Cooking or grilling with your stove

[iskiatomic]

Well the way I see it I have a great heat source and it seems a waste not to use it. Does anyone else use the stove for a "cooktop"? We are heading to a pumpkin carving party shortly, my wife made a big ole' crock pot of chili yesterday to bring tonight right now it's sitting onto of a diffuser warming up on the woodstove, until it is transferred back to the crockpot.

She picked up some lobsters for dinner tonite, I have the butter being melted on the stove top as well.

Hey, it's free heat! Am I the only one? Please chime in.

KC

Actually, I remember as a kid my dad would get a nice bed of coals going and place a few bricks in the stove and then use a hibachi grate to grill steaks.

 

[tiber]

Mice have become pretty popular around here.

I suppose you take what you can get.

 

[branchburner]

chuck eyes

 

[iskiatomic]

OOOOOOOOOOOHH, very nice.

Time to look for a new stove.


KC

 

[northwinds]

chuck eyes

One of my favorite value steaks. Lots of flavor.

 

[branchburner]

chuck eyes

One of my favorite value steaks. Lots of flavor.

Just discovered 'em a few years ago. Tons of flavor! The kids hate all the fat, but to me it's like the beef version of bacon... the only way to not eat too much is to not cook enough.

 

[firefighterjake]

Mice have become pretty popular around here.

I suppose you take what you can get.

I love it . . .

 

[Backwoods Savage]

iskiatomicm, there have been several threads on cooking with your wood stove. There is no reason not to! During the winter months my wife doesn't use the cooking stove hardly at all but uses the heating stove a lot. That just makes heating with wood even more of a bargain.

 

[fbelec]

up here innew england i have never seen a steak called chuck eyes. is there a different name?

 

[pellet9999]

branchburner... do you load that in the same hole? How many sf is that meant for. Is that the TL300? I would like a small version of that ,maybe 1000sf....

 

[stockdoct]

Last winter was my first year with my wood burning Lopi Freedom insert, and the only reason I didn't do any cooking was the unusual dimensions of the "cooktop" --- the insert sticks out from the masonry fireplace, so the surface is 6" x 24" , with the damper rod right in the middle. So you've got 2 surfaces roughly 6" x 12" each. Small sauce pans fit, but larger round casserole dishes or my favorite round Le Creuset (enameled cast iron) wouldn't fit.

I found a rectangular 6" x 12" glass-covered casserole pan this summer and I can't wait to try it out. Green beans simmered like they do in the South (forever), chili or beef stew , chicken and rice, shrimp etoufee or "dirty rice"....... yum. I can't wait.


I am looking at some way of protecting the stove from "boil overs" or traumatic injury from slipping cookware. I've read aluminum foil helps some, but thicker trivets wouldn't conduct the heat so well.


Anyone have a way to protect the stove top from the potential damage of food and cookware?

 

[pen]

up here innew england i have never seen a steak called chuck eyes. is there a different name?

ditto.

I have seen "eye of round" wonder if that's the same deal?

pen

 

[branchburner]

up here innew england i have never seen a steak called chuck eyes. is there a different name?

Some of the Demoula's Market Baskets have them. Some people may call them chuck fillet. I call then poor man's rib eye.

 

[branchburner]

branchburner... do you load that in the same hole? How many sf is that meant for. Is that the TL300? I would like a small version of that ,maybe 1000sf....

This is basically the cast iron version of the TL300, both have the grill option.
Yes, top load and front load. I think it's rated up to 2000 sq ft, I'm doing about 1500. Don't think you'll find a top-loader much smaller than a 2 cu ft firebox.
I think these downdraft stoves really like to crank out the heat with full loads and long burns to be efficient.

 

[Birdman1]

chuck eyes

Please forgive my ignorance, but do you get any smoke
inside when you open the top??
I have no experience with top loaders at all.
And after seeing this I am kinda second guessing what I bought other than the
big window view.

 

[branchburner]

chuck eyes

Please forgive my ignorance, but do you get any smoke
inside when you open the top??
I have no experience with top loaders at all.
And after seeing this I am kinda second guessing what I bought other than the
big window view.

I have a good draft, so once the flue is hot, no smoke (or at least very, very little).
Top loaders are nice, but are usually downdraft stoves, which are a little fussy to run.
Don't second guess, your big window is pretty cool!

