Cooking on top of my wood stove

[indyjohn]

The OG wants to put a cast iron pot on top of our wood stove but doesn't want to scratch off the finish. She asked me if that could happen and I don't know. What say you INGO? Will setting a iron skillet, dutch oven, etc on top of the wood stove mar the finish?

 

[K_W]

What is the finish? Enamel?


Enamel doesn't scratch easy, unless sand is present, but it does chip.

 

[indyjohn]

What is the finish? Enamel?


Enamel doesn't scratch easy, unless sand is present, but it does chip.

Again, don't know. The material is cast iron, so I would say it is not Enamel. Probably more like high temp stove black paint. Nothing fancy. That makes me think it may scratch.

 

[Thor]

You could always put a cast iron trivet on top and cook from that. Just be careful not to slide it around while maneuvering the pan/pot.

As long as you pick straight up/down you shouldn't be in much danger of scratching it...but if you stir aggressively you might.

 

[snapping turtle]

That looks like cast iron stove or like you said stove paint. Cast iron on cast iron the weaker of the two shall scratch or both.

I have seen a granite block used on an old stove before. Looked like that block had been with that stove for years. The block looked very used and they had nice iron skillets on it while I was there. That stove was original to the house and that house was built in 1919. I would say that block was as old.

 

[indyjohn]

You could always put a cast iron trivet on top and cook from that. Just be careful not to slide it around while maneuvering the pan/pot.

As long as you pick straight up/down you shouldn't be in much danger of scratching it...but if you stir aggressively you might.

Agreed.

That looks like cast iron stove or like you said stove paint. Cast iron on cast iron the weaker of the two shall scratch or both.

I have seen a granite block used on an old stove before. Looked like that block had been with that stove for years. The block looked very used and they had nice iron skillets on it while I was there. That stove was original to the house and that house was built in 1919. I would say that block was as old.

Good info. I wonder if putting a pizza stone on the stove and the dutch oven on that would do it.

 

[mom45]

I would get a restaurant quality stone like a fibrament stone. The ones like Pampered Chef sells break pretty easily when used with hot temps.

 

[Bfish]

Have you tried calling the manufacturer to ask? My grandparents do a kettle on theirs without and issue but not cooking in pans or anything.

 

[indyjohn]

I would get a restaurant quality stone like a fibrament stone. The ones like Pampered Chef sells break pretty easily when used with hot temps.

The OG is familiar with the granite, so that is my next search.

 

[mom45]

The OG is familiar with the granite, so that is my next search.

 

[indyjohn]

Have you tried calling the manufacturer to ask? My grandparents do a kettle on theirs without and issue but not cooking in pans or anything.

Rep inbound for a sensible observation.

 

[churchmouse]

We use a cast iron tea pot looking thing to put water in as a humidifier. It does work but it will discolor the stove depending on the finish. Ours is stove paint.

 

[Bfish]

Rep inbound for a sensible observation.

Thank you, I appreciate it!

 

[patience0830]

Fresh can of stove black in the spring, good as new. Did you buy it to use? Or buy it to look at?
Like any tool, it will show scars from honest use. Anything you use to cook on is gonna get greasy eventually. Concerned it might actually (gasp) show some use, use the kitchen range to cook on. If you need it in an emergency, how it ends up looking is not going to be a concern..

 

[rhino]

How about sanding and polishing a couple of circular sections specifically for placing the cookware?

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

We have one of these:

And my wife cooks on it all the time. In fact, right now she has one covered cast iron skillet with meat on the lower (hotter) surface, and another covered cast iron skillet on the higher (cooler) surface with acorn squash. Both skillets are sitting on cast iron trivets, so they're not right on the surface, but we sometimes have the skillet or a big soup pot right on the surface. Our stove is five years old, and I see no real excessive marring of the surface from cooking. But, as Patience says, we bought it to use, so we use it.

 

[Leadeye]

Stove polish like patience0830 recommended is what we used when I was growing up.

 

[mom45]

Stove polish is amazing stuff. We bought a Vermont Castings stove that was in some guys garage covered in rust. Hubby took a wire wheel to it and removed all of the rust and then applied a coat of stove black and put in new gaskets and it looks and works like new. We've been using it for almost 20 years and it looks great.

 

[Leadeye]

I remember cooking and boiling water for coffee on the wood stove when the electricity was out, stove polish took care of any marks left over.

 

[churchmouse]

Stove polish like patience0830 recommended is what we used when I was growing up.

That sounds like a plan. As I said up thread we boil water for humidity on ours and it does mark it up.