Cooking on the top of a wood fireplace insert

[John H]

I took the front surround trim off my wood insert and was pleased to see that I have enough room above it to hold a couple of 10" frying pans or pots that are no more than about 5" high. I will cover any pans to prevent grease from accumulating above the insert and plan to use metal strips under the pans to control the cooking temperature.

To remove the surround, at least on my insert, you just lift the insert off the pins about an inch or so and pull it forward.

Looks like that's the way to go for cooking when TSHTF, as long as it's not too hot outside. For the hot summer, I have a propane camp stove, the propane bbq and some 20 lb tanks of fuel.

Anyway, if you have a fireplace insert, it might be worth a similar look to see what you find there.

John

 

[CarolynA]

We were snowed in with no power here in the Sierras from Friday thru Sunday. I cooked on my fireplace insert and also INSIDE it. I wrapped sliced potatoes & onions in 2 layers of foil & tossed it in the fire. It was done in 15 to 20 minutes. I also pushed the logs to one side of the stove & made a bed of coals on the other side and used the coals to put a cast iron skillet on. Did scrambled eggs like that & they were fine.

 

[timbo]

Got any pics you can post John? Or Carolyn too?

Sounds like a great way to go.

 

[John H]

Timbo,

Sorry, no pictures and it's on now, so the surround would be pretty hot to remove.

I was just surprised at the amount of space above my insert. I would have guessed an inch or so, instead it was 5 1/2 inches. The top of the insert is probably 26" wide by 18" deep.

The top of the insert is flat and just looks like the top of a wood stove. The chimney pipe (liner) comes off the top at the back, but that leaves lots of room for cooking in front and to the sides of it. Based on my magnetic thermometer, near the front, the temperature of the top itself would be about 500 degrees farenheit. As I said, I can adjust that with spacers under the pan, if things burn too readily.

Carolyn, good ideas on cooking inside.



John

 

[Warren Bone]

Couple years ago when we had an ice storm and were without electricity for three days...we used the fireplace (which is all special firebrick, no insert, and quite a big fireplace.)

One night we put the Dutch Oven in there to cook some rolls; worked out just fine. Few coals on top and very few on the bottom, and you got a nice bread oven.

Also works great for cooking any other meals in the fireplace. Dutch Ovens are an all-round great way to cook on open fires.

warren.

 

[mdanse]

Some of the best chicken I ever ate in my life was done on top
of our wood stove. I put foil under the cast iron skillet so that
the grease didn't get on the stove. It was wonderful!!!! So that's
why the "old folks" used to rave about chicken cooked in the
old days. It really does taste wonderful!!!

Dana

 

[Burt Gummer]

Dana

I bet that was good eating. You might need to use that stove to cook on again in a few months, but if you do, you'll probubly be cooking something other than chicken.

 

[marsh]

My insert has a front face that protudes out quite a bit. I keep a cast iron humidifier, heat fan and a trivet ready to receive a coffe pot or pan for cooking. Works well. Would recommend using a cast iron trivet to prevent burning of food.

 

[Wise Owl]

I cook my oatmeal on our woodstove every morning.......where you guys been...grin. It is the best oatmeal.......all nice and creamy.........our woodstove is free standing so I can use the whole top of it except where the pipe comes out.

Electric goes out a lot up here so cooking on the woodstove is starting to be common place. we have campstoves and a bbq grills both gas and regular which
I can use wood in instead of charcoal......so we are good to go to cook stuff.
also have a nice big caste iron dutch oven and all my fry pans are caste iron. Oh, also have a coleman oven for baking............got it covered........grin...
we live in the woods....so there will always be firewood.....it would take years to use up all the deadfall out there from all the ice storms......

 

[CarolynA]

The Food Network show "Ham on the Street" did a show about cooking inside a campfire about 2 weeks ago. He had a bunch of folks pick whatever ingredients they liked (some combos were realy strange) , wrap it in 2 layers of foil, & toss it in the fire for about 15 to 20 minutes. All of the food came out great. Potatoes, onions, vegetables, & hot dogs were the obvious picks but one really interesting recipe was for cinnamon rolls. He took an orange, cut a cap off the top, & removed the insides, leaving an orange peal cup. ( I still haven't figured out how to get the orange out & end up with a nice neat cup) Then he took those canned bisquits , pulled out one bisquit per orange cup, put butter, brown sugar, & some cinnamon on top, folded it over so the brown sugar was in the middle, plunked it into the orange cup, put the top back on, wrapped it in 2 layers of foil, & tossed it into the fire. Fifteen minutes later he had a wonderful cinnamon roll. The orange peel kept the bun from scortching & kept it moist. One of these days I'm going to try that one!!

Even when the power is not out I do baked potatoes inside the wood stove. They come out great!

Ham on the Street comes up with some interesting, offbeat cooking options.