What can I cook with on top of woodburner?

[BooksAndChooks]

We have a woodburner/multifuel stove. I've never tried to cook anything on it before.

I was thinking of making the most of the heat it gives off by using it to warm water for hot water bottles, heat up pans of soup etc.

Can I just chuck any pot or pan on top of it or do I need something specific?

How about a camping kettle, they have a thin base so would heat easier and would be safer to carry hot water than a saucepan. We are planning on doing this.

Ages ago, I bought a cast iron Dutch oven - about the size of a loaf tin - that would fit in my log burner if I had absolutely no other way of heating food.
I tried my whistling kettle on it - it took forever to get anywhere

You can make good coffee with a mocha pot. I've cooked chestnuts in a cast iron lidded pan but it took forever. I reckon your could eat beans up and toast bread easy enough though.

I have those Japanese cast iron kettles for ours. I use them in the winter when I'm working. You have to be careful about putting very cold stuff on the burner if it is very hot, in case either it or the pan cracks. I got mine from a charity shop but I've seen them in TK Maxx.
kettle
I've cooked soup and stews on ours in cast iron casserole dishes. I also have a cast iron potato baker that was a present a few years ago; I haven't used it yet.

All you need is for your pot to have a flat bottom so maximum contact with the cast iron stove. I find that things that need a long cook do better started off on the regular stove to get it up to temperature and then transferring to the wood burner. If the stove is quite hot already and you’re only heating up soup, then straight on.
I have an old cast iron Creuset type casserole, and I do loads in that, or just a big kettle always on for tea or washing up.

That's fab. Thanks for all of the responses!

Cast iron cookware is your friend, make sure that it is seasoned properly first. I have a dutch oven and cooked a lovely beef stew and dumplings on ours but it would be wise to also buy a metal trivet to stop the bottom getting too hot and burning the food. Make sure that the trivet does not have any plastic type coating and the feet don't have little rubber stoppers on. I also have a griddle and made drop scones and use a thick bottomed kettle. Just keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn dry.

When we were kids we lived in an area that often had power cuts. My Mum would cook fish wrapped in foil by putting it in the log burner.

Jacket potato’s wrapped in foil and put in the fire!

Anything you can put on top of an electric ring will be fine on top of a solid fuel stove. They don’t need a thick bottom. You may need to use a trivet or similar to raise the pot off the top of the stove to reduce the heat if things boil too fiercely.

You can do jacket potatoes in a cast iron Le Creuset type pot with a lid.

Anything with a big flat bottom should do. If you can fry it or cook it in a saucepan (casserole dish included) then you can do it on top of a wood burner. The caveat is that it will take much longer though you will learn to adjust your expectations of how long things take to cook

Yes, definitely cast iron :) See photo; recommended :)

Does anyone know if a cast iron pot with enamelled inside can go on top of a log burner /multi fuel stove?

I cooked on a woodburner for 6 weeks while kitchen was redone. You do have to cook by feel - I'd start a casserole off doing the searing with the stove at high temp and then to the boil, leave it off the stove for a bit until the top temperature had lowered and then put it back on. You can do boiled and scrambled eggs, tortillas and soups. Having one of those magnetic steel temperature gauges is useful. If you have some of the cast iron gadgets you can cook in the stove as well (but didn't risk my Le Creuset). Problem is timing for when you actually want a fire and want to eat. I used a haybox as well. I guess you could also pot roast.

I hope so and can't see why not.

If I comes to it, I have a 1990s terrine dish to use. My problem is that I have very little surface area or height above my wood burner. Hence the pate dish, small individual casserole dishes and a strange shaped water heater for the side rather than the top.

Thanks for the replies. Space is a bit limited but I'll get pots that fit.
I'm hoping to make bread on tgere in a Dutch oven type pot. I like a challenge

Wonder if copper might work? (Just thinking about copper kettles in national trust kitchens..) Toasting forks? How will your water tank attach?

The water tank aka kettle for a bell tent cooker, snuggles up to the side of the woodburner, the gap is just perfect between it and the chimney wall. Have tested, it works.

I have never cooked on my wood burner either, but I am going to cook some stews, chilli, curry etc, freeze them, then re heat on the wood burner if we get power cuts.

Wonder if copper might work?

Make sure it is tinned properly inside.

Chestnuts and pumpkin seeds have been a success so far this autumn!

I use a cast iron pot with an enamelled inside and it's fine. As a pp said get a trivet so you can slow down if necessary

We wrap veg up in silver foil and chuck them in the woodburner - aubergine, sweet potato etc they taste delicious