Heartland 2603 User Manual

22

The temperatures established on both the cooking surface 

and in the oven are determined by three primary things:
1.  The amount of draft the chimney has. As the bell dampers 

are opened more air gets in the firebox and is drawn 

through the stove and chimney, resulting in a faster, 

hotter fire.

2.  The position of the oven damper. With the oven damper 

closed, the heat is channelled under the entire cooking 

surface (heating it up) and around the oven (heating it 

up). When the oven damper is open, the heat will be 

routed directly up the chimney.

3.  How much wood/coal is in the firebox and what stage of 

the combustion process it is at.

Figure 10

The cast iron top provides an excellent large cooking area 

for griddling, frying, basting and simmering. 

Some users report griddling directly on the cooking surface, 

although this is not recommended, as it usually creates 

quite a mess. A cast iron cooking vessel with a flat bottom is 

recommended. As you inspect your new oval, you may find 

the edges of your keyplate sitting slightly above the cooking 

surface. This is caused by the stiff new gasket under the 

keyplate. As the gasket compresses over time, the keyplate 

will drop to a position even with the rest of the cooktop.
To allow for normal settling,  we have purposely created a 

slight upward warp at the middle of 

your oval keyplate.  As the keyplate 

heats and cools it will eventually settle 

to a flat position.  The time period for 

settling will be different for each stove 

depending on usage. Please allow a full 

season of use as a minimum.
When getting used to cooking on the 

stove top remember that the surface is 

cast iron and like cast iron cookware, 

once heated retains the heat for a long 

time.
Successful stove top and oven cooking 

will not result from trying to fire the stove 

up immediately but by having a heated 

stove and ‘banking’ the fire to retain the 

temperature required. 
The left hand side of the cookstove 

top will be the hottest as the fire burns 

directly beneath it. The surface will get 

cooler the further you go to the right. 
The oven damper can be used to help 

control the heat on the cooking surface. 

To have the entire cooking surface 

warm, the damper will need to be in 

the closed position. This funnels the heat under the entire 

cooking surface, therefore heating it (see figure 10).

Under Oven Exhaust

Damper Closed