Monumental monstrosities, like Grandma's kitchen stove, rank as one of the most versatile, utilitarian and sought-after of American antiques. Antique dealers have only one problem with antique stoves and that’s filling the demand.

Disposing of a gigantic, cast-iron kitchen stove can be a challenge. Most antique and junk dealers will politely refuse to even come to look at the massive woodburner. They usually say that stoves are formidable to move, take up much needed shop space, and often require replating of metal, repair of porcelain surfaces and hours of clean up time. In the end, a local scrap iron dealer may just have to haul it away.

Depending on the ultimate condition of an antique kitchen stove, it may be worth far more than first imagined. There are two things that can be done: Clean it up, restore it, and use it in some way in your house or sell it. But before any decision can be made, there are a few things to know about old kitchen stoves.

Colonial life centered around giant smoking, inefficient fireplaces. The walk-in Colonial hearth dominated the most important room in the house—the kitchen. Housewives or their servants continually added fuel to the cooking fires throughout the day. After supper, cooks kept the fading embers alive until the following morning, when they began the daily routine of stoking, feeding, and cooking once again.

In a vain attempt to in-crease heating efficiency, Eastern iron foundries produced decorative, fireplace inserts. The cast-iron, raised fire grate, was meant to be set partially inside an already built fireplace.

During the 1790s, a Massachusetts-born physicist named Benjamin Thompson (aka Count Rumford) discovered how inefficient these fireplaces were and set out to invent a better solution. The Rumford stove had shallower fireplaces and a more streamlined chimney that forced out smoke but not heat. It featured one fire source that could heat several cooking pots and enabled the cook to regulate the heat individually for each pot. It was more of a fireplace insert than a stove and required modification of the huge hearths. These became status symbol among the wealthy. Even Thomas Jefferson had several installed at Monticello. The downside about the Rumford stove was that it was meant for large kitchens.

Foundries began producing small wood-burning kitchen stoves, complete with ovens, in the early 19th century. Forty years later, makers produced full-sized kitchen stoves by the thousands. The size of kitchen stoves increased the manufacturers offered such options as warming ovens, extra surface burners, shelves, water reservoirs, and decorative panels of enamel or porcelain.

Historians refer to this style of six-and ten-plate wood-burning, box stove as a laundry stove because housewives or servants could place wash kettles on the flat, top surface. Some laundry stoves, such as the one invented by J.T. Davy, featured hooks for six flat irons around the belly of the stove. These, plus a putting one on the loading plate, enabled the laundress to heat seven irons at once.

British inventor, James Sharp patented the first successful gas stove in 1826. During the 1910s, gas stoves appeared with enamel coatings that made the stoves easier to clean. The origin of this porcelain enamel as a utility staple for the home goes back to the Industrial Revolution. Makers of cast-iron stoves first used vitreous enamel to produce sinks and bathtubs in the 1850s. Later, they applied the material to cast-iron kitchen stoves.

Most households had gas stoves with enclosed ovens by the 1920s. However, the slow installation of gas lines to most households delayed the progress of gas stoves. By World War I, the new gas stoves permanently replaced fireplaces for cooking.

For those looking to sell an antique kitchen stove, it’s important to check the porcelain areas carefully. While they can be easily cleaned with a strong kitchen degreaser, badly cracked or missing parts cannot be replaced. The only thing that can be done is to paint the damaged area with white or colored porcelain repair paint. But this only works on small areas.

Color is a major factor in the pricing of antique stoves. The most desirable color is blue, but red stoves are also difficult to find. Color combinations of cream with green and cream with brown were very popular, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. Collectors consider a yellow porcelain stove, produced in the 1930s, a real treasure.

These monumental monstrosities have become some of the most sought-after antiques. They helped raise and bake bread and simmered soup for hours on cold winter days. Today, the old time kitchen stove has come to symbolize the concept of "home."