Warming food and water on blaze king princess insert

[cr0]

Power outage recently had us wanting to warm food on our wood stove insert, a Blaze King Princess 29. We've had this insert for 3 winters now and it's been great. We chose this insert for its high quality, efficiency, and broad top surface. We keep a small stoneware pot with water on top to add some humidity. Being a catalytic converter stove, the top is not easy to boil water on but it works, and when the stove is ripping and a pot of water is on top toward the center it does get boiling.

Is there a decent way to warm food on this insert? The top is still too narrow for a small baking sheet or something like that, there's only about 5" between the lip of the stove and the hood over the fan exhaust opening. I'm also wary of damaging the paint, not something I want to redo anytime soon, though maybe minor scratches aren't a big deal (I don't care too much about aesthetics but it's a high end stove and I want it to last as long as possible).

We thought of putting a fire brick or two on top, so there's a stationary surface elevated above the hood over the fan exhaust. Also buffers food/pans from direct heat of the stove's top. I heard some suggestions to get a cast iron potato cooker or panini pan that we could put on top of the stove.

Any other ideas, or input I should be aware of? I realize this is not conventional or convenient, just asking for the odd times we want to try it (as with power outages).

 

[gthomas785]

Would something like this be useful?

Handi-Foil 11" x 4" Oblong Aluminum Danish/Cake Bakery Pan 1" Deep

 

[Highbeam]

This is your excuse to buy a Coleman camp stove. It’s actually made for cooking without power.

 

[moresnow]

This is your excuse to buy a Coleman camp stove. It’s actually made for cooking without power.

Just ran up to the Wait Mart and grabbed a new Coleman yesterday. $59.99
Same idea on humidifiers. Plug in a cheapy from the same place and save your stove finish/appearance. My opinion.

 

[Highbeam]

Just ran up to the Wait Mart and grabbed a new Coleman yesterday. $59.99
Same idea on humidifiers. Plug in a cheapy from the same place and save your stove finish/appearance. My opinion.

There are other cooking options. Used coleman stoves, gas barbecues with side burners, jet boil cook stoves, RV stoves, etc. Smaller and cheaper things. Even just running your electric house range on a generator which is actually pretty easy and not terribly energy intensive until you fire up the oven.

I happen to have and regularly test a dual fuel coleman unleaded/white gas cookstove. Works great for coffee, or whatever you want to cook on a range top any time of year. Good to test these things because I had to replace the pump plunger after owning it for 30 years. Date stamped 95 on the bottom!

 

[gthomas785]

There are other cooking options. Used coleman stoves, gas barbecues with side burners, jet boil cook stoves, RV stoves, etc. Smaller and cheaper things. Even just running your electric house range on a generator which is actually pretty easy and not terribly energy intensive until you fire up the oven.

I happen to have and regularly test a dual fuel coleman unleaded/white gas cookstove. Works great for coffee, or whatever you want to cook on a range top any time of year. Good to test these things because I had to replace the pump plunger after owning it for 30 years. Date stamped 95 on the bottom!

Yet this is another piece of equipment to keep and maintain and go digging for in the dark when the power goes out. Whereas the wood stove is right there and probably already hot..

 

[cr0]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Seems like a foil pan was the only suggestion for cooking on this insert!

We own a Coleman camp stove, 2-burner propane powered. Also getting a generator to run the well, but we don't have or want a stationary propane tank, so fueling that may be limited - that's why I don't want to count on running our electric stove or microwave. Those are plan A, I suppose, but I wondered about the wood stove as plan B (or A) in the winter when it's already on.

In any case, the idea is how to cook without going outside. My understanding is the propane camp stove is unsafe for use indoors. We could go in our garage to be moderately safer, but it is not connected to the house, so that's a little cumbersome during foul weather and balancing childcare. Power outage in good weather, sure, we can fire up a propane grill or camp stove outside.

 

[Tron]

My understanding is the propane camp stove is unsafe for use indoors.

Not really, if you have some safety measures in place. Natural gas stoves are used indoors, too.
While propane stoves mostly emit water vapor and carbon dioxide, some carbon monoxide cannot be ruled out, so you should have a) a working CO alarm and b) a window open near the stove. I understand this can be challenging during a blizzard.

A charcoal grill/BBQ is a totally different animal, the smoldering coals emit quite a lot of CO, that's why it's so dangerous to use that indoors.

 

[kborndale]

How is using the Coleman camping stove indoors any different than using a propane/natural gas cooktop or range?

 

[begreen]

Yet this is another piece of equipment to keep and maintain and go digging for in the dark when the power goes out. Whereas the wood stove is right there and probably already hot..

If the power goes out in the summer, it's unlikely the stove will be running. It's good to have a plan B, especially if one is in an area vulnerable to tornados, earthquakes, nor'easters, hurricanes, etc.

 

[begreen]

How is using the Coleman camping stove indoors any different than using a propane/natural gas cooktop or range?

We have a gas cooktop for this reason, but the majority of homes have electric ranges or cooktops.

Infographic: Electric or Gas? What the U.S. Is Cooking On

This chart shows the most common type of stove in the U.S., by household (2020)

www.statista.com

We have a Coleman camping stove as well.

 

[Tron]

We have a Coleman camping stove as well.

I have one tucked away somewhere, too.
But we have a gas cooktop and a whole-house generator. So unless a major earthquake ruptures the gas lines, I'm good, I think.

 

[Highbeam]

How is using the Coleman camping stove indoors any different than using a propane/natural gas cooktop or range?

It's not any different. Many folks have propane ranges and ovens in their home. In their RVs. Totally safe.

Look, cooking on your woodstove is possible as a challenge or for fun. Just open the can of beans and set it on the stove top, it'll get warm.

You can also cook your thanksgiving turkey over a fire pit but there are purpose built tools that do the job much better if you have a choice.

 

[begreen]

Ironically, our power was out yesterday morning when I woke up. I heated up the coffee water on the propane cooktop, but had to use a match to light it. I definitely wasn't going to use the woodstove for that at this time of year and 55º temp outside. Life in the country.