Any Home Bakers Here?

[R2elk]

The quality of the ingredients -- and no "stuff" in it (preservatives, additives, colorings; you know that "stuff")

I put a preservative in my baked goods. It's called honey.

 

[jnicholes]

Happy Halloween!

 

[bruceha2000]

This actually poses a question. My stove is burning wood WAY too fast. I mean it goes through a big log in 30 to 40 minutes.

Here are the details:

No baffle plate in the stove yet. Getting one soon.

Pine wood is what we have.

Door has very tiny gap at the top when closed.

Are any of these a problem that causes wood to burn too fast?

Yes, all.
I won't burn pine or other sappy woods. They burn too fast and create creosote in the pipe and chimney as the stove cools down. But I know that some areas, like the PNW don't have much in the way of hardwoods so you are stuck with what you have. Make sure you clean the pipe and chimney regularly through the winter. You can gauge how often you need to do it by how much creosote is in them the first time. It will take some practice to figure out the timing. I don't need to clean mine but once in the spring (to make sure there are no bird nests in the chimney. But I burn hardwoods and pretty much once the stove is lit, it stays lit all winter. Not lots of heating and cooling so little buildup.

ANY gap is letting in air you don't want for a longer burn. The only air should be coming in through the controlled intake so you can shut down the stove. I have that problem with the front door on my stove last winter. I'm replacing all the gaskets before I start it up this year.

Thanks for letting me know. We will get one installed.

ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, don't even think about running the stove again without one.
You could end up with a runaway fire .... and no house

we have used up all the oak pieces that could be split, the oak we have now would have to be split by a machine, which wouldn’t be economical , and I can’t do any heavy lifting anyways since I am the only one doing stuff like that, we have to wait until I am better, or somebody hires a machine that splits wood and we can also use it to split our stuff, but since a slice of the oak weighs at least about 200 kg, I am not sure it would even work ?!
View attachment 3672214

I have been known to cut a slot in the end of big rounds with the chainsaw then splitting it in half with metal wedges and a maul. Seeing those rounds, I'd probably have to split them in quarters. Then they will go on the electric log splitter.

You might also have to let those rounds "season" a bit so they start cracking and show you where THEY want to split as opposed to where YOU think you want them to split.

 

[Aria]

Yes, all.
I won't burn pine or other sappy woods. They burn too fast and create creosote in the pipe and chimney as the stove cools down. But I know that some areas, like the PNW don't have much in the way of hardwoods so you are stuck with what you have. Make sure you clean the pipe and chimney regularly through the winter. You can gauge how often you need to do it by how much creosote is in them the first time. It will take some practice to figure out the timing. I don't need to clean mine but once in the spring (to make sure there are no bird nests in the chimney. But I burn hardwoods and pretty much once the stove is lit, it stays lit all winter. Not lots of heating and cooling so little buildup.

ANY gap is letting in air you don't want for a longer burn. The only air should be coming in through the controlled intake so you can shut down the stove. I have that problem with the front door on my stove last winter. I'm replacing all the gaskets before I start it up this year.


ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, don't even think about running the stove again without one.
You could end up with a runaway fire .... and no house


I have been known to cut a slot in the end of big rounds with the chainsaw then splitting it in half with metal wedges and a maul. Seeing those rounds, I'd probably have to split them in quarters. Then they will go on the electric log splitter.

You might also have to let those rounds "season" a bit so they start cracking and show you where THEY want to split as opposed to where YOU think you want them to split.

We always BURN hard wood. NEVER PINE.

 

[MotherofOrpies]

Yea, we did work with a kind of warped twisted metal wegde, and hammered it with a heavy hammer, but even that kind of turned dull the wedges have been laying here for 5 years ( pic is of them fresh) but they haven’t shown me any cracks yet ..

 

[Sally PB]

I put a preservative in my baked goods. It's called honey.

Yes! I'm glad you mentioned that.

 

[Sally PB]

You might also have to let those rounds "season" a bit so they start cracking and show you where THEY want to split as opposed to where YOU think you want them to split.

Here's something else that might be useful to wood splitters. Hubby had been splitting wood quite a while when a friend gave him this tip.

Hubby would split big logs (16-20" or even larger) by splitting them in half. Makes sense (to me), but it's hard work on oak. A friend told him to split off a chunk, say 4" in, first. Then you've taken the main core of strength out of the log, and the rest is easier to split. He does that now, even when he's using the wood splitter.

He cut some sassafras logs from a downed tree. He brought in a couple of pieces, thinking we'd enjoy the smell. Not much smell, unfortunately. They're rounds about 4" thick, and they were solid when he brought them in. Now there are a dozen hairline cracks in them. They are drying out fast in the living room!

 

[Debbie292d]

we have used up all the oak pieces that could be split, the oak we have now would have to be split by a machine, which wouldn’t be economical , and I can’t do any heavy lifting anyways since I am the only one doing stuff like that, we have to wait until I am better, or somebody hires a machine that splits wood and we can also use it to split our stuff, but since a slice of the oak weighs at least about 200 kg, I am not sure it would even work ?!
View attachment 3672214

A few years ago we invested in a wood splitter from Home Depot. You could rent one for a few hours too at your local hardware rental place. I know True Value here does. Get the kind that has vertical option so you just roll those logs underneath it flat side up, then bring the wedge down on it and voila!

 

[jnicholes]

Yes, all.
I won't burn pine or other sappy woods. They burn too fast and create creosote in the pipe and chimney as the stove cools down. But I know that some areas, like the PNW don't have much in the way of hardwoods so you are stuck with what you have. Make sure you clean the pipe and chimney regularly through the winter. You can gauge how often you need to do it by how much creosote is in them the first time. It will take some practice to figure out the timing. I don't need to clean mine but once in the spring (to make sure there are no bird nests in the chimney. But I burn hardwoods and pretty much once the stove is lit, it stays lit all winter. Not lots of heating and cooling so little buildup.

ANY gap is letting in air you don't want for a longer burn. The only air should be coming in through the controlled intake so you can shut down the stove. I have that problem with the front door on my stove last winter. I'm replacing all the gaskets before I start it up this year.


ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, don't even think about running the stove again without one.
You could end up with a runaway fire .... and no house


I have been known to cut a slot in the end of big rounds with the chainsaw then splitting it in half with metal wedges and a maul. Seeing those rounds, I'd probably have to split them in quarters. Then they will go on the electric log splitter.

You might also have to let those rounds "season" a bit so they start cracking and show you where THEY want to split as opposed to where YOU think you want them to split.

Thanks for all the info. My family actually agrees. We won’t burn until we get the rest installed.

 

[CountryCuratesWife]

Making fudge, pumpkin cake, and soul cakes for a Halloween party today!