Boiling a kettle on a Jotul...

[trainer]

Hi there - I have a small Jotul stove with a waffle iron top, and while the stove puts out a boat-load of heat, and the thermometer shows it's getting plenty hot enough, a kettle placed on top of the stove will not boil.
I suspect this has to do with the waffle design which looks like it diffuses the heat and doesn't transfer much to the bottom of the kettle.
Is there some way to get a kettle to boil? Perhaps an 'reverse waffle iron' that interlinks with the stove, or a special kind of kettle, or an esoteric technique?
Thanks!

 

[WellSeasoned]

My castine will boil water and it has a waffle top. I need a trivot so it only simmers

 

[trainer]

Thanks for the quick reply - any idea what I might be doing wrong?

 

[WellSeasoned]

What it's your stove top temps reading at?

 

[begreen]

What Jotul model is this?

 

[trainer]

What Jotul model is this?

Its a Jotul F100 and I usually run it so the stovepipe thermometer reads 4 - 500 F.

 

[WellSeasoned]

Im not sure the problem..... should boil unless the stovetop just aint hot enough. You gave me stove pipe temps which were ok, but lower than my norm during a burn, do you recall the stoveTOP temp at all?

 

[begreen]

The F100 has a deep cast waffle ribbing that appears to act as a trivet. This is different from the light cross-hatch pattern on the top of the F400 or F3CB. You can boil water on these stoves.

F100 F400 F3CB

 

[WellSeasoned]

Yes, that is a much different top than mine.

 

[trainer]

Do you think the deep waffle form is making a difference? I haven't lit the stove yet this year, but will record the top temperature when I do. My suspicion is that the pattern is just preventing a lot of direct heat transfer.

 

[begreen]

I suspect the top is acting as a trivet. How deep is it to the actual stove top, between the waffle grates?

 

[trainer]

I suspect the top is acting as a trivet. How deep is it to the actual stove top, between the waffle grates?

About half an inch.

 

[begreen]

That's a large enough gap to allow air to circulate under what is placed on the stove top and cool down the temp. Good for steamers and bun warmers, not good for boiling a kettle.

 

[trainer]

That's a large enough gap to allow air to circulate under what is placed on the stove top and cool down the temp. Good for steamers and bun warmers, not good for boiling a kettle.

That's what I thought - is there anything I can do to address this? I'm thinking of some kind of reverse waffle pattern trivet, or kettle with a waffle pattern on the bottom?

 

[begreen]

Not if the top is one piece. On our 602 the waffle top is removable for direct exposure to the stove top.

 

[trainer]

I'm just thinking that some kind of flat surface placed on top would restrict the airflow around the waffles and direct heat more effectively?

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I would try to fill the waffle holes with some sort of conductive metal, then I would try using a copper pot....gl

 

[begreen]

I'm just thinking that some kind of flat surface placed on top would restrict the airflow around the waffles and direct heat more effectively?

Give it a shot.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

My castine will boil water and it has a waffle top. I need a trivot so it only simmers

I agree with WS, we have gotten away from boiling the stove top kettle to simmering. It just seems to let moisture out at a slower more even pace. I think the boiling will go through water so fast you could refill the kettle 5x a day.

And be careful on refilling, try not to refill on the stove. Spills help cause the cast to crack.

 

[trainer]

I'm not looking to run a moisturizer, I actually want to boil a kettle...

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

BOIL away!

 

[Holzwurm]

How about getting a 1/4inch thick sheet of metal or cast iron, that would be the exact size of the stovetop. If the air can't escape between the waffles, it might heat up more?!? Just a thought....

 

[wayneg]

I had the F100 and could never get water to boil on it and I always blamed it on that deep waffle top. When I switched to the Morso 1410 with a flat top I could boil water with no problems.

 

[madison]

I'm not looking to run a moisturizer, I actually want to boil a kettle...

Good way to ruin the stove, water and metal = rust.

 

[DenverDan]

I'm not looking to run a moisturizer, I actually want to boil a kettle...

I have an F100 and some ideas. I'll be honest, because of my stove installation inside a fireplace there isn't much room between the stove top and the top of the fireplace. So, I haven't tried to boil water, yet, but I have a plan. First, over the summer, I found some small, short, all stainless steel tea kettles (about 24 oz.) in a restaurant supply store (the kind that they serve tea at the table so, yes, they don't hold a lot). The bottom is only about 4 in. in diameter so they fit easily on the waffle portion of the F100 top (not on the raised 'edge'). Second, since I can't use a flue pipe thermometer I've used a stove top thermometer. What I've found is that the temperature of the stove top varies. I get the highest temperatures at the back of the waffle pattern next to the top vent/stove pipe. It makes sense if you remove the baffle inside the stove and look at the inside top of the fire box. The front portion has a rectangular 'box' that contains the air control slide. This apparently blocks the heat (and the primary intake air cools it also) so the stove top over this is cooler. Behind this box, on either side of the flue outlet the top is covered with metal spikes, called 'heat cleats' by Jotul. They are intended to increase the surface area and thus the transfer of heat and result in a hotter stove top over them. (It helps to have an infrared thermometer to confirm this) So, my thoroughly untested (yet) plan/suggestion would be to get a good conducting, smaller kettle/teapot (so it fits with full contact in the waffle area) and place it as far back on the waffle pattern as close to the top flue pipe (or on the flue pipe cover if you rear vent). That's what I'm going to try when it gets cold enough to fire up the stove. Be careful, the metal handles on these little kettles get hot. Good luck.