Troubles With Kitchen Coal Stove Draft

 
coalstovelady
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Post by coalstovelady » Fri. Dec. 29, 2017 11:34 am

Hello to all my Coal Burning Friends: My log in problem is resolved. Yay! So now I need a loud kitchen timer that will not automatically shut off - one that will beep until I shut it off. Most common stoves have one. Mine is broken on the electric stove and of course, my kitchen coal stove never had such an item. I've been looking everywhere for such a timer that I thought would be relatively easy to find - but it is not. I brought one home the other day and could barely hear it beeping as I stood in the kitchen so I know I wouldn't hear it on the 2nd floor. It also shut off after about 10 beeps. What good is that! I've checked all the local Restaurant Supply houses to no avail. Chefs don't rely on timers so it's not a common item. I would welcome any suggestions you might have. I don't carry my cell phone around while I am in my house so we can eliminate that suggestion right off the top. I do use my cell phone as an alarm clock when I am outdoors. It reminds me of appointments and so forth since I tend to get involved with other chores. I'm a multi task person! What I need is a timer for indoors that I can set it up in the kitchen area but hear it throughout my house as the one on the electric stove provided for many years. It was also useful while cooking. Higher end new stoves today don't provide that feature anymore. ... It is 13 degrees here in NEPA as I write this note. It was 9 degrees this morning. I didn't quite catch my kitchen coal stove during the night through this morning and I've been working with it for awhile now. I will likely just let it go out then later remove all the ash and start a fresh fire. Believe me, this is not a complaint for the benefits that I receive from the warmth of the stove. I'm so happy with it. I must remember to find someone this summer to furnish me with a good supply of scrap wood. I had a dear friend who passed away this year who was a carpenter. He would call me often and leave for me on his porch boxes of scrap wood and I would pick them up while driving into town. He is sorely missed for many reasons not just the wood. We grew up together and he was always there to lend a helping hand. I've brought bundles of wood home from the local stores but they seem to be too large or I have to chop them. I'm not good with the ax. ... I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year. Stay warm.


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Fri. Dec. 29, 2017 12:12 pm

Unless the timer is hooked to a fire siren, I won't hear it in this big house, or if I'm outdoors, or out in my shop. So I found I need to have a timer with me for when I leave the dampers open after reloading with coal, and for baking, or to remind me to let the cat back in after her cold weather backyard patrol.

Tried all different types and sizes until I found a small, light-weight, simple, kitchen timer that clips onto a shirt pocket, or shirt button flap edge. It can also work as a stop watch timer. The beep is loud enough to hear over the TV, but not so loud that it makes me jump.

It's only a couple of dollars at Walmart. Cheap enough that it's not worth replacing the battery when it wears down after about a year of use. I just throw it out and get another.

The back spring-loaded clamp has two tiny points that prevent it from slipping off fabric and will not damage the fabric. Also has a magnet in the clamp.

Paul

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coalstovelady
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Post by coalstovelady » Fri. Dec. 29, 2017 9:50 pm

Paul, thank you. I'm struggling with the thoughts of not having a kitchen timer that I use for all the reasons you outlined above, plus some~ You see I am getting a new stove and replacing my electric. I've become dependent upon the timer on that stove - and I hate the fact of dependency. They will be delivering my stove next week - it was a special order - and I never realized that these stoves do not have timers. That damn stove timer has been part of my kitchen for 41 years. For several days now I have been running around to Restaurant Supply houses to find the perfect timer - one that is loud and one that does not stop beeping unless I stop it. Seems they only exist on stoves but not the stove I am purchasing - a Viking. The rest of the timers are useless unless you strap it to your body. I brought one home, tested it, and I could hardly hear it in my kitchen! If I were upstairs I wouldn't hear anything. I do carry a flip phone in my pocket when I am outside the house and use the alarm clock, but inside I don't always have pockets. Perhaps I should just get one as you have and not worry about it. I should buy several of them. You're great. I'm a big worrier and need to get over it ~ Happy New Year..

 
coalstovelady
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Post by coalstovelady » Mon. Jan. 01, 2018 11:55 am

