Testing the temperature on top of the wood stove
When I mentioned our goal
of making a small oven on top of the wood stove,
Roland pointed out that it's essential to do some basic tests first and
make sure the stove top temperature is within baking range.
Purchasing an oven thermometer in order to make those tests was the
real reason we
were in the kitchen section of Wal-mart to pick up my meat
thermometer turned soil thermometer.
I compared three
different permutations to get an idea of stove top
temperatures while the wood stove was running at medium to high
heat. First, I just put the oven thermometer on a fire brick on
the hot-plate section of the wood stove top and got a reading of 210
degrees Fahrenheit --- not that hot. But when I upending the
galvanized
basin Mark had
bought for the purpose over top of the whole wood stove, the addition
raised the
internal temperature to 525 degrees. (You don't see the fire
brick in the photo because I actually did a test without it the
first time around, but figured the off-the-chart reading just couldn't
be
right.)
The fire brick didn't quite
fit into the Dutch oven, so I first tested with the thermometer set on
the bottom of the cast iron pot and got a reading of 475 degrees.
Figuring a lot of heat was getting conducted from the metal of the pan
to the metal of the thermometer, but unable to add in a fire brick
because it was too large, I set a pot holder on the bottom of the oven
with the thermometer on top. Ten minutes later, a foul stench
filled the trailer --- the pot holder had spontaneously
combusted. So, unfortunately, I can't tell you whether Mark's
idea of cutting down the sides of a 6-pack muffin tin so that it sits
on a fire brick inside the Dutch oven will give me temperatures
sufficient to bake his favorite sweet treat. Clearly, more
experiments are required.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Put the Dutch oven on top of the stove, put a couple of pebbles in it and place the thermometer on top of the pebbles. The relatively small area where the pebbles touch metal should limit heat flow through the pebbles into the thermometer.
The same technique should work for a muffin tin, I imagine.
Look at some marine ovens for on top of heating stoves. Most are just a box single or double wall, and have been working well in many sailboats for generations.
Small jotel's have been used to cook on and provide heat for quite some time.
The best thing is experience as you'll rarely get the same temperature two times in a row with a wood fire.
Daddy --- We had heard about those stovetop ovens, but they're quite expensive, which is why Mark has been experimenting to see if he can make a cheaper version. I appreciate those links you sent me, though, and couldn't resist the wood stove cook book....
Anonymous --- That's a good idea, although I'd think it would be considerably cooler than the temperature if I put the thermometer on a piece of fire brick inside the Dutch oven.
Roland --- This is definitely the winning idea! I'm going to have to see if I can find some pebbles under the snow...
Vester --- That's a lot like what Mark plans to try to replicate. I agree that the Jotul is great to cook on --- I've been very impressed so far! Working on my experience a bit at a time...