Curious about Wood-Burning Cookers? Find the Model That Suits You!
So, you have decided that your home would be complete with a wood-burning cooker – how exciting! Then it would be best to choose the right model from the range of options. It’s not the easiest decision to make. Here is some guidance to help you find the model that suits you.
What type of wood-burning cookers did people use in the past?
Trends come and go when it comes to wood-burning cookers. Heating with wood dominated Swedish society well into the 1900s. They were often beautifully decorated with images and ornaments. From the 1930s onwards, having a smoother design with more enameling on the cookers became more popular. Later, sheet metal stoves became very popular.
In catalogs from the early 1900s, you could often find up to 30 different models of wood-burning cookers. There were endless options. Did you need a width of 70, 72, or 76 cm?
It did not matter – everything could be solved!
But when electricity, gas, and central heating arrived, the production of wood-burning cookers decreased, and today the range is certainly more limited but also more optimized. They are based more on a few standard sizes because we only need so many options. The main thing we want to influence is, after all, the design and shape of the wood-burning cooker.
What design are you looking for?
Do you want your kitchen to have a particular style? Or do you like to mix furniture and items from different eras? Today there are all sorts of models – a newly manufactured stove that applies modern combustion techniques can look like a stove from the 1920s, and there are stoves that match modern appliances and kitchen designs. Do you want a smaller model? Should it be on the floor? Should it be entirely cast iron or have details in sheet metal? The questions are many, and the possibilities are endless – for the most part.
If you are mainly looking for a practical cooker, slim wood-burning cookers without an oven are suitable for you. They are often manufactured at the same height as modern kitchen countertops and fit incredibly well into more modern kitchens. They do not take up much space and have a much larger wood storage area than other models, making them effective heaters. A larger model is more suitable if you have a very large kitchen.
What does the living space and floor plan look like?
You need to know the size of the living space to determine how much energy is required to heat the house. Different wood stoves and stove cookers have various capacities, so it’s good to know roughly how much power you need. Check with the manufacturer if you need clarification on what they recommend. Knowing your kitchen’s specific area/size, a salesperson can advise which model best suits your needs. A medium power output of, for example, 4kW can heat up to 60-70 square meters, depending on how open the floor plan is. People often overestimate the stove’s power in relation to the room’s size.
The stove’s power is a measure of how much wood you can put in at once – a larger stove, therefore, has a much higher power output than a smaller one. A stove also works best when it is fired at its maximum power level. If it gets too hot, you may try to burn the fire more slowly to obtain less power, but this will also result in poorer combustion. For example, a stove that is too large with too high power may become too hot if the kitchen is too small.
Also, consider whether you want a stove that heats up quickly or provides long-lasting heat. A sheet metal wood-burning stove heats up more rapidly and cools down more quickly. A cast iron wood-burning stove takes longer to heat up but has longer after-heat, delivering a more even temperature in the oven.
Do you need a wood-burning stove with additional features?
In the past, the type of glass ceramic we have today that can withstand the heat generated by a wood-burning stove did not exist. Due to positive developments, there are now various glass options that allow us to see the wonderful crackling fire. If you’re interested in this, it should be considered when choosing a model.
Another vital thing to consider is whether you need an oven. Slim stoves, for example, generally need an oven as they are optimized to fit into smaller spaces. So, if you usually start the day by baking bread, consider other models than just those.
Josef Davidsson’s categories of wood-burning cookers
Narrow wood-burning cooker
Narrow cookers have become very popular in recent years as they fit well in small kitchens! Many kitchens today do not have the same amount of space as they did 50-80 years ago. Narrow wood-burning cookers do not have an oven but are a valuable source of heat and provide cooking capability. Check out the models: Viking 30 and JD 320.
Cast iron wood burning cookers
Classic cast iron wood-burning cookers that can be obtained both with and without ornaments.
Check out the models: JD 27, JD 227, Smålandsspisen 1896, Idun No 1, and Smålandsspisen 28.
Explore our wood burning stoves and cookers
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Wood-burning cooker | Viking 30
Rear connected. 30 cm slender Viking 30 is the most popular wood burning cooker in Scandinacvia. Large firebox and 6 kW power.Art. nr: 1000320022 627 € -
Wood-burning cooker | JD 227
Cooker with modern features and 1950s design. Curved oven hatch, stove top hob and great effiency.Art. nr: 1012270012 900 € -
Wood-burning stove | Oden 6300
Soapstone. 250 kg cast iron and soapstone wood burning stove. Stores warmth for hours and hours.Art. nr: 1063000033 263 €