Cookin' With Coal

lsayre wrote:Has anyone on this forum ever witnessed a 'Bakers Choice' cook stove successfully operating on anthracite?

Larry, I have not seen one in operation but, I am going to Lehman's on Monday or Tuesday (weather permitting). I would be happy to look at the inner workings and let you know how well I think the stove would work on anthracite if you like. I know you are not too far from there yourself but if I can save you the trip I would be happy to do that for you.

Randy

windyhill4.2 wrote:thanks,Randy,first link to Bryant was great,other link gave our wallet a stroke,as you can see,profile is updated,thats not easy for me to do all this fancy computer stuff.david

Bryant's is who restored my stove but I bought it from the individual who bought it from them. The do seem to have really good prices on their stoves. I bought my Kineo stove from them as well. They are the ones who found the coal grates for my cook stove too. They are quite a distance from us but for me, it was worth the trip.

Randy

Sunny Boy wrote:Windyhill,

Yes, the kitchen ranges can get pricy, but there's a lot more to them, thus a lot of work to restore them. The coal ranges are tougher to find. Being that they are often dual fuel capable, that can raise the price. With a water tank, even tougher to find, therefore usually priced higher still. I lucked out finding mine.

However, when restored properly, there's so much more they can do than just provide a heat source. And they do it all right on through power outages. I've been through a few in the 8 years I've been using my range. When it's below zero outside and the powers out, it's nice to walk into a 70 degree kitchen, grab a mug and have hot water ready and waiting to make a hot drink, while food is cooking/baking !

While I was posting the pictures yesterday, about the hotdog broiler experiment, the girl friend made a loaf of Irish soda bread, while some sweet potato's were also baking in foil for dinner. All turned out great !!! But then, having grown up cooking on a coal range, her cooking on the Glenwood always does.

Paul

Bread looks yummy...what time is dinner?

Photog200 wrote:

lsayre wrote:Has anyone on this forum ever witnessed a 'Bakers Choice' cook stove successfully operating on anthracite?

Larry, I have not seen one in operation but, I am going to Lehman's on Monday or Tuesday (weather permitting). I would be happy to look at the inner workings and let you know how well I think the stove would work on anthracite if you like. I know you are not too far from there yourself but if I can save you the trip I would be happy to do that for you.

Randy

Going there today. Only about a 25 mile run for us.

Lehman's...very nice place, lots of unordinary...or is it ordinary things there.

lsayre wrote:

Photog200 wrote: Larry, I have not seen one in operation but, I am going to Lehman's on Monday or Tuesday (weather permitting). I would be happy to look at the inner workings and let you know how well I think the stove would work on anthracite if you like. I know you are not too far from there yourself but if I can save you the trip I would be happy to do that for you.

Randy

Going there today. Only about a 25 mile run for us.

It will probably be a 6-8 hour trip for me. They are calling for snow today and tomorrow. I was originally planning on driving out tomorrow and coming back Monday. Have to play it by ear now.

Sunny Boy wrote:Windyhill,

Yes, the kitchen ranges can get pricy, but there's a lot more to them, thus a lot of work to restore them. The coal ranges are tougher to find. Being that they are often dual fuel capable, that can raise the price. With a water tank, even tougher to find, therefore usually priced higher still. I lucked out finding mine.

However, when restored properly, there's so much more they can do than just provide a heat source. And they do it all right on through power outages. I've been through a few in the 8 years I've been using my range. When it's below zero outside and the powers out, it's nice to walk into a 70 degree kitchen, grab a mug and have hot water ready and waiting to make a hot drink, while food is cooking/baking !

While I was posting the pictures yesterday, about the hotdog broiler experiment, the girl friend made a loaf of Irish soda bread, while some sweet potato's were also baking in foil for dinner. All turned out great !!! But then, having grown up cooking on a coal range, her cooking on the Glenwood always does.

