Drolet Outback Chef Wood Cookstove vs Nectre N550 Wood Cook Stove

Buy the Nectre n550 if you want a stove that both heats the house and cooks. It puts out far more heat, burns longer and is rated 78% efficient, and owners rate it 4.7 out of 5. The Drolet Outback Chef is a smaller cooking-first stove with a bigger oven and a lower heat ceiling. Drolet itself says it is primarily a cooking appliance and will not give slow-combustion heat like a high-efficiency stove. Build is cast iron and enameled steel on the Drolet; heavy 1/4-inch and 5/16-inch steel on the Nectre.

• Choose the Drolet Outback Chef if cooking is the main job, you want a 39-liter oven and a cast-iron cooktop, and the room is small enough that radiant heat is a bonus rather than the point.
• Choose the Nectre n550 if you need real whole-room heat plus an oven, longer overnight burns and higher efficiency, and you can fit 18-inch logs and a Class A flue.