Ice Storm Rumors

[Triple]

Hello all. I live in upstate NY...WAY upstate! Back in '98 there was an ice storm that knocked out power for nearly 2 weeks, and it is rumored that this year we may get that again. So, being a genius like the rest of you I am not fearful about heat since I too use the best source of fuel...wood! However, I am not extremely familiar with cooking on or in my stove. I have a Hearthstone Phoenix which is a wonderful stove. Heats my house perfectly, but it is a soapstone stove so has drawbacks when it comes to cooking.

I would love some tips and advice on cooking not only on the stove but also in it. For example:

Has anyone ever used a Dutch oven in their stove?

Has anyone ever made hobo dinners in their stoves?

I love to hike and camp and am experienced with cooking on open fires, but not in a home in below zero temps. So, any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[TheAardvark]

Hot dogs and a pointy stick works great!

 

[begreen]

Ice storms suck. They can do a lot of damage. Do a search on "cooking" "stew" "pizza" or "potato" for many past threads on this topic. We have done baked potatoes and they came out great. Also tried pizza which was ok but I burned the crust a bit. You really need to stay on top of this or elevate the pizza stone on some bricks so that it is above the coals. Potatoes bake best if the coals are raked to one side and the foil-wrapped potatoes are put on the other side in bed of ashes.

 

[DougA]

The only big differences I find with soapstone is that normal temps seem to be a bit lower than my old cast stove. That said, if you are without power, most of us will be cranking up the temps of the stove a bit more. You can make anything on your soapstone that you could on an electric range on low to medium. Stews, soup, etc. Are the obvious. Pasta will take longer to boil and I'd probably do a baked pasta on the top in a covered pot.
Just take care that you don't get spills on the soapstone. They do come out but not easy to clean and the best way I have found is to wipe them off then wait for the stain to burn off with use.
I'd have no problem putting a pan or pot inside on a bed of hot coals.

 

[begreen]

Just watch the pan closely. Hot coals can be like putting the pan on a big burner set to high.

 

[Triple]

I will do some testing to see how long it takes to heat various items. Also, I think I may practice some cooking in the coals, just so I can limit the burnt food if we do end up needing to us it to cook.

 

[edyit]

stews and chili simmering all day in big pots are what i find work best on the stove top. always good to see another survivor of the ice storm, really hope we don't have another one of that magnitude again.

 

[Village Idiot]

We cook tinfoil dinners in our fireplace a few times a year. It works great.

 

[Dmitry]

I think for me it would be easier to cook on a gas grill . This way I don't have to mess with coals and food in my living room. And I don't have to interrupt burning cycle for the stove. Just my 2 cents

 

[mark cline]

My Hearthstone dealer recommends using a trivet , when doing any cooking on top of the stove. I have used a cooking grate from my gas grill inside the stove over coals. I put splits in on the sides of the fire box then lay the grate on them . They catch fire so you need to keep an eye on what your cooking.

 

[Triple]

Excellent suggestions.

I'm not the most patient person...but you are right, cooking something all day will likely be necessary.

I have a couple trivets that I use for a steamer...I also read on here that using aluminum foul could work.

Edyit: The ice storm of '98 was wicked! We were out of power for a full 14 days. I have plenty of wood and a freezer full of meat. If we get hit this year like we did back then, I will be ready! Have you heard any of those rumors about another storm coming? Maybe it's just North Country dooms dayers.

 

[BrotherBart]

After having to smell boiled over stew burn on the stove for days in a long power outage and too cold to shut the stove down years ago the propane camp stove or the portable induction cooktop when the generator is running work just fine for me.

 

[BrotherBart]

I have plenty of wood and a freezer full of meat.

I have packed the contents of the freezer in a snow bank for up to a week before.

 

[TheAardvark]

I have packed the contents of the freezer in a snow bank for up to a week before.

Yep. I think it was 2010 or 2011 we had a Halloween snow / ice storm. Most trees still were full of leaves so there were limbs on power lines everywhere. I had the freezer contents outside in the snow for 2 days.

