Steamers
- Thread starter neumsky
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Used one for years out of habit, stopped using it 2 years ago. Now I wonder why I ever messed around with the thing. Had to use a humidifier while using the steamer to keep up with the humidity. Still use the humidifier and it keeps up just fine w/out the steamer (read into that it didn't hardly do anything despite being one more thing to do when working the stove)
pen
pen
We use a 4 qt cast iron dutch oven without the lid. It sits directly on the stove top. No trivet is used. Trivets are for controlling heat under cook pans. We want maximum heat going into the pan in order to push as much moisture into the air as possible.
It goes through a couple of gallons of water a day, bearing in mind that we only burn a few times a day, with our relatively mild winters down here. The large surface area of the pot, compared to typical steamers, and no trivet make a big difference.
It goes through a couple of gallons of water a day, bearing in mind that we only burn a few times a day, with our relatively mild winters down here. The large surface area of the pot, compared to typical steamers, and no trivet make a big difference.
Yep, don't try that if you are burning 24/7 and leave for work or you'll have a scorched pan. For these cases, one's gotta use the trivet or have one huge pot.
Also, for anyone else contemplating, NEVER use a non-stick pan as a steamer.
pen
Still, I'm not sure how one could scorch a cast iron pan. It's not like it was ever seasoned. We bought it to use as a steamer, and it has never had anything in it but tap water since day one.
wingsfan
Feeling the Heat
We had a steamer but got tired of having to fill it every day, so we now use a stainless steel cook pot from our turkeyfrier, It holds 5 gallon of water at a time. Now we only have to fill it about once a week.
I have a whole house humidifier hooked into the furnace that cycles the fan once an hour to test the humidity if there hasn't been a call for heat. This works great to keep the humidity where it needs to be, and it circulates the air in the house once an hour or more depending on the humidity level. Cheap too.
We decided against one simply because of all the negative reports I came across researching them. The HVAC professionals I talked to mostly had the same low opinion of them. In light of that, I would appreciate learning the details on your installation, including brand and model, and what issues that you have run into, if any.
We could still add one at this point.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Nah . . . not stupid . . . puts a bit of moisture in the air . . . and if you add some potpourri it can give the house a very nice smell . . . but if you really want to take care of the dryness you'll want to get a regular humidifier.
I have a steamer that I routinely fill . . . even on a trivet and a slab of soapstone on top of my stove top it ends up needing to be filled every other day or so . . . it's very nice when I put some nice smelling potpourri into it . . . I'm kind of partial to the apples and cinnamon since it smells like my wife has just made some pies.
However, for the serious humidifying . . . I use a plug in humidifier.
I have a steamer that I routinely fill . . . even on a trivet and a slab of soapstone on top of my stove top it ends up needing to be filled every other day or so . . . it's very nice when I put some nice smelling potpourri into it . . . I'm kind of partial to the apples and cinnamon since it smells like my wife has just made some pies.
However, for the serious humidifying . . . I use a plug in humidifier.
Machria
Minister of Fire
Anyone use the smell oils available for the steamers? They seem a bit expensive at a 1oz little dropper bottle for $12 or something like that. Do they work? What do you use for "potpourri"?
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
We have both the Tea Kettle type, that we put directly on the stove top, and the other, more open dish type that we use with a Trivet. We are not looking for these to provide moisture....the Wife likes to fill it with water, then smelly stuff, usually Cloves, and usually the Tea Kettle
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Uh . . . please don't let anyone know since they'll make me turn in my Man Card . . . but yeah . . . I use both the cheap botles of potpourri at Walmart . . . and I have used the smaller oils they sell in some hearth shops. What I have done is use the cheap potpourri in the steamers and since I am cheap I sometimes cut it in half by adding half water, half potpourri.
For the oils I have often just put a couple of drops on the metal trivet to really fill the room with the pungent aroma.
Whats interesting is is we have a hygrometer....and moved it from the living room to the porch room where our stove is and the humidity indication went from 29 percent to 26 percent...of course the temp indication went way up also.... where are those humidifier filters I ordered? haha
Mine is an Aprilaire 600, I installed it myself in a couple hours. No issues at all, I'm very pleased with it. I know some of the old ones were crap, which may be where most of the opinions come from, but I wouldn't be without one now. Any specific questions shoot me a pm.
Paulywalnut
Minister of Fire
We got a real nice black enameled one with the trivit for Christmas.
We're using it, and it looks real nice on the stove top. I don't think it does
much good putting moisture into the house.
We're using it, and it looks real nice on the stove top. I don't think it does
much good putting moisture into the house.
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