Cooking on a stove

It is 8 degrees out tonight and we had barbequed pork chops on the menu. I went outside to turn the grill on and thought that this was a bit cold to be outside grilling. I grabbed half of the cast iron grate and 2 bricks and barbecued the chops over a nice bed of coals in the woodstove. About 2 minutes a side and they were great. I asked my wife if any of her friends husbands use a pair of welding gloves when they barbecue She just gave me that "You are an odd duck" look.

May be two questions, but for cooking I have one of the Coleman ovens for camp stoves. Don't laugh it works very well. We also cook potatoes and garlic straight on the stovetop, but usually don't use this one for actual cooking as we don't want to ruin any part of the stovetop. Good luck with any cooking you can do. I'm thinking of getting one of the soapstone tops for it to cook on.

We use the little soapstone blocks (boot dryers) that you can purchase from Woodstock. We do lots of cooking on our stove and those little blocks come in very handy for drying boots and gloves too.

I though I would post about one method I have used for cooking in the wood stove. I won't cook anything on top of my stove because it doesn't have a proper cooking surface and having something boil over would make a mess of the finish, even if it is just flat black.
Anyway, if you have ever cooked fish in your kitchen before you know that it can leave a lingering smell that can last for days sometimes. By cooking fish in the stove you don't get any fish smell in the house and the nice thing about fish is that they cook fairly fast and that makes them easier to cook inside the wood stove then many other dishes.
So here is the way I have cooked them in the wood stove, it's pretty simple really.
Just let your fire burn down to a nice bed of coals and put one or two red fire bricks in the middle of the bed of coals. Season the fish to your liking (not the same way you season wood), wrap it in aluminum foil and place the wrapped fish either directly on the bricks in the stove, or on a flat baking pan and then on the bricks. I like to leave the foil open a little to let the smoke flavor in a bit. Cook till done, Voila! nice tasty, campfire cooked trout (or whatever) and no fishy smell in the house.
I have yet to try cooking a whole salmon in the stove, but I believe it would work just fine, might want to put a few more brick in there for the bigger fish to sit on so the bottom does not come in direct contact with the coals.
If anybody tries, or has tried, a larger fish like a salmon, please let me know.

We had wood stove cooked trout for supper again tonight, man that is good.
I may have to get out ice fishing again this winter.

Carbon_Liberator said:

We had wood stove cooked trout for supper again tonight, man that is good.
I may have to get out ice fishing again this winter.

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Showoff!

i am going to have to change my fish en papillote top in aluminium foil and in the wood stove.

En Papillote,,,,,??? Hmmm, that's a new word for me, had to look it up.
I guess that makes it sound better than saying "wrapping fish in tinfoil", even if it is the same thing. ;-P
I tell you, even my kids are starting to eat fish now. Anything cooked in the fire seems to taste better, hot dogs, marshmallows, fish, etc...

I've cooked on top of the stove with a cast iron FP, but never in the stove. I didn''t use any kind of spacer or spill surface, just did it carefully. I wouldn't want to mess up the finish either.

Cooking in the stove is a very interesting idea, and I will be doing this soon most definitely. We do have burgers on the menu very soon, and this seems a good time to try it out! +85 Internet Points to Hearth.com for giving me this idea.

Carbon_Liberator said:

En Papillote,,,,,??? Hmmm, that's a new word for me, had to look it up.
I guess that makes it sound better than saying "wrapping fish in tinfoil", even if it is the same thing. ;-P
I tell you, even my kids are starting to eat fish now. Anything cooked in the fire seems to taste better, hot dogs, marshmallows, fish, etc...

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Jacque Pepin was one of the guys I watched way back on PBS - En Papillote is just in paper - as in parchment, which would only work int he oven on a tray/sheet.

Anyway, basically same thing accomplished in foil. I add a layer of onions, sliced lemons and some herbs on the bottom for moisture and flavor, lay the fish on top and season again - top with some butter or olive oil. I should have no problem throwing a couple of bricks in the Olympic and cooking there...

I've been thinking about buying a Camp Dutch Oven like this one - for use inside the insert I have.



Anyone tried one? Instructions seem simple :
* To use, set kettle in coals on built-in legs
* Next, shovel more coals into flanged lid to surround food with heat
* Lid included

We have a 5100 quadra-fire wood insert on display in our showroom. This past year I made a grilled cheese, using a small cast iron skillet. I made sausage by straightening a metal coat hanger, running the hanger through the sausage, and cooking it rite in the fire. I'm just glade my boss is ok with that, it's nice to have a hot lunch at work. I'm definately going to try the fish in foil next year.

Just curious with the whole "cooking inside the airtight stove" thing. Shouldn't there be some worry about the grease from cooking in the stove?

CZARCAR said:

was reheating/cooking stuff on my corningware plates & got some unremovable residuals, oh well back to ss pans or iron

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I tried a corning ware type pot inside the stove with the same results. I have thought about getting a cast iron pot like Oconner is suggesting, or even one of those clay roasting pots, but in either of those cases you'll still have deal with trying to clean the inside (food side) of the pot while dealing with the blackened, sooty stuff on the outside (coal side) of the pot. All that soot can be a dirty thing to clean and deal with in the kitchen.
That's kind of why I like the foil (Papillote) method which allows you to just throw away the dirty mess part. Actually I have found that the fish in the foil cooks so fast that the foil only gets a little brown and doesn't have time to develop any black soot.

I have a equinox and can fit a Dutch oven in side no problem . I cook on top with a cast iron pot . I make soup ,stew ,chili , and bake chicken on the stove top .
Jest watch the temp . You don't want to boil over .

MMandm said:

Just curious with the whole "cooking inside the airtight stove" thing. Shouldn't there be some worry about the grease from cooking in the stove?

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I think there should be more worry about grease in a conventional electric oven. At least in a wood stove the grease can burn up and go up the chimney. In a conventional oven the grease may burn up as well, but the smoke is going to go into your house. That burning grease is very toxic, the fumes that come off those self cleaning ovens, when you run the clean cycle, are deadly enough to kill pet birds in your house,,, ask me how I know.

How about Creosote build up in the flue/ chimney ? Due to cooking?

BeGreen said:

Not too bad as long as you don't cook with Retsina or other pine based wines.

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ROFL thank you BG you made my day :lol:

I really like those Retsina wines, I wonder if that's a western trait?

Old-Fashioned WOODSTOVE Recipes

hey I found this.

here is one of my own recipes

Recipe: smoked goose

1 goose
1 12 g. shot gun
1 28’ ladder
2 cups of coffee

Directions: wait till geese are flying over house, sky bust a goose and have him land on top of chimney. Kick back drink a cup of coffee with your buddy. climb ladder to get goose. best served with feathers plucked. Note: use apple or cherry wood for best results. haha

Hey BG,

I bet ya that a 12 oz steak with plenty of grease produces more Creosote then bottle of Greek Retzina!