Vermont Bun Baker: What You're Actually Buying, and the Alternatives

The Vermont Bun Baker has a devoted following and it deserves most of it. It is a genuinely capable wood cook stove, the soapstone work is beautiful, and people who own one tend to be evangelical about it.

There is one thing worth knowing before you spend four thousand dollars, and it is not a criticism — it is just a fact most buyers discover after the fact.

What a Vermont Bun Baker actually is

The stove itself is not made in Vermont. The core is a Nectre N350 — or the N550 in the XL — built by Glen Dimplex, from the Australian Nectre range. In Australia the same appliance is sold as the Nectre Big Bakers Oven.

Vermont Marble, Granite, Slate & Soapstone Co. imports the cast iron core and adds the soapstone veneer in house, then sells it as the Vermont Bun Baker. Their own product pages state this plainly: “The Stove Core is Manufactured as the Nectre N350 Wood Cook Stove by Glen Dimplex and We Make All Soapstone In House.”

So what you are buying is an Australian-designed cast iron cook stove with American soapstone on it. The soapstone is real, it is locally quarried and cut, and it does exactly what soapstone does — soaks up heat and radiates it back for hours. But the model naming leads a lot of people to assume the whole appliance is a Vermont product, and it is worth going in with that clear.

The lineup, by weight

Bun Baker models are numbered by total weight rather than output, which confuses people. The cast iron core is 350 lb in every one; the number tells you how much soapstone is wrapped around it.

The standard Bun Baker 650 measures 24¼" × 22½" × 34½", with a 13½" × 11½" × 15½" firebox, a 14½" × 13½" × 11" oven, a 6" top-exit flue and 1¼" soapstone veneer on the sides and top. The XL takes a larger firebox and is rated by retailers at 1,500–2,500 sq ft. An optional hot water circulator tank is available, and soapstone upgrade kits run around $430.

The detail that decides it for a lot of people

The Bun Baker 650 takes 14-inch wood.

That is short. If you buy firewood, the near-universal standard cut in North America is 16 inches, which means either paying a supplier to cut shorter or re-cutting a season's worth yourself. If you cut your own you can plan around it, but it is a permanent operational constraint on the appliance, every load, for as long as you own it.

For comparison, both of the cook stoves we sell take 20-inch logs.

Head to head

Where the Bun Baker genuinely wins

Soapstone. Nothing we sell has it. Three hundred pounds and up of stone wrapped around a firebox changes how the heat feels — gentler, longer, still radiating hours after the fire is out. If that is what you want, buy the Bun Baker; there is no substitute for it in our range and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

The hot water option. The optional circulator tank is a real capability neither of our cook stoves offers.

Looks. It is a handsome object and the soapstone packages let you specify it to a room.

Where the Drolets win

The Bistro is EPA 2020 certified. That is unusual in this category — most cook stoves, the Bun Baker included, are sold under the EPA's cook stove exemption and were never emissions-tested to a standard. Our wood cook stove guide explains the exemption in full, including why it matters in strict jurisdictions and to some insurers. If you need a certified appliance, the Bistro is the only one on this page that satisfies it.

Log length, again. 20 inches versus 14 is the difference between buying standard firewood and managing a special order forever.

Oven size, if you go Chic-Choc. At 17¾" × 21¾", the Chic-Choc's stainless oven is substantially larger than the Bun Baker's, with two three-position grids and a removable bottom — for the same money as a mid-range Bun Baker.

Price, if you go Bistro. $2,849 against $4,000-plus leaves you the better part of $1,200, which covers a full chimney system on most installs.

One thing to disregard

Vermont Bun Baker marketing states the cook stoves “qualify for any tax credits offered where you live.” That is vague enough to be technically true, but many readers will take it as the federal credit. The federal 25C biomass tax credit expired December 31, 2025. There is no federal credit on a stove installed in 2026 from any manufacturer. Some state and local programs remain — check your state air quality agency, and note that an appliance sold under the cook stove exemption may not qualify for programs that require EPA certification.

Bottom line

Buy the Bun Baker if soapstone is the point. You want the thermal mass, you like the look, you are happy cutting or sourcing 14-inch wood, and the Australian-core reality does not bother you now that you know it. It is a good stove and the soapstone work is genuine.

Buy the Bistro if you want a certified appliance, standard-length firewood, and $1,200 left in your pocket. Buy the Chic-Choc if you want the biggest oven on this page and whole-home heating capacity at a comparable price.

Both are compared properly in our wood cook stove guide, and if you only want a surface to cook on rather than an oven, a flat-top wood stove does that for a great deal less. Everything ships with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping, delivered curbside. Email info@stovesource.com or text 1-888-866-8206.

Vermont Bun Baker specifications, pricing and sourcing are from Vermont Marble, Granite, Slate & Soapstone Co.'s published materials and independent retailer listings as of September 2026; confirm current figures with the manufacturer. Drolet specifications are from Drolet published documentation — the certification label affixed to the appliance always overrides published figures.