Looking for suggestions regarding a steamer/humidifier

[Johnny Dill]

Hello fellow fireheads, again! -Now that the "draft killer/creosote magnet" was removed from my chimney, I am thinking about getting a new steamer for the stovetop. The last one I had was one of those "classic" cast iron tea kettles. I think it was from TSC. In just a few seasons, this thing looks nasty. What do you have to do to keep these things looking good?

Secondly, I would prefer if my new stove continues to look new. Is there anything I should place a steamer on to keep the stovetop looking new, or do they always go directly on the stove? The last one {sitting atop the old Vogelzang stove} boiled over at times and made quite a mess. -We are considering one of those steamers that is more like a "roaster" and not like a "tea kettle" -What are y'all doing to generate moisture? Any suggestions are much appreciated! -Johnny

 

[eclecticcottage]

It's probably cast iron so it needs to be seasoned. We reseason our steamer every spring. A bit of oil and heat it up and it will be fine. I usually throw ours in our oven on the lowest temp for a little bit (until the oil isn't sticky), I think it's maybe 150?

You can put it on a trivit, that might help with boil over too, since it will raise it off the surface. We put ours on the "step" part of our top and usually run our blower so it doesn't get as warm as the rest of the stove. Honestly this year I haven't even put water in it, it's just being decorative. I do like to put cinnamon sticks in the water during winter, and refill it usually twice daily. Smells good that way.

You won't get much moisture out of it though. If it's really dry, you'll want a real humidifier.

 

[Johnny Dill]

We put cinnamon sticks in ours as well. We already have a "real" humidifier, too. I think steamers are mostly decorative but we enjoy watching the steam. We never seasoned our old kettle- this is probably why it ended up looking so ratty. I think we will try a new steamer and season it periodically as well as the trivet idea.. I just want this new stove to remain as pretty as it is now.

 

[lopiliberty]

I have a log cabin steamer on the top step of my stove and its just mainly for looks. If I put it on the bottom step it does much better as far as steaming and producing humidity but on a 700 degree stovetop it boils dry in an hour or so. As far as seasoning I have never done that and it still looks like new on the outside aside from white hard water stains around the top of the bottom part of the steamer and the top of the chimney where the steam comes out. Also the inside of mine was porcelain coated but after a few weeks it turned white and rough from the water

 

[Oregon aloha]

You can also clean and paint the old kettle and make it look like new. We have always used a trivet so the water steams rather than boil as often.