Cookin' With Coal

Randy,

Mom would get up a 5 am and make a full pot first thing in the morning. Rather then wait until the pot was empty and start fresh, she'd just dump the old grounds, refill the basket with new grounds and top off the water as the day went on. Whatever coffee remained in the pot just got thicker and stronger. By lunch time, one sip would make my eyes cross !

That tall Corning wear pot can make some serious coffee !!!!!

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote:Randy,

Mom would get up a 5 am and make a full pot first thing in the morning. Rather then wait until the pot was empty and start fresh, she'd just dump the old grounds, refill the basket with new grounds and top off the water as the day went on. Whatever coffee remained in the pot just got thicker and stronger. By lunch time, one sip would make my eyes cross !

That tall Corning wear pot can make some serious coffee !!!!!

Paul

Someone else on this forum has one like it too...don't remember who but I remember seeing it in one of their photos.

You guys are just plain teasers!
I'm afraid that by the time we get ours figured out and hooked up it will be 90 degrees out just to spite me!! Nice pictures this morning, thanks guys!
Question.... How do you guys clean out your stove pipes? Do you climb upon the roof to clean them? Do you have a professional do it for you and how often? I have read to clean them out once in the fall and once in the spring and then once or twice during the heating season. If I am cleaning them out in the spring when I am switching over to the non-heating stove and then again in the fall when we go back to the wonderful Royal, why? Hasn't the stove sat idle all summer not collecting ash? Am I missing something here?
Question .... How do you guys sleep at night without watching the stove and hoping it doesn't burn down your house? (i.e. If the stove is too hot it could melt down your stove right where it sits.)
Carole

Photog200 wrote:

Sunny Boy wrote:Randy,

Mom would get up a 5 am and make a full pot first thing in the morning. Rather then wait until the pot was empty and start fresh, she'd just dump the old grounds, refill the basket with new grounds and top off the water as the day went on. Whatever coffee remained in the pot just got thicker and stronger. By lunch time, one sip would make my eyes cross !

That tall Corning wear pot can make some serious coffee !!!!!

Paul

Someone else on this forum has one like it too...don't remember who but I remember seeing it in one of their photos.

It's me I have a Corning Ware coffee pot. I am using it right now. You saw it on top of the Crawford.

Sixkids wrote:You guys are just plain teasers!
I'm afraid that by the time we get ours figured out and hooked up it will be 90 degrees out just to spite me!! Nice pictures this morning, thanks guys!
Question.... How do you guys clean out your stove pipes? Do you climb upon the roof to clean them? Do you have a professional do it for you and how often? I have read to clean them out once in the fall and once in the spring and then once or twice during the heating season. If I am cleaning them out in the spring when I am switching over to the non-heating stove and then again in the fall when we go back to the wonderful Royal, why? Hasn't the stove sat idle all summer not collecting ash? Am I missing something here?
Question .... How do you guys sleep at night without watching the stove and hoping it doesn't burn down your house? (i.e. If the stove is too hot it could melt down your stove right where it sits.)
Carole

With coal you have no problems with dirty chimneys. Coal makes no creosote. I've been living in this house for 4 winters and I have never had to have it cleaned. All you get is a little fly ash from shaking the fire. That's it.
You don't have to worry about fires getting out of control because even a half way decent coal stove can be set to run at a constant temperature. There are no wild temperature swings with coal.
There are no midnight stokings to keep the fire from going out. My base burners during the most bitter weather only need attention twice a day. During just normal cold, once every 24 hours or so. Get rid of wood, free yourself of fear, labor and slavery to your stove.

Carole,

That sounds like how often a really big coal furnace may need it's stack cleaned ????

I only go through about 3 tons of nut coal a season in my range. Maybe 3-1/2 tons if it's a really cold, long winter like this year. The stove runs almost non-stop for nine months.

I clean the stove pipe once a year and just check the chimney for squirrel nests. There's usually one near the top by early fall. I use a chimney brush with flexible fiberglass rods, to get up through the clean out door at the chimney base. Pushing the chimney brush into the nest and pulling the leaves/trigs down, cleans the chimney quite nicely.

Otherwise, most of the fly ash falls down to the chimney base where I just use a small shovel to get it out. A years worth only half fills a 5 gallon pail.

One year I forgot to clean the stove pipe. The next year there was only about an inch deep of fly ash in the bottom of the horizontal section.

One place that will accumulate the most ash with most kitchen ranges, that you should check and clean at least a couple times during the heating season, is the space under the pipe collar.

On my Glenwood, there's a small box-like chamber at the back of the stove under the pipe collar. The oven damper door leads into the left half and the oven flue leads into the right half of it. Any fly ash dust that sticks to the vertical section of pipe above the collar will eventually fall down into that chamber when you shake the grates.

On the Glenwood, the floor of that chamber is a couple of inches lower than those two inlets, so that any fly ash build up won't block them in a short time. I vacuum that chamber using the vacuum cleaner with a long nozzle attachment, by going in through the back right cover plate hole. If you open the oven damper (direct draft mode) and the stove isn't running overly hot, it can even be done quickly while the stove is operating.