I've got it down to a science starting my kitchen coal stove in the mornings if it goes out overnight.I shovel out the majority of the cold ash and carry it out for the garbage man. And to avoid any slide jams after I dump the ash I get my shop vac and clean any residuals around the slide then slide it back in place and start a new fire. I'd say the whole process takes about 15 minutes. Likely next year I will order some smaller coal but I will keep it separate from the nut. I find if after the fire is burning bright if I put a little of the smaller coal on top it burns longer. Like I said in the beginning of this blog, I had a terrific draft and I still do since Paulie fixed my stove. God Bless Paulie. He is a bright shinning star. I lit my traditional candle over the stove last night before I went to bed to burn and bring in the New Year. I fell asleep before the midnight hour. I watched an old Clint Eastwood movie then dozed off. I love Clint Eastwood. He's probably one of the best Actor, Producer, Director, of his time. I am cooking the traditional pork and sauerkraut for dinner today. It's a simple meal served with mashed potatoes. It's on the stove right now and it will cook slowly until later this afternoon. I wanted to wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous Happy New Year.

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Hambden Bob
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Post by Hambden Bob » Mon. Jan. 01, 2018 5:43 pm

Nice ! All Of The Good Right Back At Ya',CSL !

I'll take the Viking ! Supposed to be a Quality Unit. Timers of All Types and Alerts are available. Ulcers over the Timer Subject are not. You get it. Trust Yourself. You Rock ! Stay With It ! Happy New Year,and the pic of the card You posted was simply a Touch Of The Down Home !! Take Care !

 
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Post by coalstovelady » Thu. Jan. 11, 2018 8:17 pm

Paulie stopped by today and we had a nice visit. He brought photos to show me of the variety of stoves he has refurbished. They are gorgeous. He found another treasure on my kitchen coal stove that I never knew existed. On the front there is a grill that flips open that I thought was a type of draft. It is for roasting chestnuts, or placing a popcorn holder inside over the coals!!! It is on hinges but if you never looked closely you wouldn't realize it. Paulie and I sat at my kitchen table and he noticed the hinges - something I have looked at for 41 years and never took notice. I am smiling ear to ear. Paulie knows everything and I mean everything about these stoves. Once again I say "thank you" to everyone who has contributed to this blog and connecting me with Paulie. THANK YOU! STAY WARM.

 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Fri. Jan. 12, 2018 1:37 pm

coalstovelady wrote:
Thu. Jan. 11, 2018 8:17 pm
Paulie stopped by today and we had a nice visit. He brought photos to show me of the variety of stoves he has refurbished. They are gorgeous. He found another treasure on my kitchen coal stove that I never knew existed. On the front there is a grill that flips open that I thought was a type of draft. It is for roasting chestnuts, or placing a popcorn holder inside over the coals!!! It is on hinges but if you never looked closely you wouldn't realize it. Paulie and I sat at my kitchen table and he noticed the hinges - something I have looked at for 41 years and never took notice. I am smiling ear to ear. Paulie knows everything and I mean everything about these stoves. Once again I say "thank you" to everyone who has contributed to this blog and connecting me with Paulie. THANK YOU! STAY WARM.
That's the "broiler door" I was telling you about.

It's a different meaning than we're used to. The old ranges didn't use a direct heat source above the food, like we think of with modern stove broilers. The old version is more like what we would call doing "grilling" - meaning the direct heat is under the food - but they still called it a broiler because the food is getting direct heat.

Paul


 
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Post by coalstovelady » Fri. Jan. 12, 2018 8:25 pm

Hi Paul. Thank you so much for explaining that. Even though I have been with this stove for 41 years, I have a lot of learn. It is quite amazing what they built back then. Nothing today can compare. I bought a new Viking and the assembly of it is a mess. It's all out of alignment. I called immediately after they delivered it. I kept looking at it and it didn't seem right. For instance I can place my thumb between the oven door and ledge above at the right side but can't even fit my pinky finger in at the left side. Beneath the oven door there is a panel - same thing. The dealer came to my home and taking it apart, couldn't put it back together and I just want it out of here now. It's only here a week and they have to replace it. I shouldn't have to deal with this. I thought Viking was one of the top of the line stoves. I'm very disappointed. Perhaps this isn't the proper place to vent. I really meant to sing praises to things of old. Sorry ~~ I love my kitchen coal stove. I love everything about my old home. It has never disappointed me. Finding someone like Paulie in this day and age has been a miracle and I am very thankful. He's not only expert in the things that he does, but he cares about the things that he does and he is kind. We have a new generation of those who just want to throw away so they make junk to last for just a short time. It's very sad.

