some good info.

Why a PM? We are all here to learn new things, come on,

share with us all

marinemomtatt · #8 05/31/11, 11:10 AM

The woodstove is on the property now, still in the back of the truck under some things that need to go to the transfer station, so no hope of a picture yet.
I wandered about the back yard looking for the perfect spot...maybe by the Honey House.
Looked at putting it in my husband's shop but that would mean one of us needs to get rid of an engine (my Pontiac 400, or hubby's Chev 350, neither of us will budge...~lol~...)

I'm excited, I hate cooking indoors during the Summer. (all canning is done outside for sure).