Wood-burning Range Cooking

Latest Articles

Wood-burning Range Cooking
Page Previous 1, 2

Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing

Author

Message

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9881
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 11:30 am Post subject:

blossom wrote:

Ours is the full-sized Esse wood-burner range with a back boiler that gives us loads of hot water and heating via underfloor, a couple of radiators and a heat-exchanging hot air system.

It's gorgeous - I love it. Hardly ever have to de-ash it even though we run it round the clock in the winter months. I agree about the wood though. We now have a moisture meter to check our supplies.

It's been in just over a year now and I've had to learn its foibles. I believe that every one is different due to differing situations. I need to change the way I operate it if it's windy or if it's a different wood. I've had to work hard to learn all about the different woods and what they're good for. I've finally worked out what it takes to get a good pizza oven going.

My main niggle at the moment is doing a roast. If you do a Hugh Fernley Wittingstall sizzle, it's quite hard to then drop the temp for the slow cook and yet still roast the potatoes in a high heat. Anyone got any tips?

is this your only oven?

green with envy as i want what you have. though we wont be having underfloor heating as we have solid floors, low ceilings etc

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 4:02 pm Post subject:
Mochyn also has an Esse, when she re-surfaces she may be able to say something about it.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 4:05 pm Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

Mochyn also has an Esse, when she re-surfaces she may be able to say something about it.

Is this a clue about the 'Where's Mochyn?' thread? She's gone to live under the sea.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 4:16 pm Post subject:
Extreme knitting, freediver style.

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 6:02 pm Post subject:

colour it green wrote:

is this your only oven?

green with envy as i want what you have. though we wont be having underfloor heating as we have solid floors, low ceilings etc

I'd like to say yes it is our only oven - certainly from September until the end of May it is. But we also have the electric Esse add-on for when the weather gets just too hot here to run Jesse (our wood-burner). This year however in the high summer we intend to use the outdoor clay oven that we built last autumn and a little rocket stove.

If I had my time again I would NOT buy the electric Esse add-on. Yes it's lovely to look at and the two together really make a feature in the kitchen area. BUT it too is cast iron and takes AGES to heat up and uses loads of electricity because of that. As we're trying to reduce our electricity dependancy and improve our eco-footprint this doesn't really add up.

We did (still do) have a solid floor in our bathroom where the underfloor heating is but we jack-hammered it to put in the pipes. It's a wet-room style bathroom so I wanted the floor to dry quickly. It's heaven. If we ever have any more money we'd do our bedroom - here in France almost every rural property has tiles throughout and ours is no exception, chilly in the winter.

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 6:17 pm Post subject:

Our Rayburn is great for cooking things long and slow, which is how I like my meat cooked.

Baking is a quick learnt art, in that, you have to make sure you know the heat will remain constant for the period of cooking/baking so as to load the fire in a way that won�t die down or end up overheating when or if needed to be topped up.

Also I find you have to watch that the side nearest the fire doesn�t overcook what you are baking. So things that don�t care for too much disturbance whilst cooking are not ideal.

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 7:15 pm Post subject:
We heat 9 rads ,cook and heat our domestic water with our bosky, cooking in the oven is rather like driving a steam train ,but once learnt it is pretty easy to control, but there are many variables, draught control, grate hight, and flue bypass around the oven. I manage to bake bread in it every other day or so, this is one of two Sourdough loaves I made on Tuesday.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 7:20 pm Post subject:
Good to see that you're taking Marmite to the Heathen Mr O. Nice looking loaf too.

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Thu Jan 06, 11 7:46 pm Post subject:
WOW - that's sourdough!!!! Mine hardly rises off the pan

Harvestmouse

Joined: 05 Jan 2011
Posts: 23
Location: A muddy field in Devon

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 11 2:26 pm Post subject:
That is a wonderful looking sourdough! I bought some organic white bread flour today so I can start my starter! I hope I get results half as good as that.

blossom

Joined: 06 Dec 2010
Posts: 100
Location: Pays de La Loire, France

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 11 2:37 pm Post subject:
I was attempting to make it with wholemeal. Someone said that rye helps it a lot but in my experience it caused even flatter bread (if that was possible). Maybe we've not got good wild yeasts here but I'm willing to give it another go having seen that photograph. Starter here we come.

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 11 7:00 pm Post subject:

blossom wrote:

I was attempting to make it with wholemeal. Someone said that rye helps it a lot but in my experience it caused even flatter bread (if that was possible). Maybe we've not got good wild yeasts here but I'm willing to give it another go having seen that photograph. Starter here we come.

leave the starter for at least 5 Days, it will work better then, and wholemeal flour where you are will be useless for bread maging, better to buy hard white and put a bit of bran in it.

Ruralnaedowell

Joined: 11 Nov 2010
Posts: 121
Location: Welshpool

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 11 11:18 pm Post subject:
I did hear that you can convert a solid fuel rayburn to woodburning just by replacing the grate (from ebay for �25.00). You used to see lots of solid fuel ones being weighed in for scrap, don't know if that is the case nowadays Cheers

Dee J

Joined: 22 May 2005
Posts: 342
Location: West Devon

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 11 9:05 am Post subject:

Ruralnaedowell wrote:

convert a solid fuel rayburn to woodburning just by replacing the grate (from ebay for �25.00).

I've never come accross this before... how does this grate aid woodburning - seems to be a flat plate with a few round holes in it rather than the more open riddler wheel? I know wood burns better on a flat fuel bed with top draught, but with a Rayburn Royal the is no way to get a top draught - so this new grate would seem to just provide a reduced bottom draught.

Anyone got any ideas on this?

Dee

Mr O

Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 5512
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Posted: Thu Jan 13, 11 1:06 pm Post subject:
I think the idea is for the holes to allow air over the top of the logs as opposed to underneath them? Weather or not it works I have no clue. My Stove has a grate and wood burns fine in that.

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing	All times are GMT Page Previous 1, 2
Page 2 of 2

View Latest Posts