Cannot seem to get the furnace working

What excactly is the problem?

I don't think the furnace is meant to work at this stage assuming you mean the dome furnace. Ores and smelting are not yet in the game. That's what its for. When its ready then the metal will not be free anymore from the anvil. Bug fixing comes before ores at the moment.

If you're having trouble with any of the three cookers make sure that its dead level. The plane the food is on is dead flat but if the cooker is not flat that puts bacon, ribs and steak out side the cokers target bounding box. Things won't sit there and cook. Cooking takes time and watch it the food can burn if you go do something else. I have much burned meat.

Currently just an ornament..

What the above two said. The furnace is simply decorational until ores are added into the game. It's why we have 'ingredient-free' recipes also.