Just don't do it right after shaking and re-loading your stove, or you may get a hot cinder landing in your vacuum cleaner's bag. I make sure to empty the vacuum cleaner right after that, so that I don't have to worry if there may be a smoldering fire in the dust bag.

Speaking of ash. . . . here's another trick.

If you find that while baking, the top of your oven is too hot. Leave a thin layer of ash on the roof of the oven. It will build up there anyway because with the oven damper closed (indirect mode), the flue gases will draw fly ash and coal chips from the firebox, across the oven roof, and down the oven side flue. The ash will insulate the top of the oven and help lower the temp near the oven top. And, leaving some ash on the oven roof won't affect the sides and bottom of the oven. They will still get the same heat they did before, so it won't drop the oven temp too much.

Plus, that trick won't have any affect on heating the cabin because the stove top above the oven, will remain just as hot.

Paul

It's me I have a Corning Ware coffee pot. I am using it right now. You saw it on top of the Crawford.[/quote]

I guess I am in good company if William has one too! I love it, it never boils over like my SS ones did and the coffee always tastes great...3 minutes and done.
Randy

Sunny Boy wrote:Carole,

That sounds like how often a really big coal furnace may need it's stack cleaned ????

I only go through about 3 tons of nut coal a season in my range. Maybe 3-1/2 tons if it's a really cold, long winter like this year. The stove runs almost non-stop for nine months.

I clean the stove pipe once a year and just check the chimney for squirrel nests. There's usually one near the top by early fall. I use a chimney brush with flexible fiberglass rods, to get up through the clean out door at the chimney base. Pushing the chimney brush into the nest and pulling the leaves/trigs down, cleans the chimney quite nicely.

Otherwise, most of the fly ash falls down to the chimney base where I just use a small shovel to get it out. A years worth only half fills a 5 gallon pail.

One year I forgot to clean the stove pipe. The next year there was only about an inch deep of fly ash in the bottom of the horizontal section.

One place that will accumulate the most ash with most kitchen ranges, that you should check and clean at least a couple times during the heating season, is the space under the pipe collar.

On my Glenwood, there's a small box-like chamber at the back of the stove under the pipe collar. The oven damper door leads into the left half and the oven flue leads into the right half of it. Any fly ash dust that sticks to the vertical section of pipe above the collar will eventually fall down into that chamber when you shake the grates.

On the Glenwood, the floor of that chamber is a couple of inches lower than those two inlets, so that any fly ash build up won't block them in a short time. I vacuum that chamber using the vacuum cleaner with a long nozzle attachment, by going in through the back right cover plate hole. If you open the oven damper (direct draft mode) and the stove isn't running overly hot, it can even be done quickly while the stove is operating.

Just don't do it right after shaking and re-loading your stove, or you may get a hot cinder landing in your vacuum cleaner's bag. I make sure to empty the vacuum cleaner right after that, so that I don't have to worry if there may be a smoldering fire in the dust bag.

Speaking of ash. . . . here's another trick.

If you find that while baking, the top of your oven is too hot. Leave a thin layer of ash on the roof of the oven. It will build up there anyway because with the oven damper closed (indirect mode), the flue gases will draw fly ash and coal chips from the firebox, across the oven roof, and down the oven side flue. The ash will insulate the top of the oven and help lower the temp near the oven top. And, leaving some ash on the oven roof won't affect the sides and bottom of the oven. They will still get the same heat they did before, so it won't drop the oven temp too much.

Plus, that trick won't have any affect on heating the cabin because the stove top above the oven, will remain just as hot.

Paul

One of the things I do so as to cut down on the fly ash around and under the oven is to close the primary damper before I shake down. That way there is no draft to carry the ash around the oven or into the stove pipe, it stays in the ash pit. I do the same in the stove in the house so as to keep it out of the base.
Randy

Sixkids wrote:You guys are just plain teasers!
I'm afraid that by the time we get ours figured out and hooked up it will be 90 degrees out just to spite me!! Nice pictures this morning, thanks guys!
Question.... How do you guys clean out your stove pipes? Do you climb upon the roof to clean them? Do you have a professional do it for you and how often? I have read to clean them out once in the fall and once in the spring and then once or twice during the heating season. If I am cleaning them out in the spring when I am switching over to the non-heating stove and then again in the fall when we go back to the wonderful Royal, why? Hasn't the stove sat idle all summer not collecting ash? Am I missing something here?
Question .... How do you guys sleep at night without watching the stove and hoping it doesn't burn down your house? (i.e. If the stove is too hot it could melt down your stove right where it sits.)
Carole

I only clean the Kineo stove pipe once a year because I only burn coal in it. I use a standard cleaning head for chimneys first, then I put a Mr. Webster down it to clean out the fine ash. It fits better in the 6" chimney than the 8" one but it does ok on both.

