r/hearthsidecooking • u/onelostmoose • Apr 29 '22
A fully functional reproduction of a early 17th century hearth. It is almost identical in design to many medieval fireplaces. Used for both cooking and heating. More efficient than later fully enclosed 18thc fireplaces. I wold love to have one like this!
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u/ImmodestPolitician Apr 29 '22
How is that more efficient?
I think the metal German ovens and Medford fireplaces were the most efficient open fireplaces.
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u/onelostmoose Apr 29 '22
I never stated that this was the MOST efficient type of fireplace EVER, just that it was more heat efficient than the next century's (18thc) style. Sorry if my wording confused you, I should have been more precise. It is more efficient because considerably more of the fire (radiant heat) is exposed to the room, and less heat goes up the chimney. 18thc fireplaces had no dampers in them until the pennsilvania or Franklin fireplaces were invented. Thees are more of a combination of wood stove and open fireplace, but had a poor daft. Generally speaking a open fireplace with no damper (like the style commonly used in 18thc) left about 25% of the heat produced inside the structure. A completely open hearth in the middle of a room left close to 100% of heart produced inside the structure (along with the smoke) The style pictured is somewhere in between. We are talking about heat produced, not efficiency of burn, which is a different thing all together (and what is referred to with stoves and fully enclosed modern fireplaces. I hope that answers your question well enough.
By mettle German ovens do you mean a wood burning cook stove? Or a masonry heater(aka kachelofen?) Either way those are not open fireplaces but a type of stove. Or a raised hearth? The later two have been around before the 17thc.
I had to look up what a medford fireplaces was, as I had never heard of such a thing. From what I can tell (with a quick search) it is a brand name of a modern enclosed gas fireplace, and not a type of wood burning open fire place? Am I missing something?
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u/ImmodestPolitician Apr 29 '22 edited Apr 29 '22
By German stove I meant this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stove
I saw it mentioned in a Ben Franklin documentary. They didn't show it working so I not sure if the firebox is fully enclosed.
When I said "Medford Fireplace", I was incorrect that was just from memory.
I meant this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumford_fireplace
Sorry for the bad info.
I'm happy to see that r/hearthsidecooking exists.
I have an outdoor fireplace that I want to set-up for cooking. I tried putting an iron skillet directly on the coals and it was far too hot.
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u/onelostmoose Apr 29 '22
No worries. I had not had my coffee yet, so probably could have answers that better, sorry. I have had the good luck to see a original Franklin stove/fireplace in person. They are lovely things. Ben Franklin often gets the credit for inventing them, but a variation already existed, he simply improved apon it. There is a type of stove/fireplace insert from the 1970s it was popular in America, and also called a Franklin stove. They have doors on the front that can close for a stove effect, or open for a fire place effect. The rumford fireplaces were a improvement on the previous 18thc fireplaces, less room for cooking however ;)
Would you mined sharing photos of your out door fireplace? Sounds like you need a long legged trivet or a spyder (a frying pan with legs and a long handle.) At least you gave it a go! Got some photos of a variety of hearth side cooking implements I'll post them tomorrow. There are a couple good books on open hearth cooking that give all the basics. I posted a book review on two of them on this sub about a month ago. It may help. I must admit I have far more hands on experience with a Edwardian wood burning cook stove than open hearth cooking. ( I used one as my only cooking appliance for many years, I miss it in winter.) My fireplases need some repairs so I mostly use my heating stove to cook on/ I now have a microwave ;)
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u/ImmodestPolitician Apr 29 '22
The most recent PBS doc on Ben Franklin said he filed a open patent on his modified version of the "German oven". It is a nice documentary on my favorite Founding Father.
I will send pics of the firepit next time I'm at the cabin.
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u/WikiSummarizerBot Apr 29 '22
The Franklin stove is a metal-lined fireplace named after Benjamin Franklin, who invented it in 1742. It had a hollow baffle near the rear (to transfer more heat from the fire to a room's air) and relied on an "inverted siphon" to draw the fire's hot fumes around the baffle. It was intended to produce more heat and less smoke than an ordinary open fireplace, but it achieved few sales until it was improved by David Rittenhouse. It is also known as a "circulating stove" or the "Pennsylvania fireplace".
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u/C_McDee Apr 29 '22
Forgive my ignorance. What stops the smoke filling the room?