The Pioneer Princess Wood Cook Stove is the ideal model for large families or for those who just want the biggest and the best.
Wood cooking stoves have become very desirable as more people experience devastating power outages and rising power costs. Cookstoves will heat your home, allow you to continue cooking as normal, and can also be used to heat your home’s hot water – among other things.
The Amish-made Pioneer Princess (here at Lehman’s) is one of the largest and best cookstoves out there. It’s an upgrade from the Pioneer Bakers choice oven (here at Lehman’s), and here’s what you need to know about it.
Pioneer Princess Wood Cook Stove
What can this wood cookstove do? – OR, as some like to put it, what CAN’T this wood stove do?
As with any wood-burning stove, it has all of those features and functions that are so useful. Cookstoves in particular are multifunction appliances that can pay for themselves in time. They can also help you to live completely off-grid if needed.
The Pioneer Princess can be used for:
- Heating your home
- As a stovetop
- As a baking oven
- Heats water
- As a benchtop when not in use
- Drying out your washing indoors
- Dehydrating fruit and other foods
And a whole lot more. Plus, wood stove heat can’t be compared to that of gas or electric heaters. It’s qualitatively better – at least in our opinion!
The Pioneer Princess wood cook stove can be used with both wood and coal and is constructed of twelve-gauge welded steel. The internal parts are made of stainless steel which prevents any corrosion.
It can also be purchased with or without a water reservoir. This is a popular addition that costs an extra $400 or so. The reservoir will ensure you have up to 9 gallons of hot water whenever the fire’s on.
Now, let’s take a good look at some Pioneer Princess Cook Stove examples in user’s homes!
Pictures And User Examples
This account shared:
Here’s a picture of our “lived-in” kitchen because the clutter is unimportant—that, right there on the Pioneer Princess, is a delicious homemade loaf of bread, and I’m pretty dang stoked about it! And, there have been several others and varieties—all yummy and eaten with joy!
It looks like a wonderful space. The cook stove is right at home.
Doug and Stacy, from @offgridwithdougandstacy, absolutely love their Pioneer Princess wood cook stove.
They shared:
Winter is coming! But not quite yet… my #pioneerprincess from @lehmanshardware is still in summer mode being used as the perfect shelf for a variety of ferments; spicy sour krout, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and lots more! Getting ready to crank this baby up, there’s nothing better than that warm feeling of wood heat in your home!
Here are two more images of their cook stove in the kitchen.
In another post with the Pioneer Princess, Stacy shares:
Research shows people who regularly eat home cooked meals often enjoy greater physical and psychological well-being. Sooooooooo, cooking from scratch is physical and mental therapy!
Today’s the day to take charge of your health, being able to pronounce the ingredients of what you are eating, and know what’s in your food.
They even sell a cookbook of traditional recipes, many of which we assume can be completed on a wood cook stove.
Mailman Farms shared:
This morning we touched off the Amish Pioneer Princess cook stove for the first time – need to try baking bread!
The firebox isn’t the largest on the Pioneer Princess, but it can be loaded through the front door or through the top. Needless to say, it’s sufficient for heating the oven, stove top, and home.
These guys installed their cook stove in the basement rather than in kitchen – there are no rules saying it has to be installed in the kitchen, if yours is not big enough or if you simply want it elsewhere!
About the meals cooked in this oven, the account shared:
I got my #pioneerprincess fired up for homemade pizzas. I took frozen pizza dough I made two weeks ago outta of the freezer, however, I did make more to go back in, just in case we needed it tonight.
We made five full sized pizzas. I had a gf pumpkin seed crust as I wasn’t even going to make myself one. I was just going to eat leftovers. My husband remembered the frozen pumpkin seed crust and bam I had pizza too…
Check out the wood stove pizza in this next photo.
You can learn more about cooking on the Pioneer Princess on @stampmom9’s (Dawn Gallop’s) YouTube channel. For example, this video shows how Dawn cooks Sunday dinner in the wood-burning cook stove.
The Pioneer Princess can’t take massive logs, but it can build up a really nice ember bed in the bottom of the firebox. Regulating the temperature for cooking takes a bit of experience, but after cooking on or in it a few times, most people get the hang of it (and then can’t get enough of it)!
Specs And Features
This wood cook stove is suitable for heating areas of up to 2000 sq. ft. Traditionally it has been a favorite among homesteaders, those with cabins, and those seeking an off-grid lifestyle.
However, more people who aren’t necessarily part of these alternative communities are beginning to see the value of being a little more self-sufficient and less reliant on the system. They too are looking at cookstoves like the Princess.
They are Amish-made, and there is sometimes a wait time of up to 6 months. If that’s a little too long for you to wait, consider the Vermont Bun Baker Cook Stove as another great alternative.