Paul

thanks for the food pictures &cooking lessons,we both had porcelain coal cook stoves in our childhood homes,40+ yrs ago,but no personal experience using one.We love the dual purpose = heat + cooking,BUT throw in the no electric needed factor,now this stoves value has skyrocketed !! Are the porcelain stoves by Keeley,Dickson etc.,as well built as your Beir ?? Glenwood ?? , yours looks like it has a cast iron liner in the oven versus sheet metal in the Columbian I looked at yesterday.Can you heat decently overnite ? How many BTU from cook stove ??

Windyhill 4.2,
I don't know how many BTU's the stoves put out but I can give you an example as to how well my stove heats my garage area. My garage is 24'X26', the walls are 2"X4" with insulation in them. Last fall I blew in 18" of cellulose in the attic. Last night it got down to 30°, I filled the stove with coal at 8pm. I went out at 6am this morning and it was 70° and still had lots of coal left to start the fire over with. This was with the oven door cracked open an inch because I am trying to burn off the fumes from painting it yesterday. With the door fully open, it would have been even warmer in there. I had the dampers shut down pretty good so that it would last all night.

Hope this info helps out. I am sure Paul (SunnyBoy) will fill you in on his setup too.

Photog200 that is a beautiful stove you have,we would love to get one with the warming cabinet on top,but do not have the height needed.Sunnyboy ,your stove is less fancy,but very nice & both your stoves seem to have lots of cast iron,& maybe more practical than the porcelain fancy ones ? We do love this very interesting thread. David

windyhill4.2 wrote:Photog200 that is a beautiful stove you have,we would love to get one with the warming cabinet on top,but do not have the height needed.Sunnyboy ,your stove is less fancy,but very nice & both your stoves seem to have lots of cast iron,& maybe more practical than the porcelain fancy ones ? We do love this very interesting thread. David

Thank you, I love this stove...it is one of my prized possessions. The warming oven is a nice feature, but if you don't have room for one, maybe one with the shelf would fit. You would be surprised at how warm stuff will stay just sitting on the shelf there, it gets quite warm above the stove.

Personally, I like the black cast iron better for the aesthetics and heat distribution but it does take maintenance. Every now and then you have to either use stove polish or re-paint the stove, with the porcelain ones, you do not have to worry about that. It all comes down to personal tastes as to which ones you like best.
Randy

Photog200 wrote:Windyhill 4.2,
I don't know how many BTU's the stoves put out but I can give you an example as to how well my stove heats my garage area. My garage is 24'X26', the walls are 2"X4" with insulation in them. Last fall I blew in 18" of cellulose in the attic. Last night it got down to 30°, I filled the stove with coal at 8pm. I went out at 6am this morning and it was 70° and still had lots of coal left to start the fire over with. This was with the oven door cracked open an inch because I am trying to burn off the fumes from painting it yesterday. With the door fully open, it would have been even warmer in there. I had the dampers shut down pretty good so that it would last all night.

Hope this info helps out. I am sure Paul (SunnyBoy) will fill you in on his setup too.

Thanks Phototog200 ,very good info that is indeed helpful,loved the paint upgrade/lighting improvement you made to yours.We would like to get close to an 8 hr burn + have decent heat output if possible,however we think tending this even in the middle of the nite,inside the house,in the warm will be nicer to do than bundling up to tend the outdoor wood monster,not to mention the warm radiant heat that a wood or coal burner provides that cannot be gotten with hot air heating.

windyhill4.2 wrote:Photog200 that is a beautiful stove you have,we would love to get one with the warming cabinet on top,but do not have the height needed.Sunnyboy ,your stove is less fancy,but very nice & both your stoves seem to have lots of cast iron,& maybe more practical than the porcelain fancy ones ? We do love this very interesting thread. David

I just found this stove on Craigs List, and the price is good.
**Broken Link(S) Removed**

I know the Bakers choice stove was mentioned in an earlier post. I just found this listing on CL in the Charlotte area.
**Broken Link(S) Removed**

windyhill4.2 wrote:

Photog200 wrote:Windyhill 4.2,
I don't know how many BTU's the stoves put out but I can give you an example as to how well my stove heats my garage area. My garage is 24'X26', the walls are 2"X4" with insulation in them. Last fall I blew in 18" of cellulose in the attic. Last night it got down to 30°, I filled the stove with coal at 8pm. I went out at 6am this morning and it was 70° and still had lots of coal left to start the fire over with. This was with the oven door cracked open an inch because I am trying to burn off the fumes from painting it yesterday. With the door fully open, it would have been even warmer in there. I had the dampers shut down pretty good so that it would last all night.

