Good Morning, I was surfing the local Craigs List postings this morning and came across the Duplex Fireless Stove. A quick search of CCS didn't show anything, so I thought I would post it for your information. THIS IS NOT MY LISTING. I am posting it because I thought some of you may be interested, as it is somewhat unique. Antique DUPLEX Fireless stove Number 50 - antiques - by owner -... If you have one of these stoves or know anything about them, please share what you know. Russell
It appears to be a somewhat modern take on the neo-lithic method of cooking with hot rocks. In that case a leather pot was formed using three stick for legs. Think of one of these but with longer legs and the seat made droopy enough in the middle to work as a bowl. Water, meat and veg in the bowl, heat some fist sized rocks in the fire until they are very hot then drop them in the pot. Soon you have boiled eats. The fireless stove seems to be the same idea. You heat the large cylindrical stones in a conventional stove, place them in the bottom of the wells in the cooker and set your filled cooking pots in on top of the hot stones. Close the lid and the insulated cabinet keeps the heat from the stones contained long enough to cook your meal. Neat idea for getting the heat out of the kitchen, except for the amount generated heating the stones. Their uncommonness is a comment on how many people thought it a good idea. Getting the heat out of the kitchen is not an unreasonable idea. In the pre-air conditioned south, those who could afford one had a summer kitchen. It was a kitchen built as an extension or even detached from the main house to help avoid heating the house in the summer.
It is a great contraption, based on the hay boxes used in war times when fuel was expensive and scarce. With the hay boxes, one brought the cooking vessel up to boiling temps and then put them in the boxes to continue cooking. With this system, pre heating is not needed as the heat comes from the soap stones, one at the bottom, another on top of the cooking vessels. Very smart! What one does effectively is "slow cooking", one can look at it as a slow simmer.
I've taken the liberty of downloading the rest of the images as the link will probably die in the future I remember my mother describing how as a child she was amazed as the hay box, her aunt used wood straw, it would be removed from the stove, boxed up and they would then cycle round london visiting the sites and come home to a finished meal no idea what I'd do with the duplex but I kinda want one!
I wonder if the "cycle around London" story highlights the major plus. A wood or coal - fired oven requires constant, or near-constant, attention. Unless of course you don't mind the heat being too high, or low, or your house burning down. The "fireless oven" or haybox allows you to set the cooking in motion and then safely ignore it. Even if you get the stones up to heat in an oven, it's a time- and worry- saver.