Technical specs for the Pioneer Princess:
| Stove Without Reservior |
Stove With Reservior | |||||
| Width | 45″ | 55″ | ||||
| Overall Height | 51-1/2″ | 53-1/2″ | ||||
| Cooking Surface Height | 32-1/2″ | 32-1/2″ | ||||
| Cooktop Size | 22-1/2″ x 43″ | 22-1/2″ x 52″ | ||||
| Firebox Size | 18-1/2″ L x 13-1/2″ W x 18-1/2″ D | 18-1/2″ L x 13-1/2″ W x 18-1/2″ D | ||||
| Oven Size | 22″ W x 19-1/2″ D x 13″ H | 22″ W x 19-1/2″ D x 13″ H | ||||
| Reservoir Capacity | No reservoir | 9 Gallons | ||||
| Shipping Weight | 550 lbs. | 650 lbs. | ||||
| Price (Lehman’s) | $3,999.00 | $4,399.00 | ||||
| SKU | 17120810 | 17120805 | ||||
| Buyers Choice | Fewer buy without | Most buy with | ||||
Other Pioneer Princess specs common to both buying options include:
- Requires a 7″ stove pipe
- Safety tested to UL 1482
- Ashpan size 20″L x 10-1⁄4″W x 4″D
- Required clearance of 25″ all around (less with heat shields)
- Two 11″ stove lids
Download the Pioneer Princess User Manual here.
We’ve already mentioned a lot of the Pioneer Princess Wood Burning Cook Stove features, but here are a few more.
The video above gives a really good overview of the appliance, including a full walk-through of all the different things it can do. Plus you’ll get to take a look inside the firebox, water reservoir, baking oven, and so on.
Features:
- Load wood into firebox from the front or top
- Porcelain bottomed cookstove with 2 racks
- Black porcelain finished exterior
- Front ash drawer for easy no-fuss cleaning
- Shaker grates for cleaning ash out of the firebox
- Wood handles that stay cool (though will deteriorate over time from heat)
- Thermostatic control draft for the perfect room temperature
- Splashback and shelf
- Refractory brick liners
The stove is said to hold its heat well overnight and be easy to get going again in the morning. The complaint that many have about other woodstoves is that you need to feed them wood constantly (the Cubic Mini Grizzy, for example), but that’s not so with these larger units.
The Princess is not made cheaply – it’s a robust and heavy-duty cook stove that will last decades with the proper care and maintenance.
Pioneer Princess Reviews
We’ve already shared a number of reviews in the examples above, but this video review of the Pioneer Princess Stove from Renewed Grounds Homestead is also worth watching.
The Amish-made Pioneer Princess wood cook stove is highly praised by its users for both its heating and cooking capabilities. Many are thrilled with its efficient ambient heat, noting that they don’t have to restock wood even on cold nights.
Transitioning to cooking on this stove has been described as remarkably simple, with users detailing their success in baking items like bread, biscuits, cakes, pies, and even turkeys.
The stovetop offers versatility, allowing users to manage varying cooking temperatures. The warming oven is another highlight, with innovative uses discovered daily. The stove’s design is lauded as beautiful, and its assembly and installation processes are straightforward. Additionally, users applaud the stove for its cleanliness, as it produces little ash or smoke when installed correctly.
Many find the stove’s construction to be of high quality, even impressing professionals in the field. Users also appreciate the stove’s longevity, with one customer praising its performance since 2013. Overall, the Pioneer Princess receives widespread acclaim for its functionality, design, and user-friendliness.
Princess Pros:
- Multifunction
- An effective heater and cooking stove
- Well designed
- Well build
- Quality components
- Great features
Princess Cons:
- Can’t use in summer
- Takes up a lot of space
- Can be dangerous with small children in the house (difficult to put a guard around it
Keep in mind that you can’t really use wood cookstoves for cooking in the summer – it’s too hot to have the wood burner going. Most people end up using them as a shelf.
In a review on the Lehman’s site here, one user shares the following:
When it’s too warm to use it in the summer, I missed it [as a cooker] so I came up with another way to use it.
We bought a round steel Grover’s Rocket Stove that fits in the firebox of our Princess. Setting it on a cement block so the rocket stove is raised up enough to feed scraps of wood into it and get air through it (leave the door of the firebox open). The fire is directed right at the front lid/hole on the top of the Princess.
Take off the lid and set a cast-iron skillet/pot on there. The rocket stove heats the pan without heating the whole stove. The rocket stove burns clean and it vents out through the stovepipe on the Princess.
This is how I use it in the summer without heating up the whole stove…
So that’s one POTENTIAL way to use the cookstove in the summer without cooking yourself in your home. However, we would recommend talking to your Pioneer Princess dealer and getting their advice on the tactic before actually doing it!
Pioneer Wood Burning Cook Stove
The Princess is the largest of all the Pioneer Wood Stoves, and the Pioneer Maid Bakers Oven is the next size down from it.
If you have a cabin or other smaller space, the smaller cookstove might be better for you, but otherwise, go with the Pioneer Princess. And, if you decide to get it, we hope it doesn’t take too long to manufacture.
If you don’t want to buy a new model, you will find second-hand Pioneer Princess Cook Stoves for sale on Facebook Marketplace. There won’t always be one available in your area, but they do pop up reasonably frequently.
Let us know if you have any comments or questions below. If you’ve got a tiny space to heat as well, check out the Dwarf stove from Tiny Wood Homes or Drolet Wood Cook Stoves.
Thank you for such a comprehensive review! We just bought a small fixer-upper in the mountains, and I need to completely overhaul the kitchen. This looks like it’d be a great fit for our space. That little bread-making nook is so fun too!
Thank you for the in depth info! We’ll be installing our PP soon, but I’m struggling with what to put under it. What is the material in the last picture?
Hi Kelly, I think that is a metal hearth pad. Brick, stone, or concrete are the other pad materials I see most of for these wood cook stoves. You can buy prefabricated metal or tile hearths, it’s just finding someone in your location who sells them!