 
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Post by coalstovelady » Fri. Jan. 12, 2018 8:42 pm

I think some of you might be interested to know that I was able to find a loud timer. It arrived today and it seems like it will satisfy my needs. I got it from King Arthur Flour. King Arthur Flour is an authorized dealer for Thermoworks products. King Arthur Flour is an interesting company I came to learn in my quest for a timer. They have made flour since George Washington was here. Several years ago King Arthur Flour sold the business to their employees to continue the work. When I phoned to inquire about the timer I spoke with one of the owners who actually uses the timer and she explained all about the company to me and about the timer. She was friendly and didn't rush me through the order. She wants feedback from me as well and the timer is guaranteed. I tried it out and I definitely can hear it on the 2nd floor. It has an adjustable volume control. It also beeps for 30 seconds - loud! I haven't played around with it all that much yet nor have I read all of the information but I believe it will also repeat a few beeps if I don't push 'stop'. ... Another interesting thing about King Arthur Flour is that they have increased the number of employees since the employees took over. I believe the woman said there were 300 employees at the time of takeover and they have expanded to a thousand now. Isn't that nice!

 
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Post by Wren » Fri. Jan. 12, 2018 10:16 pm

Sounds like a very nice company!

 
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Post by coalstovelady » Sat. Jan. 13, 2018 10:27 am

Yes, I thought so too. I would be lost without a kitchen timer. I use it for many chores around the house not just cooking. My new electric stove came without a timer. When I cook on my kitchen coal stove that is a whole other experience. Cooking on that stove a person doesn't really need a timer although I use a timer when I am starting up the fire and adding coal until it catches and burns off the blue gas. Ever since I moved here in 1977 I have had two stoves, an electric and the kitchen coal stove so I became dependent upon a timer in the kitchen. Often times I am not wearing clothing with pockets so it was a very handy way to remind me of oh so many things. I think this timer from King Arthur Flour will do the trick! Have a nice day! Our temperature here in Pennsylvania was 62 degrees yesterday and I woke up to 21 degrees and ice. It's hard to believe. I never remember such a difference in temperature in such a short time period. Maybe our planet is trying to remind us how awesome it is.

 
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Hambden Bob
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Post by Hambden Bob » Sat. Jan. 13, 2018 11:08 am

So Sorry about Viking,like so much else,having gone straight to Hell,CSL ! Thanx for the King Arthur Flour Timer tip !

 
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Post by coalstovelady » Wed. Jan. 24, 2018 12:42 pm

Hello to all my coal burning buddies. I want to relate some information that might be useful to some of you. I am burning only pea size coal now in my kitchen coal stove and it works a lot better. Prior to any issues with my coal stove I used to burn a combination of nut and pea. I used the mix both for my coal stove and Kewanee furnace. After Paulie was here and got things back to normal with the kitchen coal stove, he thought a larger coal would do better so I ordered nut which got mixed in with the left over pea/nut mix in my coal bin. Unfortunately the nut was too large but I wouldn't have known enough to check the size. I guess some coal haulers call stove coal nut. It is much too big. I was finding that the nut wasn't burning through completely and air was getting through too quickly and I couldn't save the fire through the night as I always was able to in years past. So I showed my ash to a friend locally who also burns coal. He confirmed that it wasn't burning thoroughly and I was wasting a lot of coal. It's a good thing I didn't force the grates or I probably would have had an issue as coal ash chunks can damage grates if not burned through. This time I went to the breaker and picked out the size coal I wanted - the pea. I looked at it, touched it, and said "this is what I want". I had several tons delivered and good thing I have a large coal bin area with 3 separate coal chutes so I was able to segregate these tons from the other coal. I am burning the pea exclusively now and the fire lasts a lot longer. Every couple of days I allow the fire to go out and then shovel the ash from the fire box and remove it manually for the garbage collector to take away. For removal of the fine ash that falls into the lower level of the stove, I then pull the slide and it dumps into the basement pit. I have a shop vac that I keep handy and I clean the slide very well before pushing it back into place so that it doesn't jam. I never had to do this in the past because I had direct access to my slide from beneath the floor in the basement area should there be an occasion of a jam. I no longer have that access because of the new gas furnace that is 1/2 the size of the Kewanee but it is in the way of the ash chute to the concrete bin. In the past I was able to lie on top of the Kewanee which was totally insulated with a shroud and shove the ash chute back into place. My new procedures with the kitchen coal stove and ash removal takes me less than 15 minutes to accomplish. With this newly developed task, I do have a little dust handling the ash from the fire box but such is life. I'm forever grateful to have my kitchen coal stove back and working. It is warm, cozy and I love cooking on it. The Viking has proven to be a big disappointment and I am still waiting for the retailer to replace it. It is all out of alignment. The retailer came here and started to disassemble it in my kitchen and finally gave up. He told me not to use it and it will be replaced. The stove was delivered January 2nd. ~ Sadly, I don't think they make products as they did in years past. A stove at that cost should not be put together as it is. The misalignment is quite obvious not just something minor. During the warm spell that we experienced I didn't have my kitchen coal stove burning and I had to eat out. I haven't even enjoyed the opportunity of cooking some of my favorite casseroles in my new stove. I hope this all gets resolved soon! Another cold spell is coming. Stay warm.

