WOODSTOVE?

[TimJ]

Is, or has anybody ever run their pot still on top of a wood burning stove? I am limited on space, it is cold outside, and the woodstove would work out real well. I plan to make a vinigar run tonight and try it on the stove. Just wondering if anybody else is firing with wood.

Tim

[beelah]

no reason why it shouldn't work, as that was all that the old timers used, provided you are running a pot still, as even temperature control is not as critical as with a reflux still...however it is likely a lot more work, keeping the fire going and at the right level to get an even boil...give her a try, keep notes and let us know how it went and what your end product was like.

[NY Chris]

I have put pots of water on my wood stove in the past just to add some humidity to the house, never saw the water boil only light simmer.
To change a liquid to a gas requires many BTU'S so , you may be able to get it to temperature but you may not have enough BTU'S available on the surface area of your pot to get the mix to boil.

From a safety standpoint, when I run , I only crack the valve open on my propane tank in case I get a big leak in the still I can shut down the flame instantly.
You won't be able to do it with the wood stove.

Good luck with your run.
Chris

[TimJ]

I have put pots of water on my wood stove in the past just to add some humidity to the house, never saw the water boil only light simmer.
To change a liquid to a gas requires many BTU'S so , you may be able to get it to temperature but you may not have enough BTU'S available on the surface area of your pot to get the mix to boil.

From a safety standpoint, when I run , I only crack the valve open on my propane tank in case I get a big leak in the still I can shut down the flame instantly.
You won't be able to do it with the wood stove.

Good luck with your run.
Chris

Chris,
True about not being able to shut down instantly, and that was one of my concerns, but then on the other hand, I won't have any open flames either.
Tim

[cob]

From a safety standpoint, when I run , I only crack the valve open on my propane tank in case I get a big leak in the still I can shut down the flame instantly. You won't be able to do it with the wood stove.

from a safety standpoint this is a bad practice.
propane valves only seal positivly in the fully closed or fully open position.
any position between open seal and closed seal has the potential to leak propane past the stem packing to the atmosphere.

edit 2: my bad chris.
timj; a wood stove acts like an open flame even though the flame is in a box.
only with a sealed outside air source and no openings to the room (outside wood feed) is it not treated like an open flame.
pulling some combustable gas into the air intake of a wood stove can still cause ignition.

edit: beelah the old boys did their wood fired stillin outdoors mostly.

[Prairiepiss]

Just sounds like an accident waiting to happen to me.

Adjusting the heat. And maintaining the correct heat input would be a pita.
No shutdown.
Open flames. Even though you think its sealed good. It is not.
Larger heated surface that a spill could come in contact with.


I would look at going electric before I even thought of doing this.

[NY Chris]

Thanks for the info Cobb,

I will open fully next time or at least check with some soapy water leak test.

By the way , it is Tim that was thinking about using the wood stove.

Chris.

[watermelon]

i have also been wondering this, as i have decided to move onto a larger keg still that wont fit on my kitchen stove.

im not sure the stove would transfer the heat well enough to get the wash boiling. i think direct contact with the hot air is necessary to get up to the necessary temps.

i think a open topped stove might work, but it would need to be kept well fed. i keep thinking of doing a large rocket stove style. charcoal might work. do you reckon that would be hot enough?

[TimJ]

Update:
Well, sorta good news, bad news.......

I think the stove could work out pretty well. It took a while, but it did make my vinegar cleaning solution begin to boil. Then, I could see a couple of very small steam leaks around the top of the wall of the pot where it meets the funnel top. I suppose I could have stuffed flower paste in, but I shut down to see if I can resolder it and fix it permanently.
Tim

[Copper Thumper]

Great thread and great replys guys!!


I prefer electric...but running mine on propane. My smaller still is perfect for the elec flattop stove..... you going to add a thumper?


looking good!

CT

[TimJ]

Thumper,
No thumper for now, though maybe in the future.
Tim

[Dnderhead]

i guess not many cooked on a wood stove? a cook wood stove is very even heat do manly to its shear mass.
then you don't regulate the heat by the amount of wood,you do so by moving cook ware around, diferant places are diferant temperature, and if that's not hot enough remove a lid and place the pot over the hole.

[mash rookie]

i guess not many cooked on a wood stove? a cook wood stove is very even heat do manly to its shear mass.
then you don't regulate the heat by the amount of wood,you do so by moving cook ware around, diferant places are diferant temperature, and if that's not hot enough remove a lid and place the pot over the hole.

