The Joys of Having a Wood Stove

As mentioned in the last post, we had our first freeze two nights ago. In my household, that means shifting to our winter kitchen arrangement - to accommodate heating and cooking with our wood cook stove.

In the summer, I use my wood stove as a counter-top and its reservoir as a spice and condiment rack, which works great when company arrives for our cook-outs over our outdoor fire ring. However, when cold weather comes around, the table cloth is taken off of it, and everything else on it has to find a home elsewhere in new cabinets or in the dry sink in the outdoor kitchen.

Due to my neglect to check the weather forecasts last week, what I normally do for "winterizing" over several days, had to be done within one hour - in addition to bringing in a large load of wood, moving a bakers rack and cabinets around, etc. Then there was the fun of building the first fire - (my son took the liberty of doing that).

You would think, that after all of that, we would be fed up with having only a wood stove for winter heat and cooking; but quite to the contrary, once the fire was going and the reservoir filled, a sense of comfort enveloped the house, subhanallah. There is nothing comparable to the sound of a crackling fire and the type of heat that a wood-stove puts out. No electric or gas stove can compare to the ambiance of a wood stove.

On the practical side, we don't have to worry about the ups and downs of rising fuel costs that jack up electricity bills and gas or propane bills. If the electricity goes out, we know we have heat and a stove and oven to cook with (we probably would not notice, unless we tried to get on the internet.)

As long as we keep the reservoir filled, we also have a constant source of hot water on demand, as well as humidity in the house rather than the dryness and static that electric and gas heaters produce.

Some people may think our way of living is "backward", but I challenge that. If any major blackout, or energy crisis or technological breakdown were to occur, everyone will be knocking at the doors of homesteaders like us. Our homemade candles and lanterns are always handy - as well as our homemade soaps, homespun yarn for weaving or knitting for just about anything needed.

All of this is by the grace of Allah (God) of course. He is the one who brought our harvest to fruition, allowing us to preserve enough for use til next season and who sustains our animals as well.

I usually save some things in the freezer, like the blackberries picked in June, so that I can make them into jam over the wood stove and save electricity. Also, having a nice smooth metal top (about 36 inches wide), I can make specialty breads directly on top of the stove (the tortillas and Bosnian Pita bread come out great, as well as several Indian breads).

My wood stove is my favorite part of Autumn and Winter. Now it is time for me to enjoy its coziness while I sit down and finish removing leaves from the Malukhia!