 
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Post by coalstovelady » Sun. Mar. 04, 2018 10:29 am

Hello my friends, I haven't forgotten you. I have been enjoying my Kitchen Coal Stove more than ever in my life now that I am retired. It is such a joy. I suppose I am getting to use it as the prior owner of my home who started living here around 1926 when from my research it would have been delivered. I moved here in 1977 and the stove plus my Kewanee Furnace were a team. Now I have time to do more with the kitchen coal stove as there had been that down time after the Kewanee broke and I was adjusting to an EFM stoker and now to a gas furnace. The EFM stoker is a good machine but for me it was always a concern that a big piece of coal would get into the hopper and break the pin, although it never did, but I worried it might about 2 in the morning and then what! Seems I worry about things more now that I am older. So I went gas! ... The kitchen coal stove is just a blessing. I found a use for an additional poker type item that hung behind my stove. I might have used it years ago but now I use it a lot having figured it out. Let me explain. I had been getting up after a night's sleep and raking the coals and the fire seemed to go out no matter how open I made the draft below the box. Well, that item that I will refer to as an 'elbow type poker' fits right in the draft openings and allows me to run it along the grates and it easily removes fine ash build-up and I see "red". It then results in a great draft and I add the fresh coal and off we go. Perhaps I was raking too much and dropping too much of the hot coals, although let me say this. That didn't happen before during all the years I burned the stove with its team-mate - the Kewanee. So you go figure? But it sure is working fine now since I introduced the new elbow type poker. I thought you all might like to read about this and I hope it is not boring you. It might even be useful information for some of you with a similar circumstance. I'm a person who tries to figure things out and I did. Yes, things are different without the Kewanee and that is not my imagination but it works. ..... I can't wait until spring when Paulie will come to polish up my stove and replace the part he temporarily fixed with furnace cement. Paulie is a wonderful man and one of the most knowledgeable I have met in many years. ..... I'm so happy to be using my coal stove again. One thing I like to cook on my coal stove are poached eggs. They taste the best when cooked on the coal stove. But let me say that everything I cook on the coal stove tastes better than any other appliance plus the fact that it keeps my thermostat with the gas furnace from running overtime and my house is warm like toast!!! It's just the most cozy nice feeling having the kitchen coal stove. .... So now let me tell you about the Viking. It is gone! They were not able to align the oven door and it was simply lopsided. I could fit my thumb on one side and only part of my pinky finger on the other side where the door met the upper and lower parts of the stove. The retailer came and tried but there was no adjustment possible. He told me not to use the stove and said he was ordering me another one. Eight (8) weeks later they came and the delivery crew opened the wrappings on other one inside the truck and called me outside. That one was the same. The crew said I didn't have to take it. So they hauled everything away. I am still without a stove but have been looking again and soon will have something. It was a disappointment. I've concluded in our world today I can honestly say they don't make things like they did many years ago to work and last. ... Well my friends, I see the sun shinning outside and it is going to be a beautiful day here in Pennsylvania. I think spring is on its way as I heard the geese flying over the other day. I love to be outdoors and will likely go to a park and take a walk just to enjoy the sunshine. ... Oh, I forgot the mention that another benefit of a coal stove is that I use the ashes in my driveway outside when there is ice. It's the best abrasive out there and it washes away with a hose in the spring. ... I hope you all have a good day. ... P.S. I loved my Kewanee Furnace too - nothing like it - but they don't make it anymore. xoxo

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Mar. 04, 2018 10:47 am

Glad to hear things are working well.

What happened to the EFM stoker?


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