Bois charbon stove

[mint]

Wow, after over 5 months, and the electricity oven NOT working, we have lit the bois charbon oven and it's been going like BLAZES.  Mind you, had a couple of false starts and now the needle is creeping up the gauge and we're away.

I now have a stew (OK then, pot au feu) going well.  But, OH does not eat meat and therefore only having a microwave salmon something.  But dog and I will have a good dinner!

If anybody out there have one of these and know how to make the best use of them, PLEASE post.  How about an exchange of recipes or something? 

[Bugsy]

Thats the answer then........................I've just been outside (watching the bats) when my view was drawn to the West where I could clearly see a bright glow on the horizon..........................[:D]

Well done and enjoy your first meal.

Gary.

[mint]

Bugbear

You've no idea the heat that's come off that thing with a couple of logs!  Stew was great.  If you're ever out on your bike in the winter and your leathers are frozen onto you and you're near us, you'll have to come in for a warming dish!

Just give me a couple of hours' notice and you'll be tucking into real grub!

Hope someone comes along soon with ideas about how I can use up all this heat.  Oven on, top of stove on, kitchen warm as toast!  How good is that?

[Eos]

Mother always had the kettle on the boil & usually a pot of soup as well on the top.

In the oven there seemed always to be baked potatoes which were very welcome broken into the soup! Shepherds pies, roast chicken, roast potatoes, baked ham...

Obviously pjs, socks & slippers were warmed for us on the plate rack above.

The cat was a great fan of all the heat too but couldn't figure out quite how to use it and walked unhurriedly & serenely from one end, onto which he'd regularly jump, to the other with his little paddy paws hissing quietly as he went. He did this so often, despite us trying to dissuade him, that we came to the conclusion he actually enjoyed either it or tormenting us! ( I don't recommend this use for the heat though!)

 

A friend's mother always made toast on the stove top but this was the same friend's mother who "baked " my friend's trainers trying to dry them in the oven!

I'm sure someone else will come up with more conventional tips for you but in the meantime - enjoy the stove!

[Bugsy]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Bugbear

If you're ever out on your bike in the winter and your leathers are frozen onto you and you're near us, you'll have to come in for a warming dish!

Just give me a couple of hours' notice and you'll be tucking into real grub!

[/quote]

Thank you S17, I may well take you up on that.....................[8-|]

[mint]

Eos

Thank you for the amusing reply.  I can't get over a mental picture I have formed of the cat picking its fastidious way across the cooker, its paws quietly hissing!  Cats are just such fascinating creatures and I find their ways endlessly intriguing.  We used to have 2 beautiful moggies who'd sit so close to the gas fire, they'd get their whiskers singed!

[Pads]

Sweet 17

I use the top of mine to dry tomatoes , mushroom, peppers, egg plants ect..... to put in oil to store , also dried herbs ( although I prefer most of mine frozen now)

Also on the top plate you can chargrill peppers ect

As well as drying laundry above

The top is also good for cous-cous based dishes just add water and leave on top it seems to leave a much drier cous-cous than boiling , especially if you want to use cold in salads.

 

[mint]

Thanks, Pads

I can see how that will work.  Great for all the excess produce from the garden, eh?

[Eos]

sweet17,  I possibly have more cat stories than stove stories as we've had quite a few characters pass through over the years. None since our last cat was put to sleep over a year ago though as he was older than my children and I just can't bring myself to replace him. Yet anyway.

[mint]

Eos

I so understand.  When our first cat died, at 18, the neighbours thought they were consoling us by saying we'd soon get another one to replace our wonderful Timmy.

We buried him in the garden in South Wales and, although we were even then (some 5 years ago), looking to move abroad, we couldn't move.  The grief was overwhelming and I couldn't possibly have left him all alone in the garden.  When I used to go and put out the washing, I used to "see" him getting up from under his favourite bush to come over to the wash line to greet me.

Then, when Cat number 2 died after an 18-month illness, he, too was buried in the garden, next to Timmy.  Only then, could we move over here because they were "together".  I know all this sounds totally illogical and even barmy to some people, but that was how I felt.

The day we moved out of our house, I went in the garden and had a quiet word with them both.  The tears streamed down my cheeks (as they are doing now) but, at least, I felt I could finally leave them and that they would not be lonely.

That in itself is quite daft because, although, they tolerated each other and the one always knew the whereabouts of the other, they weren't what you might call "bosom pals"!