Because we live in a tiny 350 square foot house, we have not found a way to fit an oven into our small kitchen. However, my husband and I both LOVE to bake. In the summertime, we harness the sun and bake in a Sun Oven. The rest of the year, we experiment with ways to bake without an oven. Last year, we perfected two methods of baking without an oven – stovetop bakes and Dutch oven bakes. This winter, we had great success with yet another method of baking without an oven: Woodstove Bakes.
Many of our friends have Amish-style cookstoves with ovens and cook surfaces, but we only have a woodstove for heat. One day I had the idea of baking IN our woodstove. And so the fun experimentation began.
My husband spent a decade baking sourdough artisan bread in a homemade brick bread oven. We had to leave this oven behind in Oregon, and really miss his amazing bread. Our first woodstove bake was a loaf of sourdough bread, baked in a deep dish cast iron skillet.
A successful wood stove bake depends on the right amount of hot coals in the firebox. The photo above shows too many red hot coals – the final product will burn too quickly and the inside will not cook through.
The bed of coals pictured above is much better – still a few red hot coals, but most are cooler. We found that the best results were achieved when we placed the cast iron skillet atop a fire brick. The fire brick protects the bottom of the pan from burning, while still allowing the bake to cook through.
Baking in a woodstove is not an exact science, nor is it possible to close the stove door, set a timer and walk away. Rather, it requires a bit more attentiveness and checking on the bake periodically.
Perfect looking bread! A few of our bakes had a slightly smokey flavor, caused by wood that was not completely burned down to coals. It was not an unpleasant flavor, simply reminiscent of campfires.
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I’ve done some cooking in and on my woodstove over the years. When I started there weren’t any resources online that I could find so much of my cooking was by trial and error. – Margy http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Woodstove%20Cooking
What a great collection of recipes and tips! It’s fun to see how necessity leads to such creativity!
Very late commenting, but I was so pleased to find somebody else who is doing this! I have been using this method with bread for the last two winters. What do you do with the draft when you are baking? Turn it all the way down? Like you, have my bread pan raised up a little. I’ve had some great successes but you are right that there are a lot of variables! I haven’t started up baking yet this fall but it will soon be time.
Hi Catherine,
We usually let the fire get very, very low by the time we put in the bread, and we don’t want the coals to spark into fire, so yes, we turn the draft all the way down. Happy baking!
Awesome! We have a woodstove and I can’t wait to try this method of baking.
God bless
I hope it goes well for you!
Here is another less expensive model:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Miss-Kitty-Chimney-Oven-Riley-Stoves-/320226938256?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4a8f034d90
My friends in Mendocino have a stove pipe oven similar to this one at Lehman’s https://www.lehmans.com/p-4873-bakers-salute-oven.aspx, except their has a shunt damper to allow the flue to flow around the oven when it is not in use. I have also seen simple insulated tin box set on top of a wood stove that is enough to capture the heat needed if the stove is hot enough. I make a no-knead bread in a dutch oven placed in any oven, use parchment to keep it from sticking as the dough is very moist when it begins baking. It is very easy, takes only a few minutes of hands-on and rivals most artisan breads I have had, except Brian’s of coarse! Got instruction from Youtube.
Yes, I have heard of those tin boxes atop a wood stove. There are also models that go on a propane stove. So many different methods of baking to explore!
Thank you for this post. Really thank you. I’m still trying to wrap my head around baking on my woodstove, as I only get to enjoy my modern (1927) stove a few more months before we move. Hopefully, next summer we will build an outdoor cob oven, but until then it will be all about cooking and baking using the woodstove. Thanks again.
I’m so glad it was helpful to you! There is something fun about trying out these new ways of baking. And I have to admit, I have not been able to feed my sweet tooth quite as often, so it’s probably been better for my health! Have you thought about purchasing or making a solar oven? In the summer months, we use ours almost every day.
I have considered a solar oven, but the only area open to light during the summer is a fair walk from the house. It is reserved for traditional vegetable gardening, fruit trees and berry bushes. I sure wouldn’t mind a solar oven on long outside days, but I could never leave it unattended long, unless we get the garden well fenced (not likely) due to critters great and small. Really hoping to manage a cob oven someday. Right now there is lotsa light, since the trees are still bare, so I could use a solar oven in Spring and Autumn. Thanks.
Oh, I can see why that wouldn’t work so well for you. We really have to attend to the solar oven, turning it to face the sun. Spring and Autumn and possibly even winter would be great times to try a solar oven – I guess it’s just a cost/benefit thing.
My hubby and I are getting ready to move to the country and live in an RV for a while, in the meantime saving up enough money to buy our own property and build a tiny home. I found something called, an “EcoZoom Plancha Cook Stove”. It is basically a rocket stove that also has a pipe that will shoot the smoke outside if you want to use it indoors. We are considering getting one to use for outdoor use.
That looks interesting! If you do end up getting one, let me know how it works. We have this one: http://stovetecstore.net/product/biomass-cookstove-one-door-eco-ceramic/
Cool, but I would miss my oven…..you can fry corn bread on top of stove, and I like it, but don’t know how I would make biscuits or a cake on top of stove 🙂 glad you have a way to do it tho…..the pie looked good…………
It might not be quite as effective for a refined cake! but the pie was delicious!
I managed to cook brownies on the stove top. I put a rack in the roaster pan (it has a heavy lid) and I put the brownie mix in a pie pan. I then put the pie pan into a cheesecake (pop open) pan and put it all on the rack. I couldn’t gauge the temp so it took much longer to cook but they were great! Next time I’ll just turn the heat up.
That’s a fun idea! So many ways to be creative when you face a limitation!
Hi Teri,
My dad who is from spain grew up making bread in an adobe oven, easy to make on your homestead. When he came to the usa as a sheepherder he didnt have his oven, so he used his Dutch oven and buried his bread with coals in a hole in a ground. He used to cook a lot of foods that way and still could.
Love your blog. Keep writing. I gleen lots of good info and inspiration.
Carolina
Hi Carolina, Thank you so much for your comment! What a cool method – burying the coals underground. It reminds me of Maine clambakes. We actually have plans to build an adobe or cob oven this summer. I can’t wait!
When my new(er) oven died for a second time I decided to learn “stove top” baking. apparently the concept has been done for some time with boaters who need to keep the weight down and space is very limited. Link: http://theboatgalley.com/do-i-need-an-oven/
I sometimes feel like our house is a boat! Everything built in and in it’s proper place! I will check out that blog post, thank you for sharing!
I had a wood stove like the one they show,did,nt think about cooking in it,I fill my BBQ on the grates & coals in foil,stove can do same.Like Jeff