Baker's Delight

This winter has been particularly brutal. After the epic rainfall here in SoCal, the unprecedented ice storms across the south, the weeks of sub-zero temps in the Midwest, and the record-setting blizzards in the east, I need a little reassurance that the ranch will have heat and a method of cooking if nature shows the power grid who's the boss. Thus, I've been researching dual-function wood-fired ovens. If pressed, I'll admit that I'm probably motivated less by the practicality of these charming ovens and more by romantic notions of stoking a fire in the cookstove and baking bread in a cozy cottage while a winter storm howls outside.

I had pretty much decided on the Baker's Oven featured in the Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog. The Baker's Oven can heat a 700 square-foot room while the cooktop accommodates four large saucepans and the bottom oven is used for baking. But I recently saw a post on another blog discussing the Vermont Bun Baker. Aside from having a catchier name, the Vermont Bun Baker comes with an attractive soapstone hearth, side wall, and top.

Not cheap, these ovens. (The Vermont Bun Baker 1500 pictured here will set you back a cool $6950.00.) Why does it cost so much to have a back-up plan?