Hope this info helps out. I am sure Paul (SunnyBoy) will fill you in on his setup too.

Thanks Phototog200 ,very good info that is indeed helpful,loved the paint upgrade/lighting improvement you made to yours.We would like to get close to an 8 hr burn + have decent heat output if possible,however we think tending this even in the middle of the nite,inside the house,in the warm will be nicer to do than bundling up to tend the outdoor wood monster,not to mention the warm radiant heat that a wood or coal burner provides that cannot be gotten with hot air heating.

Windy,

My 1903 Glenwood Sunny is at the small end of the typical kitchen range size. The firebox is a bit small in comparison to coal ranges of only a few years later design. It still has the original firebox cast liners that are a bit thicker than many of the new liners of restored stoves I've seen pictures of on line. Plus, from all the years of use, they have about a half inch thick layer of coal clinker scale fussed into them making the firebox even smaller then it was originally.

At that, loaded up and damped down, with the MPD closed (type with holes in it), it will easily go 10-11 hours through the night. When I come down in the mornings, the left hand top plates are anywhere in the 600 - low 700 degree range. The right end of the stove top, farthest from the firebox, is about 250. The right side of the water tank casing is about 120-130. The stack temp, 36 inches up from the stove top, is anywhere from 105 to 115.

Lately I've been using a manometer and writing down the readings each morning. They range from .005 to .01. The kitchen is 68 - 70 degrees and it's a large ,uninsulated kitchen with high ceiling, the back door right next to the stove, three other open doors to other parts of the house, and tall windows. The air register leading up to my bed room is 78 degrees.

The large Copco tea kettle, which sits on the back middle burner, is just below a boil - the perfect temp I like for making my instant coffee ! No waiting - and no electricity needed !

I open all the dampers, give the old girl her morning shake, add three scoops of fresh coal and within about 10 minutes, she's quit all her crackling and up to daily operating range.

As far as BTU's. I've been using her for 8-9 months of the year, for 8 years now. Very often, keeping track of coal use and average temperatures. But, I've never tried to equate those numbers to be comparable to modern heating appliances. Simply put, for those eight years, she's been averaging a coal bucket a day. My two antique coal buckets are a #16 and a #17. Both hold about 25 lbs of nut coal, give or take a pound.

During the day I run her a bit hotter than all damped down for night. However, the stack temps 36 inches up from the stove top, still stay in the low 100 degree range. I've been keeping the mano in the .02 range unless opening up the dampers more to get the mano up to .03 - .05 to do a lot of cooking.

This afternoon we are going to be doing canning. It's in the low 30 degrees here today. Because we use a couple of very large pots full of water to boil the canning jars in, I'll be running her hotter - so I'll probably go through about 30 pounds today.

In the coldest parts of our winters here in the CNY hills, we can go for many days/ weeks and not get above zero. At those times, she'll use about 30 pounds of nut coal a day and the kitchen stays at about 70 degrees.

Hope this helps,

Paul

Photog200 thanks for the craigslist links,gives us more options. Sunnyboy thank you for wonderful heating experience with your stove,lots of good info,gives us something to compare with our situation and plans. So glad we found this thread,rekindling childhood memories of warm cook stove spot in kitchen. Maybe we will grow younger (wishful thinking) at least we should'nt have to work quite as hard,bucket of coal versus wheelbarrow loads of wood X 6 for the wood monster.Again thanks for the info.