The Great Wood burner Bake Off. – Bread and cakes from your wood stove.

Esse ironheart solid fuel range

If your wood stove has an oven that reaches a temperature of 200 degrees C then will be able to bake both bread and cakes.

bread baked in my new small wood cook stove

Normally only solid fuel cooking ranges like Rayburn’s or Aga’s can produce sufficient oven temperatures to actually make baking in the oven possible. Stoves with top ovens can be used for baking if the flue gases are directed around the sides and top of the oven to produce an even heat distribution. Check with the manufacturer before you buy any small wood cookstove to determine what temperature the oven can reach under normal running conditions. The certification test for cook stoves involves producing a tray of shortbread which is all well and good but your oven will need a greater heat capacity if it is to successfully roast and bake anything.

If you have a medium sized fireplace then rather than installing a standard stove why not use the space to create your own wood fired mini kitchen. Baking, roasting and cooking on a stove that combines a hotplate along with an oven would bring a whole new dimension and energy to the space. Installing a small wood cookstove will give you the chance to enjoy your stove so much more than simply relishing the warmth it provides. Whilst keeping you warm and watching the fire, your stove could also be baking your bread or simmering your supper.

I made a prototype wood cook stove first, to test the cooking potential.

Chocolate mini cupcakes

Baking cupcakes in the oven of your wood cook stove generates an intoxicating aroma. I baked them for 30 minutes at 150 degrees, turning the tray round 180 degrees halfway through. This is because one side of any wood burner oven is a little hotter than the side furthest from the firebox.

Leave them to cool and then pipe on a swirl of cocoa butter icing and some curls of dark chocolate. Display on a lovely old plate and try not to eat all of them in one sitting.

These are the perfect sweet treat to go alongside a cappuccino or latte at first coffee break or as an energy booster for that afternoon tea break.

Using this recipe

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1155643/amazing-chocolate-cupcakes-