Russian stove

This is achieved by channeling the smoke and hot air produced by combustion through a complex labyrinth of passages, warming the bricks from which the stove is constructed.

[3][4] A brick flue (Russian: боров) in the attic, sometimes with a chamber for smoking food, is required to slow down the cooling of the stove.

A badly built Russian stove may be very difficult to repair, bake unevenly, smoke, or retain heat poorly.

The process of cooking in the Russian stove can be called "languor" – holding dishes for a long period of time at a steady temperature.

Foods that are believed to acquire a distinctive character from being prepared in a Russian stove include baked milk, pastila candies, mushrooms cooked in sour cream, or even a simple potato.

[9] A grown man can easily fit inside, and during World War II some people escaped the Nazis by hiding in the stoves.

Bogatyr Ilya Muromets could only lie on a Russian stove for 33 years, until he was miraculously healed by two pilgrims.