Hmmm...one could easily starve...

especially if they relied on me to cook on the cookstove :o(

I'll admit it. Were that my only source of cooking, we'd go hungry.

I did get the fires going yesterday -- I cheated and filled the firebox with large coals from the heater -- but I couldn't have fried an egg on that stove if my life had depended on it :o( I simply couldn't keep (or get?) it hot enough. I can't imagine baking in it at all.

I'm a sorry excuse for a true homesteader looking to be off-the-grid. Goodness, one of the major task of an off-grid homestead is figuring out HOW TO EAT. I have 9 people here beside myself who would certainly be relying on my abilities in the kitchen and on that cookstove were we to take that step to self-reliance and all.

And we'd be eating store-bought bread and cold sandwiches considering yesterday's waste of time :o(




Ok, pity party over. I'm stubborn. I'm going to get the better of that stove and that's all there is to it. I don't particularly like cold sandwiches. I want hot bread I've made myself...and maybe even some hot ham and melted cheese on my sandwiches. Even if it's PB&J, I prefer my bread toasted, so HA! I have no choice. I have to learn how to build a decent and somewhat substantial fire in that firebox. I have to learn how to not only cook decently, but get it going well enough for the oven to be of use for me. Even with the electric range I use my oven more than I use anything else. Learning to use that oven is a big deal around here.

Tips, thoughts, ideas...help!