Looking for opinions about novelty stove steamers / humidifiers

[maul ratt]

I'm a couple weeks away from installing my Jotul Firelight and I'm looking at getting a humidifier to put on top of the stove. Does anyone have any reviews about any of the following 3 steamers?

1. Hearthstone steamer-(not really in the novelty category) picture 1
2. Black cast iron "Log Cabin Steamer" picture 2
3. Black cast aluminum "Steam Dragon"- picture 3

I wanted to get something different than a plain steamer. Does anyone know if I need a trivet to keep the water from boiling or scratching the top? I also read a review that said the soapstone needs a triver or it can leak. Why would it leak?

I can't wait to start using the stove! When the propane guy comes out to fill the tank (I'm on the autofill program), he will be scratching his head wondering why my tank is not empty like the past 12 years.

I can't wait to kick my propane cost!

Thanks for any replies that can help me narrow this choice down.

 

[ericjeeper]

How about a simple solution.

typical pan.Or teapot. I know I am cheap.

 

[wdanforth]

Black cast iron kettle for me. Of your three I like the dragon best. Fueling the stove I call feeding the dragon.

 

[deadtrees]

I use a enamel coated teapot that works fine. I do use a pie plate under it because it does leave white mineral deposits on the stove and the inside ot the teapot is full of white deposits and some around the spout also. It will boil over when it is full of water and the stove is hot. Thus the need for the pie pan. I would not spend much for a steamer because it will not look so nice after some use.

 

[Octane]

Ive got a steamer on my woodstove and IMO a humidifier does far more than does a steamer. My humidifier goes through about 4x as much water as does my steamer, but of course the humidfier uses electricity, whereas the steamer obviously does not...

 

[stihl sawing]

typical pan.Or teapot. I know I am cheap.

Same here.

 

[ray benson]

I posted this before - I have used cast iron kettles, an aluminum pot, a copper kettle and stainless steel pans. Prefer the copper bottomed stainless revere ware 3 qt. pan or a 3 gallon stainless stock pot. You can get them pretty cheap at garage sales.

 

[PA Plumber]

typical pan.Or teapot. I know I am cheap.

Me too. Pan and cheap.

Unless, of course, it's a bass fish'n rod or a deer rifle. Important to get fine equimpment for getting "free" meat!!

 

[Locoweed]

I have a black aluminum dragon steamer that I bought for aesthetics. That's about all it's good for. I have spent a lot of time trying to rectify some of it's problems. Not worth it in my opinion.

 

[maul ratt]

Soapstone steamers

I appreciate the advice so far... Has anyone tried the soapstone steamer by Hearthstone? It seems like it would be a good choice when the water dries out. The soapstone may help throw off a little heat when the stove fire dies out too.

 

[JBinKC]

I use an enameled graniteware (blue and white flecked) coffeepot that you can buy in the camping section at Walmart. It doesn't rust like cast iron, cheap and looks rustic.

 

[Kimberfb]

LOVE the Hearthstone Steamer

We have gone through SO many of the cast iron steamers that rust and, basically, fall apart. At the beginning of last year, we replaced our last one (the dragon? the bear? some animal..we have gone through so many) with the soapstone, and it is marvelous. It is ok if it runs out of water. It doesn't mar the top of our stove. It cleans up easily, and you can remove the mineral deposits from it. All in all, we love it, and we are going to get a second one for our secondary wood stove. It isn't cheap, but it definitely will last much, much longer than anything else.

 

[PaulinNY]

Kettle

Picked up an stainless steel kettle a few years back. Works great and will probably outlast my Jotul stove.

 

[stihl sawing]

I have even used coffee cans before. Now that's cheap.lol