Leebo said:
My wife used a wood cookstove for 15 years when she lived out in the woods in South Carolina. She swears by them...says baked goods taste better and cook more evenly once you get the hang of judging the heat. You can still buy wood cookstoves new in Amish country. Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio.
Your wife is absolutely right. Everything just seems to taste better when cooked on a cookstove. And the ovens are often pretty well even heated from having the heat of the fire go over top, down the side, underneath and then up the back. The heat of the fire totally encapsulates it. There is only one hot-spot on mine and that is the side the firebox is on.
The cookstove I have was made by Brown Stove Works of Cleveland, TN circa 1920s-30s. It was my great grandparents and I inherited it with the house. When they purchased it, most of our county was still without electric power. Brown Stove Works is still in business, but they only make gas stoves and cooktops now. They had all their old cookstove parts sent off and re-forged (daggumit).
Knox Stove Works of Knoxville, TN manufacturers cook stoves with stainless steel tops. They are hand made and customer built for the most part. They also distribute Todd Stoves that are Chinese made.
Lehman's carries a nice variety and the Enterprise Monarch is super nice. Enterprise Fawcett makes a few more stoves that Lehman's doesn't sell and are a little less extravagant.
At any rate they are nice to have. If we have a winter storm and the power goes out, I don't have to worry about firing up the grill or getting out the camp stove and attempting to cook in the freezing cold . I just fire up the ole cookstove, and cook me up something good while keeping the house warm at the same time.
HickoryNick