rocket stove cooking

I love my Rocket Stove.  I’d seen them here and there before, mainly home made affairs, cobbled together with old baked bean cans and old oil canisters and I’d had it in mind to build one of my own one day.  In Dorset I was caught with my guard down, at the Scythe Fair, where I saw a professionally forged, easily transportable, robust affair which I bought it without a second thought.  

How right I was.

Since getting back to France I use it most of the time for cooking meals, not just for myself but for four or five people at a time.  Mainly pot meals that require simmering for a while, but also fry ups and dishes that require a proper amount of heat.

Lighting it was tricky to start and then getting the burn temperature right.  I’ve since improved my wood drying technique and shan’t ever need to cut down another tree to cook with it.  It’s a joy to gather those fallen twigs and small branches and know that they have a serious role to play and also to be able to cook on free, easily gathered material at almost a moments notice.  I’ll need to be more prepared for when the weather turns and keep a good supply of well dried twigs available for cooking.

Thinking about how much wood I would use on a traditional fire, or the gas I would burn to achieve the same result is absurd.  A small bundle of kindling is enough to cook dinner and provide a nice cup of tea to wash it all down.  I’ll be heating my shower water with it soon and filling my hot water bottle with it when the nights get cold.  The gas stove will always be a welcome alternative for when the weather is foul, an oven is needed or speed is of the essence, but ongoing, my rocket stove cooking is becoming an integral part of my daily routine.  

The wheelbarrow in the photos is a makeshift wind deflector, self standing, easily positionable and has many other uses.  Ideal

dinner in the making

the twigs are burning within the metal tubing

a mini furnace

a near complete burn with no smoke and hardly any ash

MMMmmmmmm  lentil, tomato and nettle stew nearly done

festive preparations

Four days in the mountains, a mini break of sorts, with Pierre at Lou Rider.  Our aim was to bake Christmas cakes and make chutney, get out and enjoy the mountains for the last time before the snow arrived and enjoy being away.

I picked up a couple of crates of ungraded apples at the market, fine to eat but ideal for cooking with, though some varieties tend to keep their shape however long you cook them for.  Apples and a couple of home grown winter squash were the basis for chutney, along with two mixes of spices and other ingredients for the two batches planned.

I got to use one of my latest car boot treasures, an apple peeler, corer, slicer all in one.  It really was amazing and already paid for (3 euros) for the quantity of apples we processed.  Check out the pics.

one of my new kitchen toys

chutney in the making

peels, cores and slices in one easy action

 Pierre had been soaking dried fruit in alcohol for weeks in preparation for the cakes and we raided a supermarket on the way into the mountains for all the other ingredients.  Between us we made nine beautiful cakes of varying sizes and two cases of chutney, one of which will blow your head off!!!  I can’t wait till they’re nicely matured and ready to taste properly.

alcoholic fruit

Christmas is coming

Neither of us were on form, so we didn’t really venture out that much which was a shame.  The winter cold bugs were busy doing their thing and our bodies probably benefited from a bit of a rest.  Thankfully all the produce we made was thoroughly cooked and none of the bugs will have survived.