Crowstalker
Well-Known Member
I always fancied having an aga/rayburn etc in solid fuel. I understand it can be a bit of work getting it all ready for cooking etc. Anybody here using them care to share their thoughts on using and having one?
Solid fuel cooker. Any one use them?
- Thread starter Crowstalker
- Start date
Used to have one. Not really part of the modern kitchen. Had a log pile, bucket of coal, chopping block and hatchet next to it. Endless chopping logs into smaller bits as necessary to adjust temperature, depending on type of wood, how windy it was, how long the lids were up to boil stuff. Tedious, messy and makes the home a bit like camping.Total madness.
With care, you could cook well on it. The back boiler sprang a leak and the heating system never worked effectively...probably says more about the idiot plumber than the stove.
Also, I wouldn't bet on being able to buy coal for many more years.
With care, you could cook well on it. The back boiler sprang a leak and the heating system never worked effectively...probably says more about the idiot plumber than the stove.
Also, I wouldn't bet on being able to buy coal for many more years.
When I went moose hunting in Sweden the farmhouse had a solid fuel AGA. It required someone to get up early to light it, so that there was sufficient hot water and cooking heat for the assembled masses - about 20 people, all told.
It was fine for the few days of the trip, but I wouldn’t want to live with one day to day.
It was fine for the few days of the trip, but I wouldn’t want to live with one day to day.
Had a Rayburn 40 years ago heated the house radiators, ,heated the water , as far as cooking the hot plate worked fine
for boiling a kettle or simmering a pot, the oven not so good could never control the temperature either too hot or too cold..
A bu@@er to light if you let it go out used to damp it down at night a shovel of dross and just let it smoulder opening up
In the morning that way the house never got cold.
Messy to clean.
And it devoured coal though that was not an issue for me as I got a coal allowance as a perk of the job.
The shooting lodge had an Aga converted to run on oil a much more convenient beast.
for boiling a kettle or simmering a pot, the oven not so good could never control the temperature either too hot or too cold..
A bu@@er to light if you let it go out used to damp it down at night a shovel of dross and just let it smoulder opening up
In the morning that way the house never got cold.
Messy to clean.
And it devoured coal though that was not an issue for me as I got a coal allowance as a perk of the job.
The shooting lodge had an Aga converted to run on oil a much more convenient beast.
Look great in a "farm style" kitchen or "rustic" setting, brilliant at keeping the room toasty when working well.......then go and use a modern cooker/oven for actual baking and food preparation. The motoring analogy would be - having a landrover on the drive, but use an Isuzu/Toyota/Nissan when you actually need stuff done..... Expensive and a hassle to use as a standalone heating and cooking item and sadly all the legislation seems to be moving away from solid fuel burners to fit in with the headlong rush to running everything on fairy dust and magic electricity which will be pollution free and save the planet..... maybe......
We had a solid fuel Aga for years as our only cooker. Works absolutely fine once up and running and probably better to cook on than the electric conversion we now have. Big drawback is storing anthracite and dust everywhere in the kitchen. I have a friend with a wood esse. He is very happy with that. It is the enameled one, not the ironheart, but he does live at a sawmill so there no issue with going in at lunchtime to put more wood on or with fuel availability. It also has an electric hob and oven if he needs it.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
We bought an Austrian Lohberger 80cm green enamelled wood burning stove 19 years ago, it still looks like new works great in the winter and makes cosy kitchen. One of my best purchases ever. Does not do hot water though.
I have always lived in houses with Rayburns. Most were solid fuel to start with, subsequently converted to oil. Big advantage of the Propane/gas ones is they can be programmed to come on when you are out and will do the central heating, though the 1985 vintage one we had was not particularly efficient compared to a condenser boiler but it ran the central heating on a three bedroom house.
If you are at home all day solid fuel not so much a problem. Just the hassle of ash disposal and dust and fuel storage and preparation if using timber. Takes a bit of getting used to for oven cooking...allegedly.
We currently have an old style wick burner oil fired conversion Rayburn which we have on from October to March-ish. But have a propane double oven 4 ring gas cooker for supplement /summer. The Rayburn has a back boiler which just heats the hot water tank and bathroom towel rail. The sitting room we use a wood burner which is just lit for the evening but will still be in next morning if necessary.
Psychologically Rayburn type ranges are wonderful things to have. Come in on a cold day and prop against...heaven!
Cooking wise, bread and roasts always seem to taste better from a Rayburn oven.
Efficiency wise there are better choices...the Stanley wood burning cook and heat ranges have a bigger firebox / larger output I think.
Alan
If you are at home all day solid fuel not so much a problem. Just the hassle of ash disposal and dust and fuel storage and preparation if using timber. Takes a bit of getting used to for oven cooking...allegedly.
We currently have an old style wick burner oil fired conversion Rayburn which we have on from October to March-ish. But have a propane double oven 4 ring gas cooker for supplement /summer. The Rayburn has a back boiler which just heats the hot water tank and bathroom towel rail. The sitting room we use a wood burner which is just lit for the evening but will still be in next morning if necessary.
Psychologically Rayburn type ranges are wonderful things to have. Come in on a cold day and prop against...heaven!
Cooking wise, bread and roasts always seem to taste better from a Rayburn oven.
Efficiency wise there are better choices...the Stanley wood burning cook and heat ranges have a bigger firebox / larger output I think.
Alan
Crowstalker
Well-Known Member
A mixed bag it seems of opinions, one has been offered for good money and I'm tempted. I have a good source of free fuel for it its hard not to be tempted!
If you ever get fed up with the labour involved with the solid fuel system I think most models can be converted to gas or electric. The old wick burner conversions like ours would probably only be available second hand...but I was given a complete oil fired one a few months ago which I have for spares or repairs...quite a lot of them about.
The labour is much reduced but of course the fuel costs more...I light ours and mum's once a year...or a couple of times if there is a cold snap in Late Spring, and spend half a day replacing the wicks and cleaning up the burner bases and the oil control.
Alan
Too true!
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
I've got a wood fueled combined DHW/CH/Cooker, it uses around 15 m3 of logs in a year which involves quite a lot of labour. A couple of other issues are that if you are trying to do some serious cookery in summer when the rads are out of action it can start to boil the water which is a nuisance. Another problem was the make that we bought has in the words of an independent expert a water jacket made from "unsuitable 3mm thin mild steel". I mention this because a weld on it failed after 4 years and we had to get a new one fabricated in stainless. I like the idea of a range cooker but next time around when this one reaches the end of its useful life I shall probably replace it with an electric one like the Everhot and have an entirely separate electric water heater.
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