Friends of Slate Run Farm

Welcome to

Our Kitchen

The kitchen in our 1880s era farmhouse, as in most houses, is the center of activity.  This is where meals are prepared, where dishes and food are stored, and is the one place where something will almost certainly be going on regardless of the time of year.

Many visitors relate to this room and count the kitchen as their favorite room of the house.

The crackling fire, the heat of the stove, and the smells of food cooking remind them of similar familiar places in their own lives. 

The dry sink, butter churn, washstand and basin, etc. stir up strong memories in the minds of many people.  For other folks who may be seeing these items for the first time, examining these once everyday objects and trying to guess what each item's particular function may be becomes a fun and intriguing game. 

 The Old Wood Stove

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, I'm "Farmlady" and a volunteer at the farm since 2005. 

 

One of my favorite things to do is to cook on the old wood stove at the farm. 

 

April through December, every day that the farm is open, the women prepare "dinner" (what we would call lunch today) to feed the farmers and staff.

  

The food is prepared and cooked much the same way as it would have been when a family lived here during the 1880's.  Most of the food that is put on the table was raised or grown on the farm. 

 

Next time you're in the kitchen, ask to take a look at the cookbooks on the shelf over the dry sink.  These authentic (or reproduction) cookbooks are what are used to plan and prepare food.

 

I come from a long line of cooks:  my granny on my mom's side raised twelve children on a farm in eastern Ohio and cooked her last meal on the day she died at the age of 99, and my grandma on my dad's side raised four kids and was a cook in a high school cafeteria for years--back in the days when almost everything was made from scratch.

 

So, when I first became a volunteer several years ago, I wanted to learn how to cook on the wood stove. 

 

 

First I had to learn the parts of the stove and how they work together.  

 

One of the most important parts of the stove is the firebox.  It's the place where you add wood and make a fire.

 

Learning to make a fire in the box is part art and part science.  How fast it lights and how fast it burns depends on the type of wood you're using, the type of kindling, how wide you've opened the grate underneath the firebox (this regulates the amount of air that goes to the fire), how humid or dry the air in the room is, whether or not you remembered to open the flue on the chimney, and so on. 

 

Once the fire is going well, it's time to put on water.  Since the stove is the only source of hot water you have, it's important to keep water warming on the stove all day so you'll have it when you need it for dishes, cooking, making tea, etc.

 

Once the fire is lit, it's time to go out to the pump and bring in a bucket of water.  Our stove has a hot water reservoir built right in.  It's a large metal box on the far right side of the stove.  First you fill the reservoir and then you fill the large gray kettle.  This kettle is always kept on the stove and is its hot water is used for cooking or making tea or coffee.  When you dip some out to use, you go to the bucket of clean water kept to the right of the sink and fill it up again.

 

Let's see, the fire is going, the flue is open, the water and reservoir are full.  We're almost ready to start cooking. 

 

If I'm going to bake, now's the time to reach for the lever at the top right corner of the oven.  When the lever is pushed in, the heated air rises from the firebox and heats the metal surface of the stove and then escapes through the chimney.  If I want to bake inside the oven, I need to pull the level forward.  This redirects some of the heated air so that it circulates around the oven "box".

 

It's been about 30 minutes or so since I first began the fire and at last, I'm ready to do some cooking. 

 

Makes you appreciate that little knob on your stove at home, doesn't it?

Ode to the Old Wood Stove at Slate Run Farm

Do you know

          that wood sings when it burns?

I hear it when I cook on the old wood stove.

Each day

I open vents,

Put in sticks and logs,

And light the fire.

“How do you know when it’s time?” they ask.

“To bake the bread?”

“To cook the meat?”

“To add more wood?”

“I know because I know,” I say.

The stove warms my skin with its heat,

Sweat drips on my face when I stand near.

I open the oven and reach in

One second, two seconds and my hand jumps out.

Too hot for my skin is just right for the bread.

A new fire cracks and spits.

A fire with good heat makes no sound

And water drops flung on top of the stove

Dance and then go in a flash of steam.

Their hiss means the meat will cook.

I open the fire box and look.

Tall flames and food will scorch

But red coals laced with white

Give good strong heat

And now is the time to add more wood.

S. Coutant