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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

What's Cooking?

When there is a major storm in the forecast, it means many of us may loose our electricity.  This is when it is very, very nice to have a Woodstock Soapstone Stove.  Water can be heated on a wood stove, but I can also cook dinner on my wood stove.  This is a wonderful thing, especially when the power is out.

We have heard from some of our amazing customers about how fabulous it is to be able to create meals on their Woodstock Soapstone Stoves, and we thought we would share two of our recipes and a few quotes from our customers. 

Keep in mind there may be times it will be necessary to elevate your Dutch oven to protect the contents from becoming too hot, or to allow the contents to cook evenly, such as when baking/cooking bread.  A metal or cast iron trivet works well for this, just make sure you do not have rubber or plastic feet on anything you place on top of a hot wood stove.

Starting with soup; we have a recipe for Homemade Vegetable Soup.

Homemade Vegetable Soup


Homemade 
Vegetable Soup


  • Vegetables (turnips, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beans, peas, corn, etc.), cut into pieces or chunks
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 6 or more baby carrots, cut into chunks or pieces
  • 1 large onion, cut into small pieces
  • 1 small can whole kernel corn (fresh is even better)
  • 3 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces
  • 5 cups water
  • Meat, (beef, chicken or pork – optional)
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 teaspoons or 4 cubes vegetable bouillon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 can stewed or diced tomatoes with juice
  • Leftover rice, noodles, broccoli or whatever’s in the fridge 
Place all of the vegetables in large pot and add the bouillon and water. If adding meat, cooked is better, but if it is raw, brown in butter first, then add to pot.

Add remaining ingredients, and simmer for at least 3 hours.  We usually cook our soups 4 to 5 hours. Check liquid level every now and then.  Otherwise, let it simmer.  I usually put it toward the back of the wood stove as well, where it’s hotter.  If it seems to be getting too hot, move it to the front.

Serve with fresh bread for an unbelievably good meal and just the right thing for a cold winter night. Yields 3 to 4 servings.

Now for the bread.  To bake bread on the top of a wood stove, you need to heat up a cast iron or heavy metal dutch oven.  One that has a tightly sealing lid.  You need to keep the heat and the moisture in the container with the dough.  Grease your cooking pot with some Crisco or butter and get it nice and hot, about 15 minutes on the top of a hot stove.  I like to make Beer Bread.  This is a very dense, hearty type of bread.  The Beer provides the yeast and the ingredient list is short.  If you’re using self-rising flour, you only need three ingredients.  If you’re using flour that is not self-rising, simply add one teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of baking powder.  I recommend using a beer that has not been overly pasteurized, too much pasteurization of the beer kills the yeast

Beer Bread
  • 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • If you're using regular flour - add one teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of baking powder to the flower before adding the beer and sugar to the flour.
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour.  Add beer and continue to mix. Batter will be sticky. When all of the ingredients are throughly combined, put into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (use your on-the-stove thermometer) for 50 for 60 minutes.  The top will be crunchy, and the insides will be soft. Serve topped with butter or cheese spread.

We hope you enjoy these two recipes for cooking on your wood stove.   We would love to hear about your experiences with your Woodstock Soapstone Wood Stoves.  Check out our facebook page here.  We invite you to post your pictures, and your stories of how you survive without power. 

Here are a few comments we have received about cooking on your Woodstock Soapstone Stove:

“…During the ice storm of this year- my Keystone kept the house quite warm- and…kept our bellies full! I made stove- top pizzas right on the Keystone! Everything was defrosting in my freezer- so out came the dough and a few essentials- onto the stove for 20 minutes and voila pizza for everyone!...” Wilmot, NH

“… we were without power for 12 days. While our neighbors ate cold meals and survived freezing temps, (and pipes), ….we stayed reasonably warm and enjoyed pot roast, beef stew, baked potatoes and hot soups thanks to our Fireview.” Jaffrey, NH

If you want to read more about cooking on our stoves, click here.