 

[brad wilton]

Ice storms what are those

 

[drz1050]

I've cooked a steak directly on the coals "caveman style" in my stove... it turned out ok, still prefer either a grill or cast iron pan though. Will probably do potatoes soon.

Don't think the caveman style steak was worth the hype... putting the (relatively) cold, wet steak on top of the coals just suffocated them, cooled them down, and didn't really get a good sear as compared to the other methods. Active flames underneath a hot cast iron pan definitely hold heat better.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ice storms what are those

Hehheh . . . we never get those, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_ice_storm_of_1998

 

[firefighterjake]

I've done some rib eyes and chuck eyes in the stove before . . . olive oil in the cast iron frying pan . . . seasoned with salt and pepper. Wicked fast cooking time. Quite tasty. Cast iron frying pan is wicked hot though -- needed my super insulated hearth gloves to handle the frying pan since an oven mitt and the regular leather hearth gloves were not up to the task.

 

[kennyp2339]

I marinated a couple flank steaks in Stub's beef marinate, laid the steak directly on the coals, came out great, wood ash not a problem, gets absorbed in the meat.

 

[huauqui]

Triple,

My wife's advice is to Just treat the top of the stove like a giant slow cooker/crock pot. We cooked for 7 years, three meals a day, 365 days a year on an old wood cook stove. (We lived at 11,700 feet above sea level and the stove provided all our hot water as well.) She says plan ahead, put the food on for the next meal when you are doing dishes for the last meal. As an example, boiling a chicken might mean stock for soup at lunch and then the chicken that had flavored the stock can become fajitas on homemade tortillas for dinner. Since it takes longer, to cook, a little planning ahead and double tasking when you do cook really helps. We ate a lot of pancakes and eggs for breakfast and soups, and stews etc. for the other meals. You may find you really enjoy it and end up doing it more and more. She also says a pressure kettle can save you if you are behind on time, but to use it carefully as turning a wood stove down isn't as easy as a range

We have continued doing some of these things on our wood burning stove here in the US since returning. We find our PE Summit can be hotter on top for longer periods of time then the stove we cooked on overseas. So, we find it best to be cooking on top when the stove is not at peak temps (read that as mid point or after on a load.) We haven't cooked inside it except for some hot dogs and the occasional s'mores. We will have to play around with that a bit as I hadn't thought of it. Oh yeah I did make bannock bread in it one time and it worked okay.

I would suggest maybe finding a piece soapstone to lay on the top of your stove to sit your pans on. Not only would this potentially lower the temp just a bit under the pan but it would also save the top of the stove from damage and yet not be so much cooler like a trivet might be. As a bonus if the house cools a bit without electricity you can slip the soapstone into the foot of the bed to warm you like grandma always did.

We picked up a soapstone cooker similar to this a few years ago and have enjoyed it as well (it doesn't cook on the stove but uses the stoves heat stored in soapstones to cook.)


Best thing to do is play around with it before the need arises. It is fun and rewarding.

huauqui

PS I almost forgot, In my avatar you can see my son holding a loaf of bread from the wood stove that is behind him in the picture.

 

[edyit]

triple,

i'm really hoping it's just the dooms dayers, the beginning of this winter they were saying it was going to be worse than last year, so far they were wrong, i hope that trend continues

 

[jb6l6gc]

I think for me it would be easier to cook on a gas grill . This way I don't have to mess with coals and food in my living room. And I don't have to interrupt burning cycle for the stove. Just my 2 cents

I'll just have to make sure I have an extra
Propane tank filled. I have 3 but always have a habit of running out

 

[jb6l6gc]

I'll have to think of my plan. I have a furnace and a fireplace. I guess I could do some baked potatoes in tinfoil just inside the loading door of he furnace. Not sure how else I would cook on my units lol.

 

[begreen]

I pulled the electric range and put in a gas cooktop soon after we moved into this place. That was one of my better decisions.

 

[jb6l6gc]

I wish, I'm wood or bust unless I drill my own gas well which I've been looking into.