A Blog Reader's Cookstove - I

I have always wanted this blog to be a clearinghouse of information about wood cookstoves.  Toward that end, I'm excited to have the opportunity to show you a reader-submitted cookstove photo from Tim in central Minnesota.

Reader Tim's Monarch cookstove in central Minnesota.
Tim's Monarch range is a model 272AT serial # P 3077
from the 20's or 30's.  Monarch stoves were made by the
Malleable Iron Range Co. in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

After Tim had contacted me, I sent him a bunch of questions because I always like to talk to my fellow contemporary wood cookstove cooks.  Like many of us who are cookstove lovers, Tim has basically been interested in wood cookstoves for as long as he can remember, and though Tim is a little more than a decade younger than I am, he does have the added advantage of having watched his grandmother cook on a Monarch combination range when he was young.   In my part of the world, most of the grandparents could recall cooking on a wood cookstove, but memories were all that we heard about. 

Because my post about buying a cookstove is one of the most popular here on the blog, I asked Tim what motivated him to buy this particular stove.  One of the aspects of this stove that caught Tim's attention first was the fact that it was almost identical to a cookstove that his great-grandmother had cooked on at one time.  He also noted that the firebox was in very good shape and that he was able to purchase it for only $150.00--a bargain if I ever saw one!  Tim also mentioned that he likes the front-feed option on the firebox because one doesn't have to move cooking vessels away from the fire in order to refuel.  However, the biggest attraction for Tim--who has owned and cooked on several wood cookstoves--was the presence of the warming oven. 

During the cooler seasons, this cookstove not only cooks Tim's food but also works in tandem with another wood stove to heat his house, which is actually where his grandparents lived in the early 60s.  The house was then vacant until 1999 when Tim began the long process of refurbishing it.  Clearly, he has done a fantastic job on this fixer-upper.  For summer cooking, the Monarch range is supplemented by a choice of two gas ranges, one of which is a vintage Chambers.