Randy

I forgot to mention and Randy's post reminded me.

One other thing that I noticed has made a difference in how clean the stove flues and pipe stay, is that a few years ago, I stopped burning wood in the stove in the shoulder months.

Plus, I was reading up on here about how to help keep mica windows cleaner - in anticipation of the day I finish restoring my Glenwood Oak 118. So, I've recently switched over to starting the range stove with BBQ charcoal. Much faster and cleaner than when I used the saved-up newspaper and wind-fall tree branches to start it.

Paul

Carole, That's a beautiful range you have there. Thank you for letting Paul post the pictures.

Paul, Thank you for posting the pictures of Carole's range. I was dying to see it.
And I can answer your question from several pages back........'have you ever tasted food made in an unseasoned cast iron skillet?'. I have and the food tastes just like the left rear quarterpanel of a 15 year old dodge pickup.

SWPaDon wrote:Carole, That's a beautiful range you have there. Thank you for letting Paul post the pictures.

Paul, Thank you for posting the pictures of Carole's range. I was dying to see it.
And I can answer your question from several pages back........'have you ever tasted food made in an unseasoned cast iron skillet?'. I have and the food tastes just like the left rear quarterpanel of a 15 year old dodge pickup.

Don,



I bought a rusty Griswold Dutch oven off eBay for the girl friend. Figured it'd be great to cook in and would look great with an old range. She likes to make, "one pot wonders" and they turn out REALLY GOOD ! But, that often involves having a pot that can go in the oven, not just the stove top.

Before I knew better, I sandblasted it clean and started re-seasoning it with vegetable oil in the oven. Looked good. Then we cooked spaghetti sauce in it and the acid in the tomatoes ate the seasoning out of it. Needless to say, that batch of sauce went in the compost and that Griswold Dutch oven went back in the sand box awaiting re-blasting and re-seasoning.

Since then, I found an easier way around all that work. The girl friend has never had a Dutch oven before that one, or since. And from previous experience, I know what great meals can be made with a Dutch oven, . . . . . . well . . . .

. . . . . Cupid showed up with a better one for Valentines day.

And yup, they still turn out great meals, . . . . . .with no risk of the food tasting like it was, "Made in Detroit" !

Paul

There was a 3 1/2 "deep cast iron skillet in the basement of this house when I moved in years ago. Never really gave it a thought until 3 years ago after going through multiple sets of cheap skillets.
I told Wifey we were going cast iron. So I commenced on the clean-up of that old skillet. It took several weeks of constant 'wire wheeling' with vegetable oil treatments but that skillet turned out fantastic. It's deep enough to use as a dutch oven and has been several times.

Sunny Boy wrote:

SWPaDon wrote:Carole, That's a beautiful range you have there. Thank you for letting Paul post the pictures.

Paul, Thank you for posting the pictures of Carole's range. I was dying to see it.
And I can answer your question from several pages back........'have you ever tasted food made in an unseasoned cast iron skillet?'. I have and the food tastes just like the left rear quarterpanel of a 15 year old dodge pickup.

Don,



I bought a rusty Griswold Dutch oven off eBay for the girl friend. Figured it'd be great to cook in and would look great with an old range. She likes to make, "one pot wonders" and they turn out REALLY GOOD ! But, that often involves having a pot that can go in the oven, not just the stove top.

Before I knew better, I sandblasted it clean and started re-seasoning it with vegetable oil in the oven. Looked good. Then we cooked spaghetti sauce in it and the acid in the tomatoes ate the seasoning out of it. Needless to say, that batch of sauce went in the compost and that Griswold Dutch oven went back in the sand box awaiting re-blasting and re-seasoning.

Since then, I found an easier way around all that work. The girl friend has never had a Dutch oven before that one, or since. And from previous experience, I know what great meals can be made with a Dutch oven, . . . . . . well . . . .

. . . . . Cupid showed up with a better one for Valentines day.

And yup, they still turn out great meals, . . . . . .with no risk of the food tasting like it was, "Made in Detroit" !

Paul

Paul, I have a pot almost identical to that one Cupid brought you. Unfortunately for me I found mine in a clearance rack but still had to buy mine! These cast iron pots are great, they clean up well, you don't have to season them. I own six of them...all different sizes and shapes.

Randy

Don,
I've had mixed success seasoning cast iron after a lot of elbow grease cleaning them up.

I did get a couple of Wagner-Ware cast iron skillets from one of my aunts, that are well seasoned. They have that deep black seasoning (carbon build-up) that works so well.

Randy, Six ? Wow that's quite a collection.

I can understand why though. After just last night's one-pot-wonder of beef, Italian sweet sausage, shrimp and veggies, I was impressed with how well this new enameled Dutch oven kept food from burning. Even after it spending a couple of hours on the hottest part of the range.

And, how easily it cleaned up after those hours of cooking. I know that my well-seasoned pans wouldn't have done as well under the same conditions. Now, I know why this one was rated a best buy on the PBS show, America's Test Kitchens.

Paul