Waiting for some red curry sweet potatoes and banana to cook up on the RMH and dreaming about a cook stove up in my kitchen. I'm looking for some input from the experts here. I roughed out a 4" J mold today today to cast a test core for it.
The primary purpose is for cooking and secondarily for heat. I've got the perfect spot, with a good exhaust location straight up through the roof. The major limitations are that I have 36" x 19" to work with for a foot print, and ideally I'd like to keep the height to 36", too.
I've got a plan that I think will work, using a 4" square J tube, using a 2" refractory core on all sides (riser cast right into the core). The outside of the box would be made of brick stacked on edge (3"), allowing for another 1.5 - 2" around the core that I could fill with zonolite for more insulation. The cooking surface would be cast iron or sheet steel (whatever I can scrounge up) measuring about 19" x 14". Coming out of the J, the flue gases would be directed down and into a second bell directly behind (4" x 4") and exit straight up into a 6" duct pipe. This design would allow a 2" air gap on surrounding the stove (between the wall and cabinets).
Any thoughts? Is the J too small to work? Would red bricks suck too much heat if used for the outside?
I plan on doing a test with the form I made, first out of clay and lime. But I'm not sure how the whole masonry part will affect the performance.