Interactive lesson

Cooking on a wood range, step by step

Interactive lesson: how to lay a cooking fire, use the hotplate by zones, tame the oven, cook with retained heat and work safely by the fire.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Cooking on a wood-burning range module. Already bought? Unlock

This lesson is general guidance, not professional training. Local regulations and expert advice always take precedence. Read our disclaimer.

The whole lesson as text

1. The range as a kitchen

On a range you don't choose the temperature with a knob, but with wood, air and where you put the pot.

One fire for everything — A range has five working places, each with its own temperature and job. A good cook uses them all at once.
Over the firebox — The hottest spot: water boils in minutes. For boiling, frying, pancakes and quick cooking.
Towards the flue, and the edge — Towards the flue: simmering, soups, beans after boiling. The edge of the hotplate: keeping warm, proving dough, melting fat.
Oven and water tank — The oven runs at 150–280 °C (300–535 °F), depending on the fire and the damper. The tank or kettle gives hot water for washing-up, and the rack above dries fruit, herbs and plates.

Why: Once you master it, one fire cooks lunch, bakes bread, heats washing-up water, dries apples and warms the house. If you don't, the milk boils over and the bread burns underneath.

Choosing, installing and maintaining a range is covered in H60-05 Stoves, ranges and boilers.
The first time you cook on a new or second-hand range, draw the hotplate and mark where things boil and where they keep warm.

2. Wood for cooking

Cooking wants a quick, hot fire that can be turned up easily and dies down fast.

Dry wood — Moisture under 20 %. Measure with a moisture meter on a freshly split face. In England, small loads sold as “Ready to Burn” must be below 20 %.
Hardwood for bread — Thin split beech, ash, oak or birch, 3–5 cm: long-lasting embers and steady heat in the oven, for bread and long winter cooking.
Softwood for summer — Spruce, fir, pine, poplar, lime: burns fast, few embers, for quick boiling. Because of the resin, sweep the flue more often.
Kindling by the range — Keep twigs, kindling and offcuts in a box by the range, for lighting and a quick boost. Painted, varnished or treated wood, chipboard, plastic and rubbish never go into the range.

Why: Heating wants a long fire of thick logs. That is no good for cooking: wet or thick wood gives little heat and a lot of smoke, and the hotplate never gets hot.

Outside the heating season, cooking uses roughly 0.2–0.3 stacked cubic metres a month (about 0.06–0.08 cord), or 3–6 kg (7–13 lb) of dry wood a day.
Fruit wood (apple, plum, cherry) gives a good aroma in the oven, but only unpainted, dry wood.