For years we have relied on a woodstove to heat our home. After several years of using a functional, but not great woodstove in our Oregon rental cabin, in 2006 we invested in a Jotul woodstove (I believe it’s an older version of this model). Not only did our Jotul burn wood more efficiently, but its top could be used as a cooking surface. We were in heaven! Soups, stews, and kettles of water firmly took their place on the woodstove.
When we moved into our tiny house here in Missouri, our woodstove took on a whole new level of importance as we rely on the stove for:
- Winter cooking
- Stovetop bakes
- To heat water for dishwashing and bathing
- To thaw icy pond water for animal watering
Our woodstove was getting crowded!
We realized that while most of the time we used the woodstove surface for cooking, sometimes we just needed it for warming. We could set a pot of icy water near the woodstove to thaw slowly, or set a dish near the woodstove to keep warm for dinner.
The answer was a warming shelf.
Brian found an old rusty, bent piece of 1/8″ diamond plate steel in a neighbor’s scrap pile. He cut it to shape with a cut-off blade on a Skilsaw, and wire brushed it to remove the rust. One section became a heat shield for behind the stovepipe, and another piece was custom cut to become a warming shelf.
Since we’ve installed the warming shelf, it has gotten LOTS of use. We keep a very large pot of water on the shelf at all times, dipping into it for washing or animal watering. We also use it to keep our morning chai or coffee warm. One reader even recommended using it to proof rising bread, which I’m very eager to try!
We had a similar item made out of an old shelf from an oven. We used it for drying items but have since stopped. We always have pots of water right on the surface of the stove so it kept getting in the way. For thawing food, I put the item in a plastic bowl and float it on top of the water being heated. Works like a charm. – Margy
http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com/2007/12/wood-stove-drying-rack.html
A drying rack is one of my next projects. I really want to have something handy to dry fruit and peppers, etc.
Love this – Your outdoor kitchen is also total inspiration and we have the perfect place to put ours, I cannot wait to get started this Spring (ps. Hello from a fellow Missourian!)
You will love it! It is perfect for Missouri summers!
How did you attach it to the stove? We can’t rest the metal on the top of the stove. Thank you.
It’s actually not attached to the stove – it is just resting on the stove, and on some built-in notches that are part of the heat shield.
We ended up tearing down &rebuilding the chimney in our old homestead kitchen and buying an airtight Pioneer Maid cookstove . The top of the stove is huge and it has a closed warming oven in the back as well as a tank on the side that holds 15 gallons of water . The cast iron pots now hang on wroght iron hooks behind the stove We tore out a wall so the space is now open in the living room kitchen and dining room. It does come in handy when you are cooking for a party or dealing with frozen pipes and watering animals
That is my ultimate dream! I would love to get a huge cookstove, but right now it would be overkill in our small house. If we ever get around to adding on a “grand room” like we talk about, We’ll probably try to knock down some walls and replace this woodstove with a cookstove so we can bake it in and heat water. Some day!
Terri – I’m not sure where you are in the process of sourcing a cook stove, since it’s been quite a while since you wrote this, but you might check out some of Matthew Walker Remine’s cook stove designs. They are more modern versions of the Russian style of stoves (mostly, the updates are related to the firebox and consequently the combustion efficiency). They’re mostly built of brick and fire brick (both could be recycled materials, if available). Many implementations have recycled ceramic cooktops from a junked electric stove or use the cast iron cook top from an old wood fired cook stove which has been decommissioned due to burned out firebox grates or a rusted through oven. “Walker Stoves” is his brand (you can just Google it). I haven’t built any of his stoves, but he does serious science with a Testo combustion analyzer to fine tune his designs. They are intended to be owner built.
Thanks for the tip, Kevin. I checked that page out and it looks like it would be a great DIY option.
That’s so great!
This is very timely, as we have been shopping for wood stoves. Love the homesteader ingenuity!
I do love my Jotul!
I assume it just rests on the stove. How did you attach it to the wall?
Yes, it does just rest on the stove, and I didn’t show a picture, but my husband blacksmithed a metal piece to attach the heat shield to the wall. It looks a bit like a really flat letter “U”.
could you post a picture?
great idea, i love it. may have to use something like it during the remodel of the old shed into new yoga studio. love the hanging cast iron too. Oh! the wood stove, Jotul F400 – if im looking at your photos correctly, ((nautical theme with a big nautical star on the inside)) we have the same one. great stove.
That must be the right stove! I’m sure I have the manual lying around somewhere to confirm! Thanks!
What a neat idea to extend the work of a stove to a cookstove!
It has been working really well for us!