Griddle top oven, sort of....

[Nyquil Junkie]

I tried this idea today, The upturned stock pot wasn't adjustable enough. Since it is one of those cheap stainless pieces of %#!! thats too thin to cook in since it heats so fast everything burns in it, and the stainless is so low grade it rusts. Its not even good for boiling water because the handle rivits are some kinda pot metal that dissolve and corrode in hard water.

So, I cut the bottom off with a sawzall. I have wire hooks to hold up the round wire rack (lucky find in my junk pile, I'm sure you can buy em somewhere) inside BUT, I'm gonna drill holes down the sides to stick in pegs or nails, so I can adjust the wire racks distance from the griddle surface.

Up high, it bakes cornbread nice and evenly, in about 20 minutes. Down low, I baked a dozen potatoes closer to the griddle, which took about 35 min or so. (didnt time it, I'm guessing..... they were fork-test done however long it took)

Once I can raise and lower the rack wherever I need it, I'm sure it'll bake anything. At the level the cornbread baked good, the oven thermometer I had in there said it was holding about 350F more or less.
with the rack sitting on some canning jar rings, the temp rides around 500. To hot to bake anything, but it does show the range possible with just raising and lowering the rack.
I figure if I put the highest pins a bit higher than cornbread level, this pot oven will have a usefully predictable and steady temp range from 300F to 500F

The highest would bake stuff like cookies or biscuits or light meat like fish, the lowest would fry french fries to a nice crisp or broil meat like chicken or pork chops.

This is P.O.S. SS Pot Oven, Mark 1.

Mark 2 will have an adjustable rack.

 

[greythorn3]

now thats some good info! i liek the idea of cooking with the heat generated with a wood stove.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

the griddle on my stove gets to 500F+ much faster than the stoves cast iron heats up. (steel vs cast) I have a small fan blowing right on the griddle, it pushes an amazing amount of heat off into the room even with a small fire going.
I'm liking this stove more all the time.

I'm gonna try baking a proper loaf of bread in a pyrex glass bread pan later this week if it gets cold. That'll be the test, if it can bake bread without burning the crust.

 

[Shari]

NJ,

Could you share some measurement? ex.: how tall is the pot?, how long are the hangers?

Nifty idea!

Shari

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

The pot is 8.5" tall X 12" dia.
The rack is just big enough to fit in it, I scrapped it out of an old BBQ grill.

The wire hangers are 4" long, but I'm gonna drill holes in it 1" apart down the sides to make it adjustable.

I'll post a pic when that's done.

 

[Shari]

NJ,

When you drill the holes, maybe make them opposite each other and use metal skewers to run from side to side. Three or four skewers would do it. Check the kitchen gadget area in your local grocery store - they should have skewers that have a circular end and a pointed end (I think they would work great!).

Shari

 

[greythorn3]

roast a hog over that thing, if you put a little rotissery on the end of one of them ecofans.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I like the skewer idea. But for now it will work with simple wire coat hanger.
lol
I'll pick up 2 long skewers when I go out tomorrow, they will be thicker and be more sturdy under the rack. Once baking is done, you can pick the whole thing up by the handles and set it somewhere to cool off, with its cargo of cooked hillbilly goodness.
I have to drill a few more holes for the lower setting, but ya get the idea.

Cris-crossed rods, now the lid fits tight.

I'll have to pick up one of those thermometers on a long spike you use for big roasts, and stick it in an unused hole for keeping better eye on the internal temps.

 

[greythorn3]

maybe if you put a simple style bbq rotery air ajuster on the side you could tune in the perfect temperature inside it.

 

[greythorn3]

by the way what make and model is that stove?

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

Good idea.
To save myself work and cut fingers, maybe slightly setting the lid crooked, just a crack, will do the same thing as a BBQ vent.

If I can find my hole saw set, I might pop a big hole in the lid and put on a slider door.
Maybe a few bullet holes and wine corks......? Nah. I'll find the hole saw bits.


The stove is a VC Intrepid 2/model 1990.

 

[Slow1]

I love this! Simple and effective, just my style.

What stove top temps were you running to get those baking temps?

 

[Jags]

I am loving everything about your invention - with one exception. If you cook like I do, your gonna end up with something dripping or boiling over - right onto the stove top. Hmmmm.....maybe one the round pans to set on the bottom for a catch pan or something. Or a piece of aluminum foil on the stove top?? Just thinking out loud.

Great idea and execution so far.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I'd just lay some tin foil on the griddle, or cook whatever is drippy in a deep pan.

My goal was more to bake brean and the like so dripping stuff didnt occur to me.

My keep it simple response would be.... cook in a deeper dish or lay some foil on the griddle.

Keeping the pot bottom on the pot doesnt work, the inside of the pot doesnt heat up enough, and when it does it takes to long.

with the bottom open, you can bake with hardly any fire at all, since the steel griddle top gets really hot really fast, even while the cast iron stove body is only warm to the touch.

"What stove top temps were you running to get those baking temps?"

The stove thermometer laid on the griddle shows the griddle temp at @ 500F while the stuff is baking right, which for the rest of the stove is not a very hot fire, thats like a few splits of wood in there and the intake set on 1/2 open.... the flue pipe temp runs about 350-400 at that level, sometimes a bit lower.

If the stove was running hotter (it will in the winter) I'm gonna guess, I'll have another problem to solve, keeping the oven temp useably low.
Venting from the top will probably solve that.

or setting it off to one side of the griddle, reducing the size of the heating source (the griddle surface) thus lowering the temp inside.

 

[f3cbboy]

I have gonna have to jump on this also - this looks great - i have been thinking about a way to cook on top the easiet way possible and i am going to rob this idea!! (I will footnote hearth.com and the nyquil junkie when anyone asks) i like the aluminum foil on the bottom or maybe an aluminum foil roasting pan maybe be able to rinse it out and re-use?

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

the foil should be put on the wire rack, not the griddle.
I tried it and the foil on the griddle for some reason keeps the oven from fully heating up.
???

foil on the rack doesnt.

So you could set your drippy pan in a foil small roaster pan on the rack....

I was thinking if you wanted a square or rectangular shaped oven for some reason, you can make one of these from large dimension tin heating ductwork cut down to 12" tall, same basic design.

with a flat tin lid.

I dont have any duct work to cut up or I would try it.

 

[Jags]

I tried it and the foil on the griddle for some reason keeps the oven from fully heating up.
???

This may be something to keep in mind when you ARE running your stove a full throttle. It might just be the ticket to regulate a really hot stovetop.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

true.
I'm baking a thick 9" square pan of cornbread now and the new oven thermometer I got yesterday reads 450F in the center rack setting.

If I set it half on and half off the griddle, the same rack level goes down to 325.

So there are several ways to adjust the oven temp..... options are good!