How to Cook on a Wood Stove Stovetop

It is possible to cook a full meal on a wood stove like this one.

Cooking on a wood stove that is meant for heating might not seem difficult, but it is significantly more complicated than cooking on a gas or electric stove. If you keep a few important things in mind, it's possible to cook a full meal on a wood stove stovetop.

Things You'll Need

• Firewood
• Newspaper
• Pots, pans

Instructions

1. Build a fire inside the firebox. Start with newspaper and small sticks, then move up to larger kindling and, finally, logs. When the fire is blazing you can start to cook. Make sure the chimney is open. Use the appropriate damper to open it if it is not. The air-intake damper should be completely open when you light your fire.

2. Use the whole top surface for cooking, according to the heat of each area. The part of the stovetop directly above the firebox (whether the firebox is to the left or right) is the hottest. The next hottest is the middle of the stovetop, and the coldest area is across the front of the stove and away from the firebox.

3. Use the dampers. The chimney is already open, but there is another damper that affects air intake. The less air you allow through this damper, the smaller and cooler the fire will be.

4. Use cast iron or steel pans on the stovetop. Remember that you can't turn down the temperature. Instead, you must move the pans around to the areas with differing temperatures. If you want something to stay warm, you can place that item in its pan on a removable metal grate on top of the stove.

5. Clean the ash periodically from under the oven and the firebox. If you don't keep the ash cleaned out, your stove won't maintain a steady temperature.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't place wet pots or pans on the stove. Doing so will rust the stovetop.

• Clean the stovetop frequently.

References

• Countryside and Small Stock Journal: Learning to Cook on a Woodstove
• Homestead: Cooking on a Wood Cook Stove