Wood Stove Cooking

[Skier76]

I've seen a few posts about people using the cooktops on their stoves to either cook something or boil water to help with humidity issues.

Has anyone cooked by placing lets say a dutch oven next to the wood stove and just letting it "cook" all day? I ask because once we get into "keep the fire going all day" season, we'll probably be out skiing. I wouldn't be too comfortable leaving anything on top of the stove to cook unattended. I'd rather leave something next to the stove and let it slowly cook for a number of hours.

I figured I'd ask before I possibly ruin dinner after a day on the slopes. :lol:

 

[snowtime]

It's true about "critical temp". You could start by heating water. As long as the container has water it can not be hurt by the stove. This will give you an idea about the surface heating abilities of your stove. A dutch oven will have to be on the stove next to it will not do but a trivet will keep it from overheating and you can bring it up to safe temp when you get back. Get a thermometer for your containers to keep track. You could get a large stainless kettle with a true flat bottom like we have it works great. There are other things you can do. If you bake bread you can put the doe near the stove to rise. If you make your yogurt it likes a little heat just move it around until you find the right spot. After you get to know your stove you will be able to leave it cooking when you see its at the proper temp and has the right amount of coals.

 

[Danno77]

... I ask because once we get into "keep the fire going all day" season, we'll probably be out skiing...I figured I'd ask before I possibly ruin dinner after a day on the slopes. :lol:

I hate you.

All I know is that my 5 year old and 1 year old have only a couple more ski seasons to get good enough to ski at least a blue square with no help, otherwise they'll be sent to an orphanage. Nothing killed my skiing habit faster than having kids. The boy is close, he's a natural, but hasn't had the exposure I'd have liked even though he started just before his 3rd birthday. The 1 year old is so small that I'm afraid we'll have a hard time finding equipment that fits her before she is 5!

Coming home to my own fire after a day of skiing and having food sitting there in a dutch oven would be the best thing I can imagine in this world. Well, almost... If your wife lets you surf Hearth.com, eat and have sex at the same time, then you are my newest hero.

 

[Skier76]

dano...I'll see if I can pull off that combo. :lol: It's tough to justfiy the internet at our weekend place...so maybe I'll substitute surfing hearth with having the TV on.

Seriously though, that's exactly what I was thinking. My wife uses the slow cookier a lot, so it's kinda along the same lines. I certainly wouldn't do anything complicated...maybe just some chili or soup.

I guess the best thing to do will be to experiment and see what happens. Sounds like I found another reason to get an IR thermometer. I've always thought it would be neat to cook a meal using the wood stove...or at least part of a meal.

 

[pen]

Cooking next to the wood stove would not be cooking, it would be warming. If you can cook next to the stove it has gone into some thermonuclear state and the next number you dial should be 3 digits long.

cooking on the stovetop can be controlled by how hot the fire is, or how high it is set above the stove. I use a cast iron trivet on my stove for the "simmer" effect like a crock pot. I wouldn't trust it to go all day though like a crock pot. I have also set bricks on the stove before and cooked even slower on top of them. The bricks I used had 3 holes in them. I do the same on my grill in the summer to keep from heating the house up.

If you click on my sig line "Englander 30 doing its job" you will see my trivet underneath my steamer.

pen

 

[Backwoods Savage]

On our soapstone stove we usually have glove and boot driers (also soapstone). My wife uses these to place the various pots and pans. During the winter months, she doe not use the regular cooking stove much at all. Right after breakfast she will make up what to serve at dinner time and put that on the stove. I will be ready for sure by noon.

Using the wood stove is also great for making things like apple butter. Hey, it even works great for keeping the house warm!

Now to pull off that combination....

 

[kenny chaos]

I cook on it, in it, and even rotisserie in front of it.
Loosen up and have fun with it.
Paranoia is the number one untreated illness in the world.

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

Anything that normally cooks in a crockpot goes on the stove in a heavy enamaled (Le Creuset) stockpot. As noted above, trivets are your friend in temp control. I WILL bake on my stove this year, either an original stove top oven, the Coleman camp oven or the stockpot with the bottom cut out I saw here last week. Course then again I dry clothes all winter long over the stove, cuts down on electric usage & puts humidity in the air at the same time.

