- 1). Chop and store wood. You can use an axe, a chain saw, or an expensive splitter, but make sure you have your fuel stored before you commit to cooking with wood. You don't want to have to start with an axe every time you're ready for a meal or find yourself in a tight spot if you need to keep something cooking and discover you're out of fuel.
- 2
Newer wood stove ranges often come with thermometers and smaller cooking surfaces.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Check your stove for a thermometer Some of the newer ranges have a built-in thermometer that allows you to check temperature and either add fuel or allow the fire to die to control heat. This will affect your heating and cooking method. - 3). Start your fire with paper or small kindling and a match or lighter. Add larger kindling and then logs, a few at a time, as you would when building a campfire. Take care not to smother a growing fire by adding large pieces too quickly. Use an accelerent if necessary but add it early in the fire-building process and allow plenty of time for it to burn off, as you don't want the fumes in contact with your food. It takes a wood stove at least 20 minutes to heat up, and a wood-fired oven about an hour and a half to reach an even baking temperature all the way around. By adding the accelerant early, you ensure that when the stove is ready to go, so are you.
- 4). Build your fire in the middle of the stove if you have a thermostat. Use the thermostat as a guide to raise and lower temperatures as you cook. Adding wood will raise the temperature, or you can allow the fire to die back and lower the temperature.
- 5). Build your fire on one side of the wood stove if you do not have a thermometer or if you'll need to cook several items at once over a range of temperatures. The burners over the fire will be hottest, while those on the opposite side of the stove will be cooler.
- 6). Cook your food based on the temperature and time it needs to cook properly. Use the temperature requirements in your recipe as a guide, or experiment until the outcome is just right for a particular dish. Eggs and coffee, for example, will need high heat, as will stir fries. Slow-cooked recipes like beef stroganoff, as well as some baked goods -- assuming you have an oven built into your range -- require lower but fairly constant temperatures for a longer period of time. Use the temperature requirements in your recipe as a guide, or experiment until the outcome is just right for a particular dish.
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