Small things matter

[billi]

A friend have me that one , do Heat the downstairs of an old Farmhouse , meet little good stove and allready heated Up some food , i should try to Cook more the Chamber would be ideal for slow cooking a Irish lamb

[billi]

those stovefans are so cute and great .... my first one came from Canada (not mine in the video) but same model



It was using the idea of an hot air engine i think the British inventor was called Robert Stirling , hours and hours i was just whating the fire and the fan

[Mr Gus]

Nice one boys!
Whilst not on a woodstove, the other day, having for a good few weeks of slowly reducing the degree of "done" state on the wife's sous vide steaks & convinced her that chicken can be moist, pink, non stringy & cooked (pasteurised) to cook & compare a silverside joint as both steak (cuts) & as a sunday roast joint (no roasting involved) via sous vide, 4 hours cooking (forget the char) at 54.4 c

I've recently increased the slab insulation (50mm of celotex underneath) & enclosed the pot (bar lid) in wet suit material & celotex sides which is working well to bring the heating element cycles down quite considerably.

It worked a treat as to slowing the cooling down (when turned off) ..back to 24 hrs to get to room temperature (cold, unheated kitchen) which it was a few weeks ago before the cold snap.

I also cooked the other day my soft boiled eggs (45 mins) & drop the temp down to 50.5c to keep them until ready, sometimes a few hours (otherwise I chill them in ice water for 20 mins before fridging them) ..the 50.5c is an easy low energy target to achieve, this time I offered them to the wife for breakfast (nope, later) ..later became 10.45pm at night for my supper to see if they had survived beyond the speculated 4 hour window, ..beautiful they'd been in since 7 a.m 15+ hours.

Whilst I wouldn't normally leave power on (low or otherwise) like this it was a case of, may as well test the limits for reference.

Once again, it is low power cooking whilst you do other things & the result whether eaten straight away or charred (steak) clearly isn't the type to heavily test the local grid, ..I keep thinking "hay box cooking" although obviously its not, but meals are simple & tasty with an incredible amount of ease & next to no thought.

I haven't done carrots, peas or potatoes just yet, but soon, the low temps really allow a set & forget with plenty of leeway for stragglers, no burnt offerings because it doesn't.
The vegs TBH demand much higher temps for an hour, so i'll leave the pressure cooker to do that or the microwave for short bursts, but for bringing a meal together (often several different degrees of cooking for steaks between the 3 of us) i'm often apologetic for the fact that I've just dialled in time & temp on the sous vide, pressed a button on the instantpot, & maybe a short burst for some peas & sweetcorn in the microwave, ...with the 40 seconds ish per side on the induction hob, ..I just cannot recommend these two bits of kit enough ..but also feel like a complete cheat as so little work is involved.

I'd recommend folk who really enjoy their food take a look at some recipes & timings.
https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/

[Joeboy]

Gus, I will have a look at this, good way to cook.

A pair of non stick cake tins clamped with a couple of bulldog clips is our new stovetop oven. Test run is 8 beef link sausages straight from freezer. Let's see how it goes. Lots of surface lip so the tins don't slide about.



Edit, there is audible sizzle within about 7 minutes, a quick check of bottom external lower tin puts us at 170 deg. No fan assisted oven grid or battery draw required for these bad boys!

[Joeboy]

Ta-dah!!!

[Joeboy]

Should keep me busy for a while!

[Joeboy]

Jings, I'll be shifting some of that pre xmas weight gain at this rate!

This is the pile as was before emptying the van.


After emptying it looks like this, the largest logs are 12" dia for scale, does that look like more than 0.7T? It certainly felt like it.
Can barely lift my mug of tea!


There is also a pile of misshapen that will be first through to the store.


I split one random log, this pile will not be used for a full year regardless.


I've always loved the sight and smell of a log pile so here's a last one. Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year! All the best in 2022.

[Bugtownboy]

I’ve got the same meter, Joe. Out of interest, try it on setting/mode D - notice you’ve got it on A in the pic.

[Joeboy]

I’ve got the same meter, Joe. Out of interest, try it on setting/mode D - notice you’ve got it on A in the pic.

It has multiple functions!

Edit- On the end grain of a log
A.23.6%
D 29%
It will be staying on D then. I also noticed... for the first time... the writing on the unit....You know, about A thru to D..

Lunchtime.

[Bugtownboy]

Yep, took me about two years to click

I’ve got a shed full of Ash this year, the mode/setting C gave about a 20% higher reading than A. The physical features of the logs - colour, heft, radial splits indicated the mode settings were functional.

Never got to ‘proving’ it by totally drying a log in the oven, weighing before and after, though