I recently acquired a nice amount of 1 1/4" soapstone for a great deal and the other night I put a piece on top of my castine for it's first fire of the season. Other than not being able to have my thermometer on the top is there any negative effect for keeping the stone on top?
soapstone slab on top of stove?
- Thread starter dvellone
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Not the voice of experience here, but I would think that the added "insulator" on the top would cause the cast iron to overheat under the soap-stone possibly cracking or damaging it?
Maybe somebody more knowledgeabe can prove me wrong (or back me up too)?
Maybe somebody more knowledgeabe can prove me wrong (or back me up too)?
This has been discussed a few times here, and I don't think any conclusions have been made other than if you are using it for a heat sink, it will have minimal effect in heating longevity.
The argument was also made that it "could" have an insulating value that your stove was not designed for causing a stove top over temp that you will never know about (no thermo on the stove top).
A possible solution was to space the stone above the stovetop with whatever non combustible material you choose (ceramic, fire brick,etc)
Proceed with caution. You don't want to be mucking up a perfectly good stove.
Edit: maybe consider standing the stone around the stove - kinda like a heat shield. It would absorb and release the stored heat and not be in contact with the stove. Just throwing it out there.
The argument was also made that it "could" have an insulating value that your stove was not designed for causing a stove top over temp that you will never know about (no thermo on the stove top).
A possible solution was to space the stone above the stovetop with whatever non combustible material you choose (ceramic, fire brick,etc)
Proceed with caution. You don't want to be mucking up a perfectly good stove.
Edit: maybe consider standing the stone around the stove - kinda like a heat shield. It would absorb and release the stored heat and not be in contact with the stove. Just throwing it out there.
I can address this . . . if you do a search you will find some pics of my Oslo (Castine's bigger brother) with a slab of soapstone on top . . . and some comments.
Pros: It's wicked pretty and unique and the water in my steamer doesn't boil.
Cons: No space for the thermometer -- although I've fixed that by using my IR thermometer on an exposed top corner . . . and in my opinion there doesn't seem to be any gain in heat retention. I was a bit concerned about trapping the heat and so my slab is held up by four soapstone "coasters" which allows the air to flow underneath it.
My own take: If you like the look, go for it . . . but to play it safe get some "coasters" to allow the air to flow between the stove top and stone. If you really like the look and want the heat retention of a soapstone stove, you might want to consider buying an actual soapstone stove since one small slab on top of a cast iron stove will most likely not give you the same performance of a stove built entirely of soapstone.
Pros: It's wicked pretty and unique and the water in my steamer doesn't boil.
Cons: No space for the thermometer -- although I've fixed that by using my IR thermometer on an exposed top corner . . . and in my opinion there doesn't seem to be any gain in heat retention. I was a bit concerned about trapping the heat and so my slab is held up by four soapstone "coasters" which allows the air to flow underneath it.
My own take: If you like the look, go for it . . . but to play it safe get some "coasters" to allow the air to flow between the stove top and stone. If you really like the look and want the heat retention of a soapstone stove, you might want to consider buying an actual soapstone stove since one small slab on top of a cast iron stove will most likely not give you the same performance of a stove built entirely of soapstone.
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