 

[PunKid8888]

Actually, I remember as a kid my dad would get a nice bed of coals going and place a few bricks in the stove and then use a hibachi grate to grill steaks.

That is a really cool idea. right now I am thinking of bending up an old BBQ grill to acomplish something like that. I was also thinking that you could do bake potatos right in the fire box, maybe in a corner to reduce the heat.

I would really like to get into cooking on or in the woodstove this winter. I think it would make cooking a lot more interesting.

 

[Wet1]

I am looking at some way of protecting the stove from "boil overs" or traumatic injury from slipping cookware. I've read aluminum foil helps some, but thicker trivets wouldn't conduct the heat so well.


Anyone have a way to protect the stove top from the potential damage of food and cookware?

That's the issue I've always had. Inevitably something gets on the stove and before long the top of the stove looks crappy. I too would be interested in seeing what others have come up with to reduce this issue.

 

[Skier76]

I'd love to give this a shot. Our Jotul Castine has the regular ol' matte finish and the top of the stove doesn't have a cook top. What do you guys use to protect the top surface? I'd hate to drag something across the top of that and scratch it all up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Last winter was my first year with my wood burning Lopi Freedom insert, and the only reason I didn't do any cooking was the unusual dimensions of the "cooktop" --- the insert sticks out from the masonry fireplace, so the surface is 6" x 24" , with the damper rod right in the middle. So you've got 2 surfaces roughly 6" x 12" each. Small sauce pans fit, but larger round casserole dishes or my favorite round Le Creuset (enameled cast iron) wouldn't fit.

I found a rectangular 6" x 12" glass-covered casserole pan this summer and I can't wait to try it out. Green beans simmered like they do in the South (forever), chili or beef stew , chicken and rice, shrimp etoufee or "dirty rice"....... yum. I can't wait.


I am looking at some way of protecting the stove from "boil overs" or traumatic injury from slipping cookware. I've read aluminum foil helps some, but thicker trivets wouldn't conduct the heat so well.


Anyone have a way to protect the stove top from the potential damage of food and cookware?

Stockdoct, have a look at these.

Stovetop covers

They also make boot dryers and that is what we use. We've spilled only once but it came right off. Naturally the little stones that we use get scratched but those don't matter. The stove top is another thing. Of course with soapstone, you can buff out scratches using 0000 steel wool.

 

[Wet1]

The link Dennis posted is for a WS Fireview, but the idea is sound. I wonder how a piece of slate or some other stone cut to the proper size would work for cooking on? Ceramic tile(s) possibly?

 

[branchburner]

I put pots and pans on my stovetop all the time. If there's a fire going, that's where I cook. I just try to be careful. I don't fry anything that will splatter, and I don't cover or overfill pots so there are no boilovers or dripping. Mishaps are rare, and minor.
But I admit, I don't worry - my stove isn't enamel, isn't new and doesn't look new. But it looks damn good to me even with a few small, faint spots. It works fine with my well-worn rugs, floors, tables and counters.
We keep water on the stove all winter long, but are careful with that, too. I looked at a used Fireview that was in fine shape except the owners had let water boil over continuously on one corner of the top. The cast iron was deeply pitted, so I passed.

 

[branchburner]

The link Dennis posted is for a WS Fireview, but the idea is sound. I wonder how a piece of slate or some other stone cut to the proper size would work for cooking on? Ceramic tile(s) possibly?

I've had a ceramic tile on the stove. Aside from catching spills, it serves to reduce the heat, if that's what you want/need.

 

[Birdman1]

chuck eyes

Please forgive my ignorance, but do you get any smoke
inside when you open the top??
I have no experience with top loaders at all.
And after seeing this I am kinda second guessing what I bought other than the
big window view.

I have a good draft, so once the flue is hot, no smoke (or at least very, very little).
Top loaders are nice, but are usually downdraft stoves, which are a little fussy to run.
Don't second guess, your big window is pretty cool!

I like the window but not as much being able to throw a big t-bone on the grill in the middle of
winter while standing in the living room-lol, I'm gonna have to try and figure something out, like a grill in the firebox over the coals
or something, those steaks just looked way too good.

 

[branchburner]

The drop-in grill is nice, but as someone mentioned, you can easily set up a grill if your stove drafts well with the front open (any stove with a front-screen option would work. It's just like cooking in a fireplace. You just need a grill sized for you firebox. Set a few firebricks to the sides and put the grill over the coals and go to town.