The Stove (along with open fire pits and fireplaces) has been used to warm dwellings, and cook food for nearly three centuries. In contrast, open fireplaces were and still are very inefficient. The reason for this is as follows: First, in order to prevent air, and therefore smoke, from spilling back into the room you need a large updraft pulling air (and therefore heat) out the chimney. This both pulls heat away and pulls air from the rest of the house into the fire and then up the chimney. A fireplace consumes 200 to 600 cubic feet of air per minute, more for a very large fire. High airflow creates a draft which pulls heated air out of the house to be replaced with cold air leaking in from the outside. Second, in an open fire some of the combustible gas coming off the wood escapes and thus does not ignite and is lost. The wood burning stove was first invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1742 and better perfected by Stewart's Oberlin in 1834.The above stove is similar to Oberlin's invention and was far more efficient. Heat is far better reserved behind the closed door of the stove, even though there is still the updraft loss of heat by the stack. (Info from Wikipedia) Cooked food will always have it's appeal to mankind and Esau valued it so much, that he sold his birthright for the momentary pleasure.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob,
"Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob
replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to
me?" But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Gen 25:29-33

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