Where is common sense around here? Thanks Dunder for keeping a voice of reason alive. Goodness.

[Dnderhead]

thats why the cook stoves had all the different sized lids.only thing is it mite be a bit hard moving the pot.you would need to plan on that when you you set up.O ya they used to have "trivets" placed under a pot/pan if it was to hot.maybe just to keep things warm.

[mtnshiner85]

I use a stone and clay wood furnace, good dry wood is a must to maintain good temp, once you gets a good bed of coals u dont have alot of flame. Old timers around here say propane gets it to hot, i think a wood furnace supplys a more radiant heat, ususlly you insulste your still to with clay and it gets hot to helping maintain temp. Propane is alot easier, but do it on wood a couple times and youll Be hooked. I better go cut, split, haul, carry more wood up there, makeing it the old way is Alot of work.

[HolyBear]

He'll be able to get it hot enough with that stove, especially by removing a lid. Also, the damper and air vents will be how he controls the heat. I think it'll work jes fine, nice!!!

+1 on the safe use of valves COB...
from a safety standpoint this is a bad practice. propane valves only seal positivly in the fully closed or fully open position. any position between open seal and closed seal has the potential to leak propane past the stem packing to the atmosphere.

Valves only fully seal when they are all the way on or all the way off. Damn near learned that the hard way one time when welding and cutting in the shop one day. Lifted my welding hood and noticed over on the sedaleen bottle a 3" flame coming around the valve . I didn't have the valve all the way open, leaked around handle stem,+ sparks from welder, almost had a very bad day...

[TimJ]

i guess not many cooked on a wood stove? a cook wood stove is very even heat do manly to its shear mass.
then you don't regulate the heat by the amount of wood,you do so by moving cook ware around, diferant places are diferant temperature, and if that's not hot enough remove a lid and place the pot over the hole.

Dnderhead,
I see in your profile you are 85 years young. I would say you get it more than some. Water and other things were boiled on a woodstove long before electric or propane were in use. The heat can also be controled by opening or closing dampers. You can cut the heat back pretty fast to next to nothing if you choak the fire way down by closing all the dampers. You can heat her up pretty good and fast by opening up everything too.
Tim

[Dnderhead]

ya well those odd looking "pots" the oval shaped ones made of copper,you see made into still boilers.
they were water boilers,you removed one front lid one back and the divider,then the boiler fit right over the hole left.they were used to do you "unmentionables",dishes etc.
(i guess if you have one ,you could call your product "bloomer shine"

[beelah]

That's how I remember my uncle working his magic...when I was a kid, most people where I lived only ever used wood to heat their houses and in their cook stoves...which was all that heated the house....we would sit in the kitchen in our tea shirts because it was that hot, but if you went into the living room, you could see your own breath...

[watermelon]

i know its like asking how long a string is, but how much wood do you need to complete distillation?

i live in area with plentiful wood, but i can also get locally made and very good quality charcoal. i havnt seen anyone else using it so im guessing theres not much in it.

[TimJ]

i know its like asking how long a string is, but how much wood do you need to complete distillation?

i live in area with plentiful wood, but i can also get locally made and very good quality charcoal. i havnt seen anyone else using it so im guessing theres not much in it.

I haven't done my first stripping run yet, but I can tell you this: Last night while doing the vinegar cleaning run, I started the fire with the still on the stove. I had a full 4 gallons of 50/50 water/vinegar just starting to boil in about an hour. In that hour, I probably used one good arm load of wood. maybe one more good arm load of wood at most would have finished a run, but I shut down due to a small steam leak I want to solder before continuing.

So.....2 armloads of wood should do a stripping run total.

Tim

[rad14701]

I have used this exact same model of wood stove to run stills in the past and may do so again in the very near future... As Dnderhead stated, you get better heat by removing on or more of the covers... Then you can adjust the heat by regulating air input and chimney flue... It's no more dangerous than distilling over a wood fire and coals...

[Dnderhead]

really i like wood, its a "soft" heat,unlike gas/electric that has "hot spots"

[Prairiepiss]

I guess you all are just braver then I am. I wouldn't think of using open flame to heat a still in my house. I mite consider it in a shed. But not in my house. All I picture is the wife and kids in the front yard watching the house burn down.

[shadylane]

I'd sure hate to blow a cap indoors. Especialy during a spirit run.