We have a cast iron wood stove for heat (not the kitchen wood cook stove). I was wondering if anyone has any recipes for cooking on the top of the wood stove?
This is not really a recipe, but my mother-in law had a cast iron wood stove. My brother-in law would put a pan of water on the stove (he said it took the moisture out of the air). Someone started putting vanilla extract in the pan. Made the whole house smell great, you probably could different extracts.
Sunset magazine has an old article that you might find helpful. Some tips are as follows:
To test the surface temperature of stoves or ungreased pans, observe how a little water dropped on the surface behaves. If the water beads and rolls while sizzling, the surface is 450 [deg.] to 650 [deg.]; you can easily bring foods to a boil or pan-fry them on this heat. If the water drops spread out slightly and sizzle steadily, the stovetop is 300 [deg.] to 400 [deg.] and hot enough to simmer or bake foods. If the drops of water flatten and bubble, cooking will be slow, but perhaps adequate for long-term steaming. (Keep in mind that foods also may spatter as cooked.)
A helpful tool, especially for stovetop baking, is a surface thermometer available at hardware or woodstove stores for about $15. The thermometers usually register up to at least 800 [deg.].
Wood cookstoves have cooler and hotter areas--you just slide the pan around to find the heat you want. Smaller stoves designed for heating have fairly even surface temperatures.
Bottoms of pans used on a woodstove should be flat for maximum heat contact. If foods are simmered (soups, rice), braised or stewed (spiced pork stew-following; chili, apples), or fried (potatoes, chicken), you need heavy pans for even heat. Use cast-iron, enameled cast-iron, or heavy-grade aluminum.
Spiced Pork Stew 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt, or leg, cut into 1-inch cubes 1-1/2 pounds tiny onions (1/2- to 1-in. diameter), peeled; or 1-1/2 pounds small onions (1-1/2- to 2-in. diameter), peeled and quartered 1 cup dry red wine 1 to 2 cups regular-strength chicken broth 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste 1/4 cup raisins 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 whole dry bay leaf 1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long
To cook on a woodstove, set a cast-iron or other heavy 5- to 6-quart pan on stovetop heated to 300 [deg.] to 500 [deg.] until a drop of water splashed into the paz sizzles steadily, 10 to 15 minutes. Add meat, half the onions, and 2 tablespoons of the red wine; cover and simmer until liquid cooks out of meat and onions, about 20 minutes. Uncover and boil or simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated, then stir often as drippings darken and turn a rich caramel color, 20 to 40 minutes.
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