What do you put on your stove to evaporate water?

[woodburn]

The cast iron tea kettle I got from the dealer is a piece of crap. From the very first day I used it, it got all rusty and nasty on the inside. I scrubbed and seasoned several times and it keeps getting gross. I have a problem with evaporating dark brown water 24-7 into the air my two year old and new born breathe. For now I am keeping a regular kitchen pot on a trivet on the stove. My stovetop only gets to around 500 or so, but I am leary about putting nonstick cookware directly on the stove. Ideally, I want something black, but I am also considering stainless steel or brass. Any other suggestions? What is good? What can be put directly on the stove without worry of damage or rusty water?

 

[jj3500]

i just got my stove started this year for the first time. Anyway, someone on here stated that this procedure is merely a drop in the bucket as to getting the moisture back into the house. I did this for one night. I'm looking for a humidifier now.

Hey...who knows what is what.

 

[titan]

I use a blue-enameled cast iron steamer;no problem with it staying clean inside.Do you have hard or high mineral content water,manganese?

 

[woodburn]

Titan, I am not too sure as to the water quality here. I think it is hard. I was thinking of getting a steamer or kettle that is just coated on the inside, as my stove and all other accessories are matte black. ..........As for a drop in the bucket, the kettle did a fine job of humidifying. No need for a separate humidifyer. Those use electric! Anyway, when kept directly on the stove, a kettle or steamer does fine.

 

[par38lamp]

I found a rollaround "whole house humidifier" on Freecycle. It evaporates about 12 gallons a day, and I don't have to worry about keeping it as full as a steamer. Only trick is to make sure it runs enough to add fresh water. If it sits for too many days without running, it gets mighty smelly.

I am kicking around the idea of usings a Aprilaire 700 (the type with the built in fan) to do some humidifying, but I don't know how well it works when the furnace doesn't run.

 

[elmoleaf]

I use an old pyrex pot. Kind of ugly, especially when the lime/salts deposits accumulate.
When humidity gets too low in the winter, I also leave the shower fan off.

 

[KeithO]

I use a regular stainless kettle. I think I got it at Bed Bath and Beyond for $15. It has a thin bottom, non staining, can be cleaned aggressively and of everything I tried it works the best. There is a pic of it in my thread entitled "Ticket to BURN"

 

[RedRanger]

Last winter I bought a Bionaire one gallon humidifier, I like it--- the filter is permanent. Helps to keep the humidity in the rec-room where the insert is located at 45-50. Think it was less than $75. Have had Honeywell air-cleaners, and other of their products, and as far as I am concerned --they-S^%*(. Personally, I dislike any product where you have to keep on buying filters of one kind or another.

 

[North of 60]

I realized in the last year I was wasting valuable heating surface area on my stove by placing my cast kettle on it to make any difference/headway on my homes humidity. My new elect humidifier puts out 3 gallons a day in the cold weather to maintain 30%
in the house. My climate and lack of humidity is extreme though.

 

[bbc557ci]

On my T6 I swing the grate out and put an old +,-16 qt aluminum pot directly on top of the box. Keeps the humidity up there pretty well.
Kind of ugly, well really ugly, but it is funtional.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Although the color of the water might be disagreeable, the stuff actually going into the air should be relatively pure water. The various minerals get left behind, making the remaining water increasingly saturated until it precipitates out. It's a problem with the "warm mist" type humidifiers also, especially if your water is already kind of gross right from the tap...

 

[skinnykid]

just a simple tea kettle that I got from Walmart. $9.95 and it does the trick. If I keep the spout thing open, it don't whistle.

 

[WonderingWoman]

I just bought one of these today (cast iron kettle) I removed the rust and was hoping to use it for tea. Is there any reason not to?

 

[JayD]

Not for the stove top but this baby should do the trick. Direct conect so ya don't have to fill it. http://www.filtersfast.com/Trion-Herrmidifier-707U-Filter.asp

 

[bartlett7516]

The wood stove cast iron Kettles say on the box do not consume any liquids out of this kettle because they are coated with something that is not healthy! At least thats what mine said.

 

[billb3]

Big 'ol iron pot.
Iron is a vitamin.

 

[Jags]

I just bought one of these today (cast iron kettle) I removed the rust and was hoping to use it for tea. Is there any reason not to?

I wouldn't. Cook water in that sucker for a couple of days and see what the inside looks like. I think you will have your answer.

 

[burntime]

I use an aluminum half kettle on my insert. Works really well, specially when you get the temps up. As for the april air, I had mine installed and set it to come on with the furnace fan. While it did help, without the furnace heat to draw it up, it did not do all that much. Better to let it run with a cycle of heat, or run hot water to it, but then again why not just get a humidifier for what it would cost to run.

 

[mayhem]

I bought a cast iron steamer from central tractor last year. Has a bear on the lid for a handle. Looks nice and goes wiht the log cabin thing. It does rust up inside so I just clean it with an SOS pad. I also have a big kettle thats basically made of the same "cheap" iron. It rusts like mad and all that nonsense...interestingly, both products are stamed "Made in China" My brother gave us a smaller kettle thats made in USA...the thing is heavier than both the other items and it doesn't seem to be prone to rust, but we're just not crazy about the looks and it doesn't hold very mcuh water so we just use the bear one.

I was thinking of stripping and painting the inside f the bear vaporizer wiht some rustoleum or maybe even do a home powdercoating in the oven to keep the insodes rustproof. Basically its cheap cast iron...if you expose it to water its gonna rust up on you. Clean it regularly and don't drink the water in it.

 

[WonderingWoman]

Big 'ol iron pot.
Iron is a vitamin.

Actually, Iron is a mineral. It's good to cook in cast iron because the mineral leaches into the food and is good for you.

 

[burnunit]

long island has hard water
i use either a stainless tea kettle that the wife no longer uses or an old aluminum/alloy triangle pot i found at a yardsale
but i have well water and i have reverse osmosis for drinking water, i put that on and clean as can be, use the regular well water and get some residue
if you have city water maybe try one of those pur or brita filters that go on the faucet to clean the water up a bit
hope this helps

 

[jbrown56]

Soapstone. It holds a half gallon and gets filled once a day. Doesn't make a difference in the humidity, but it looks and smells good when we put scented oil in the water.

Jim

 

[Dill]

Although the color of the water might be disagreeable, the stuff actually going into the air should be relatively pure water. The various minerals get left behind, making the remaining water increasingly saturated until it precipitates out. It's a problem with the "warm mist" type humidifiers also, especially if your water is already kind of gross right from the tap...

I'd agree. We have manganesse in our water and my parents have very high calicum and iron levels in theirs. Both of our kettles look gross, but what's happening is the boiling is concentrating the minerials. The steam is water without the impurities.

 

[woodburn]

I kind of figured that anything evaporating is pure water, but it still grosses me out for some reason. And yup......mine says "made in China" no surprise. It's probably got lead paint on it. So what I am gathering here is that ANY material pot can be placed directly on the stovetop? Also, with whatever you are using, do most of you use a trivet, or place directly on the stove?

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Anyone have a recommendation for what to place on top of a small insert with very little room to work with? I think my Lopi only protrudes about 3"...no jokes please