Cleaning a wood cookstove 101

Today was the day to clean the wood cook stove pipe and the stove itself.
Many of you may not know that, not only the ashes need to be removed
from the firebox but the ash travels around the oven box, when the
damper is pulled out on the back of the stove. This circulates the heat as
well as the ash and soot around the oven box, before exiting at the
bottom of the oven, into the chimney.


This is the clean out port under the oven. There is a special scraping
tool that clean and pulls the ash and soot out this port. Yes, it is messy
and yes it is dusty, but NEEDs to be done to get the oven to heat
correctly. If to much ash is built up under or on top of the oven, it
causes uneven heating of the oven.

Here you can see the port, under the oven door
This is the view from on top the stove through one of the two

removable lids( this one is directly above the firebox) You can see

The ash buildup on top of the oven box. This ash will be pushed over to

the port clean out door and some will be pulled into the firebox.

This stove was cleaned the end of Dec. 08 and our last fire was in

March 09, the ash/ soot build up is approx. 2" thick.

The top of the oven box all cleaned off
Ash and soot mounded, from being pushed from the top of the oven

box. This is a view from the port below the oven door.

After the ash/ soot is cleaned out.
This is a before of the bottom oven port. The farthest wall back is the

chimney exit for the smoke when the damper is pulled out and oven is

in use. Take note of the soot buildup on the underside of the oven

box.

All cleaned, notice the soot is removed from the underside of the oven

box.

This is the chimney pipe hookup, it's oval, which is a challenge to get a

good fit with the pipe. See the handle to the left, this is the damper,

when pulled out diverts the smoke and heat around the oven box and

out the bottom chimney exit.

All scraped and cleaned out awaiting the stove pipe to fit back into

place and the first fire of the season to be built.

Our temps are supposed to drop into the low 50's F. for daytime highs

evening lows into the low 30's and high 20's F. This storm is due in by

mid-day tomorrow. It was also fore casted that 2-4 inches of snow will

fall on the plains( that's us) 5-8 inches in the foothills and 2-4 ft in the

mountains.

Mike spent the day cutting and hauling home approx. 1-3/4 to 2 cords

of firewood, to be stacked in the wood lean to by my Dad tomorrow

morning before the storm sets in.

Cortney and I got cabbage pulled and in the root cellar, apples

cleaned up off the ground, and our mangle beets( for the cows and

pigs) pulled and in the root cellar. Cortney sorted through the bushel

baskets of tomatoes and came up with enough ripened maters for

yet another batch of sauce or maybe even stewed tomatoes.

We still have a bushel basket of apples to peel, core and slice, then

can as apple pie filling. We also have 5 medium heads of cabbage

to be run across the slaw cutter and made into freezer slaw. It

sounds as if we'll have opportunity to work on these items for the

next week, due to cold fronts moving through. I actually look forward

to the wood cookstove warming the kitchen, a pot of stew

on the back of the stove and baking powder biscuits baking in the

oven, while working on canning maters, apple pie filling and

preparing freezer slaw.

May your Sunday be restful and full of blessings.