steamers- do they work?

[Beer Belly]

My wife puts fragrant stuff in our steamer...pretty much all it's really good for in our case.

 

[mywaynow]

My 8 quart pot goes through over 2 gallons a day. Seems like plenty for the nasal passages.

 

[Pallet Pete]

We have used steamers and discovered they do not work well. One downside to steamers weather electric or stove top is they promote bacteria because they are steaming. Cold air humidifiers seem to work very well for us and I do not get sick anywhere near as much now.

Pete

 

[PapaDave]

We normally keep 2.5 (approx.) and a smaller .5 gal enameled pots on the stove in the winter, and I refill more than once/day. They barely keep the hum. @35% in the room next to the stove room when it's really cold out.
My wife just put a small enameled pot on the stove yesterday with some lemons, rosemary, vanilla and water inside. Had a fire last night but didn't notice any smell. It was up on a trivet (an old gas stove burner), and about 1/2 of the water was gone this morning. When we put 'em right on the stove, they steam pretty gooder.
There are rust spots right where they sit.

 

[n3pro]

Echo the other points, for humidifying - no they don't work, as a potpourri / air freshening device works well.

 

[Defiant]

hello all,

i have a merrimack and my wife brought a giant wrouth iron steamer. i took temps with a gun and the merrimack is at like 500 degrees and i usually have the fan on medium to high so i know that cools the top. Are these things supposed to steam? are u supposed to see it? i have even put potpourri in but it doesn't get hot enough to make it smell nice.

water does dissipate a little.

Should i get a smaller steamer made of metal? or is that a waste of money?

It seems like this thread took a couple of turns. Not familiar with your stove but it looks like a convection type heater. For your application a humidifier would be more practical. Looks like your stove has an air space between firebox and top which causes a natural convection and the top of stove may not reach temps for a steamer to function properly.

 

[gogreenburnwood]

Did you end up trying this with the T5 this season? If so, how did it work out?

Begreen, yes I did. As you may have heard the sap season started way early. I tapped on February 6th (normally would be last week of February). I only tapped 3 trees because I forgot to go mark the maple trees before the leaves fell. So I used the old standby's I collected 22 gallons of sap and ended up with 1/2 gallon of syrup. The T-5 worked great and because I could actually boil, I was able to use all the sap I collected, even with the incredible warm spring. Years past I had more sap then I could "evaporate" . so I am enjoying maple syrup on my oatmeal again.