a 1909 Grand Rapids Cook Stove BAKOROST… is basically an antique Oak Crock Pot…
Last week the weather really changed in Walla Walla. We had snow, ice and the temperatures dipped into the single digits. Tuesday was one of the worst days so we didn’t expect any customers. Jill and I opened the doors (anyway) and put out the vintage Christmas decorations.
In the mid-afternoon a young woman came sliding into the parking lot with a big SUV. She works at a winery and she was helping the owners clear some personal items out of storage. One of them was the Bakorost.
the Bakorost as found before cleaning
I have never seen a Bakorost or even heard of one before. The Bakorost looks like a small-sized oak trunk with latches to hold the top lids down. It turns out that the flat sides and top are actually pieces of metal painted to look like oak. The frame-work is made out of solid oak pieces.
This Bakorost was in good shape and the Decal (on the lower front) was in remarkable condition. It reads: “Favorite, Bakorost; sanitary, durable, economical; Grand Rapids Cook Stove Co.; Grand Rapids, Mich.” The latches are marked “PAT. DEC. 20, 1909″. Since Patents were usually good for seven years, this Bakorost was made between 1909 and 1916, or maybe a little later.
the Bakorost product decal
OK, what is a Bakorost and what does it do? It took a bit of looking at all of the pieces to determine that “Bakorost” was essentially a shorter word for “Bake – or – Roast”.
The top of the Bakorost has two oak lined metal lids, one of which is a bit larger. The lids are metal lined and insulated. When you open the square oak lid there is a round metal lid that seals a cylindrical metal lined, insulated cooking chamber.
Bakorost with large oak lid open - showing round lid that seals cooking chamber
The Bakorost has two different sized holes and two different sized cylindrical cooking pots and lids.
It has heavy metal plates that are just the right size to be easily heated on a wood cook stove. The metal plates are stamped either “Bottom Plate” or “Top Plate”. First you heat the plates and place the Bottom Plate in the cooking chamber. Then you lower the cooking pot into the cooking chamber and put the Top Plate in place. Then you put the round lid on to seal the cooking chamber and finally you latch the oak lid down.
cooking chamber open with metal heating top plate on top of cooking pan
It seems to me that you would be using the original antique oak “Crock Pot”.
Bakorost after cleaning and restoration
This Bakorost would be great fun to have at any outdoor cooking contest such as dutch oven cooking or a bar-b-que cook off.
Several of the items that I have featured in this blog have sold rapidly. Hurry into Shady Lawn Antiques if you would like to see this piece.
Did you ever sell the fire less stove and if so how much did you get for it? We have one and would like to sell it but have no clue on what to ask for it. Thanks for your help!!
I did sell the Bakorost over a year ago, I think. Although I try not to get into the dollars and cents issue on this blog, I don’t actually remember what it sold for… It took a while for the right person to come along. I thought that someone might buy it to actually use it, but I think that he was a collector of unusual items.
Dave