 

[Nonprophet]

I've seen a few posts about people using the cooktops on their stoves to either cook something or boil water to help with humidity issues.

Has anyone cooked by placing lets say a dutch oven next to the wood stove and just letting it "cook" all day? I ask because once we get into "keep the fire going all day" season, we'll probably be out skiing. I wouldn't be too comfortable leaving anything on top of the stove to cook unattended. I'd rather leave something next to the stove and let it slowly cook for a number of hours.

I figured I'd ask before I possibly ruin dinner after a day on the slopes. :lol:

I work with and design a fair number of solar ovens. In general, if the temperature of the cooking vessel can stay at or above 150 degrees, you don't have to worry about bacteria/food poisoning. 175 or above is considered the best for cooking food. The best bet is to place the dutch oven near your stove in a safe and convenient place, and use a $5 cooking thermometer inside the dutch oven to verify the temps you can achieve. FWIW, most of our solar ovens average about 240 degrees inside........

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!


NP

 

[fbelec]

I cook on it, in it, and even rotisserie in front of it.
Loosen up and have fun with it.
Paranoia is the number one untreated illness in the world.

hey how about a slice


btw what's for dinner?

 

[kenny chaos]

I cook on it, in it, and even rotisserie in front of it.
Loosen up and have fun with it.
Paranoia is the number one untreated illness in the world.

btw what's for dinner?

That was a beef roast. My favorite on a frigid winter day is barbequed chicken.
It's great eats and cheap entertainment.

 

[drdoct]

If you're cooking you need to keep your pot over 200*. Once it's reached temp (it's listed on every meat therm) you can hot hold it at or above 140* for up to 4 hours. Avoid having food in the 40-140 zone which is called the danger zone where everything grows and you'll end up on the toilet all day (or ER if you're really lucky) instead of the slopes. The exception is Roasts which you can hold at 130 but that's after it's hit temp. The hardest part would be using the trivet when its 600 but really needing it on stovetop at 300. Run an experiment and you'll know exactly what would happen when you're away. FWIW, I realize people think that sounds like a food Nazi, but there are tested real rules regarding handling of food and growth of pathogens. If you're in food service it's something you never want to take lightly and I wouldn't want whoever cooks my food to take lightly either.

 

[Skier76]

Ski season is too short IMHO...I don't need to skip a day to spend on the can catching up on old issues of "AutoWeek". I'll certainly be mindful of temps. I was talking to my wife last night about this. I think we'll kinda use this as the "non electric powered crock pot". Basically a way to slow cook stuff. If we make soup or chili, all the meats would be cooked fully before tossing it in the pot and setting it by the fire.

I'll be sure to let everyone know how this goes. I think it would be pretty cool to have a hot meal cooked mostly by the woodstove.

 

[Skier76]

my crock uses 80w on low, thats 12 hrs for $.17 in me.

I'm not trying to save the world here...just cook a little differently. :roll:

 

[greythorn3]

anyone ever place the crock pot inner pot on the stove itself and cook that way before?

 

[kenny chaos]

anyone ever place the crock pot inner pot on the stove itself and cook that way before?

Yep. Did that just yesterday.
Had a pot of pork chops, potatoes, and green beans
covered with cream of mushroom soup.
Nothing easier or tastier.
Get to it!

 

[mikepinto65]

Made sauce on top of the stove for Chicken Parmesan about two weeks ago when we actually had some snow.

 

[gibson]

... I ask because once we get into "keep the fire going all day" season, we'll probably be out skiing...I figured I'd ask before I possibly ruin dinner after a day on the slopes. :lol:

I hate you.

All I know is that my 5 year old and 1 year old have only a couple more ski seasons to get good enough to ski at least a blue square with no help, otherwise they'll be sent to an orphanage. Nothing killed my skiing habit faster than having kids. The boy is close, he's a natural, but hasn't had the exposure I'd have liked even though he started just before his 3rd birthday. The 1 year old is so small that I'm afraid we'll have a hard time finding equipment that fits her before she is 5!

You will get there someday and yes it is delightful. No more ski school, no more skiing with a kid between your legs. Last year,on our first day, my six year old skied the 250 yards to the first chair and stopped. I nearly cried. Family skiing ensued for the next six hours. One of the best ski days of my life.