Around 1800, Count Rumford (aka Benjamin Thompson) invented a working iron kitchen stove called the Rumford stove that was designed for very large working kitchens. The Rumford had one fire source that could heat several cooking pots, the heating level for each pot could be regulated individually. However, the Rumford stove was too large from the average kitchen and inventors continued to improve their designs.
One successful and compact cast iron design was Stewart's Oberlin iron stove, patented in the 1834. Cast iron stoves continued to evolve, with iron gratings added to the cooking holes, and added chimneys and connecting flue pipes.