July 13, 2017
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Oven usage
On the stove’s top there is an handle to turn the oven damper.
When the flame logo is facing front, the damper is in the ignition
position and smoke doesn’t turn around the oven and goes
straight to the chimney. To direct smoke around the oven, it is
necessary to turn the damper perpendicularly to the front of the
stove, in other words, the logo is turned sideways so that we
don’t see it.
The oven doesn’t work as a conventional electric oven. It
requires a preheating time of 30 to 60 minutes. preheating time
and oven temperature vary according to the room temperature,
the chimney set-up, and atmospheric conditions.
In case of an unheated environment, for example without
electricity, it is possible that the preheating time might takes
longer on a cold start since smoke is considerably cooler.
Mastering cooking with your wood cook stove needs time and
experience. Each wood cook stove’s owner develops their own
method and learns how to stabilize the oven temperature.
The operation of wood cook stove is unique for each installation
as described earlier. You might need more/less preheating time
depending on your installation before adding woods or before
adjusting the air admission to control the cooking temperature.
Cooking with wood fire needs much more attention than electric
stove.
The temperature in the oven is directly related to the fire
intensity. The stronger the fire, the higher the oven temperature
gets.
The chimney is the essential part governing the combustion in
the stove. The draft is created by the chimney when it gets hot
enough. It is therefore important to respect the minimum
chimney length according to the standard to get the optimal
performance. You can refer to the section of the chimney
installation in this manual regarding the minimum chimney
length.
Note
Each stove installation is different and certain variables
can nevertheless affect the chimney draft and improve/impair
the stove performance even if all the regulations are respected.
Here are examples of factors which can affect the efficiency of
the stove: horizontal/vertical length of chimney, chimney size,
number of elbows, the presence of a liner inside a masonry
chimney, chimney installation located indoor/outdoor, air leaks
from the sweeping hole inside a brick chimney, leaking from
pipes and joints between chimney sections, etc. Even the drying
quality of the wood is important, since wood moisture takes
away the heat to evaporate water which result in a lesser heat
output for your stove.
After starting the fire in your stove, leave the damper handle in
the ignition position until the chimney gets hot enough to warm
up the oven.
When the chimney is not hot enough, there will not be enough
draft to increase the combustion rate and it might prevent the
oven from reaching its optimum performance. It will also make
the preheating time longer. You can get a flue thermometer for
this purpose sold at a hardware store to know the chimney
temperature. To turn the damper handle to the oven heating
position, the chimney temperature should reach at least 350°F
(175°C).
To warm up the oven evenly, it is recommended to leave the
damper handle in the oven heating position and to control the
temperature by changing the burn rate with the handle
underneath the firebox.
