Guidance for cooking on the stove top

[southernmaine]

Hi folks,

I'm intrigued by the idea of using the top of our small Morso 7110 for some light cooking during the winter. Nothing crazy, maybe just cooking eggs or making toast just for the fun of it. Our stove is rear vented, so we have the entire top available. I don't want to risk damaging or marring the finish however. Any guidance or do's/don'ts?

We have cast iron skillets from our camping supplies. Do you put the cast iron skillet right on the stove top? Do you find it gets too hot? I see trivets are sometimes used, is that to reduce the heat or prevent stove top damage (or both)? Looking at getting a nice kettle to use as a humidifier (not for tea), do the same rules apply?

(Likely overthinking this for sure, which is my style...)

 

[Dan Freeman]

What kind of finish do you have? I looked up your stove and it doesn't seem to have a highly glazed finish from what I can see in the pictures. The finish looks more like our stove.

We have a small steel cook stove in our kitchen. We use cast iron pans/pots right on top, moving the location depending on the amount of heat we want. Yes, trivets will reduce the heat and prevent damage to the finish, but they cut way down on the heat available for the pan/pot.

 

[begreen]

No problem, cook away. Just avoid spillovers and things that spatter like bacon. As Dan mentioned, the stovetop will be hot, so use a cast iron trivet to raise the pot or pan off the stovetop a bit for slower cooking.

 

[ispinwool]

@southernmaine ...and please post pictures!

 

[RShim]

Glad to see this post...my local dealer has the Morso 7110 in and it qualifies for tax credit. Have you fired it up and used it yet? I also want to cook on my stove top, use it to warm up left overs. My pipe will come out on top however, so will have to see how much that reduces the stovetop space.

 

[peakbagger]

Bonus points for using a coleman camp oven https://www.coleman.com/grills-stoves/kitchen-essentials/portable-camping-oven/SAP_2157602.html to bake. A Bakepacker is also fun to play with https://www.rei.com/product/401152/bake-packer-ultra-lite. The Bakepacker does steam baking (similar to dumplings) no browning but the results are tasty and it puts some humidity in the air. Just realize that some stoves are better than others at stovetop cooking and its trial by error.

 

[RShim]

The dealer I am working with called me today to discuss differences between the stoves I am considering. He told me the Morso 7110 would not be able to handle my Lodge cast iron skillet. My 6 inch skillet....sure, but not a 10-12". And certainly does not sound like my not so big Dutch oven will work. I am taking my Lodge-ware in Saturday to see for myself. On a good note, a Pacific Energy Super LE just became available when a customer upsized to a summit...which costs less than the Alderlea but is essentially the same stove without the bells and whistles. Plenty of room to cook on top.

 

[ispinwool]

@RShim ...one thing that you can consider is getting a wood fired cook stove...it's not
a requirement that you cook each and every meal on it. But it's a bit easier to cook on something
meant for cooking.
*If my then 2 year old daughter hadn't had an 'industrial accident' with her blanky at the
stove store, I'd have kept looking and bought a cook stove. (her blanky caught on a $1,800
stained glass spark arrester- it fell and shattered. The owner was a grandpa and was so very kind
about the whole thing---we just bought the Hearthstone.)

 

[Eman85]

Heat is heat when it comes to cooking. On an electric or gas stove you can regulate the heat. On a woodstove for heating you move the pot/pan to regulate heat. On a wood cookstove you can regulate heat by controlling the fire and also what fuel you're using.
You can do anything including baking on top of a woodstove.

 

[RShim]

Heat is heat when it comes to cooking. On an electric or gas stove you can regulate the heat. On a woodstove for heating you move the pot/pan to regulate heat. On a wood cookstove you can regulate heat by controlling the fire and also what fuel you're using.
You can do anything including baking on top of a woodstove.

I have found a YT channel that is all about cooking on a wood stove, and there is even a book I may order.
The reason I am interested in cooking on the stove is energy efficiency. While the wood stove is heating the home it makes sense to use that same energy to warm up a meal, or cook up a pot of soup. I do have a firepit out back with the triangle for my hanging Dutch oven, and my boyfriend has all kinds of backcountry camping equipment and is an excellent outdoor cook. I am not necessarily looking to cook the Thanksgiving turkey - although I watched a video where someone has. I have learned cast iron trivets are a must-have for cooking on top a wood stove and wanting less direct heat to simmer.

 

[begreen]

I have learned cast iron trivets are a must-have for cooking on top a wood stove and wanting less direct heat to simmer.

That's right. They will be necessary for slower cooking on the Super. The T5 has them built in for greater temperature control all the way from bread raising and bun warming with the trivet swung out, to full boil directly on the stovetop.

 

[Eman85]

@RShim it sounds like you have a handle on it. No different then the triangle with a chain over an open fire you just have to move the pot to find where it cooks best. You can use anything heat proof for a trivet to raise the pot or skillet up to control heat. I have used a spacer inside of a dutch oven for baking in it putting it directly in a fire, a cake rack fits in mine. Did a lot of outdoor cooking, boiled water in a paper bag and baked biscuits in a cadrboard box with foil.

 

[30WCF]

Did some banana nut bread last year.
I put the pan on a trivet and covered it with a roasting pan lid.

 

[begreen]

Well done. That looks like it cooked up nicely.

 

[BillBurns]

I use cast iron skillets, Dutch Ovens, Sad Irons, Trivets, roasters, the whole kit and kaboodle I guess. I only cook with cast iron, some enameled,but mostly just black iron. You can cook about anthing on a cast iron stove top. Thats how we lived back before power and gas. By we I mean our ancestors.