Review of Villager Kitchener stove
Smallest cooking + boiler stove option
I have a small rural 1 room bothy --well insulated-- with open sleeping loft, which would normally require no more than a 5 KW woodstove. However I wanted DHW for small shower and sink, and also wanted some minimal cooking function from the stove, so I got an 8Kw Villager Kitchener with a back boiler--with a large dutch oven it is possible to bake scones and bread and jacket potatoes on the hot-plate, as well as boil a kettle.
I invested in a flu thermometer to monitor the heat, and only burn 2 yr aged wood and it works fine. Excellent hut insulation means that although the stove, being airwash, doesn't burn all night, --the bothy isn't arctic when I start the fire again next morning. Kitchener is the smallest cheapest wood stove that you can do basic cooking on--invest in a large dutch oven and a trivet to fit inside it to raise baking pans so that the bottoms don't burn, and you can bake anything once you learn your stove, and how your wood burns. I wish that the glass windows were larger so as to have a broader view of the flames; but I really can't complain.