I am having problems with baking bread in my wood cook stove.

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This is my first winter using a wood cook stove. I love it! The only problem I have is getting my bread done all the way through without the top being burnt or in the least way too crisp. I use the metal pans and I cover with foil, but I still have to lay the bread on it's side with the bottom facing the fire wall to get it done all the way through. Is this the way it is supose to be? How did the old timers do it? There was no foil back then. Thanks for your help! Robin

-- Robin Frontz (frontzfarm@1st.net), January 05, 2000

Answers

The only thing I know of, if your bread is getting too much heat from above, is to put your bread pan directly on the bottom of the oven (perhaps on a cooling rack on the very bottom would be better so heat can still circulate underneath). If that still isn't enough, then if your oven racks go high enough put your bread pan on the bottom of the oven then on the rack above it put a cookie sheet. That will deflect some of that top heat.

Good luck, and let us know what ends up working for you!

Kim kountrylife.com

-- Kim (farmer40@webtv.net), January 05, 2000.


My old stove has a small compartment with clean out door over the oven. When this gets an accumulation of soot in it, it will cause the food to brown too quickly. I also turn my food occasionally while it is baking. But, sometimes, no matter what I do, things just sems to brown too quickly. When this is happening I cover the food with a heavy cast iron lid which will prevent it from getting too dark. A trick I learned for baking cookies: grease and use the bottom of the cookie sheet. I am assuming the lip around the edge permits better circulation. good luck

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), January 06, 2000.

I agree with the above suggestions. We bake our bread in a wood cook stove too. I try to keep the temp. a bit lower, keep the bread toward the front of the stove and turn it mid-way through as the back is hotter than the front. Good luck. You'll eventually find something that works perfect for your stove. Every wood cookstove has it's own idiosyncracies. Kim

-- Kim (fleece@bminet.com), January 07, 2000.

All of the previous advice is good. We find that we have to move things around in the oven, and where and how often depends not only on the item being baked, but on the fire, which is affected by the wood and the wind (wind affects the draft of the stove). So, keep trying different parts of the oven, low rack, no rack, etc., and you will, with practice, become an expert.

Good luck!

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), January 07, 2000.


Above point is good one. What kind of wood are you burning? Some types burn hotter than others. I read in the days (before foil), women had many different types of wood in the firebox to choose from for hot and less hot fires presumably for the very reason you asked.

-- Billie Cisco (robmars@ix.netcom.com), January 12, 2000.


Thank you all for your help. I am trying all of your suggestions as well as a few ohters from my neighbors. Let you know what works best!

-- Robin Frontz (Frontzfarm@1st.net), January 16, 2000.

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