chafing dish experiment

[Dinghy]

After reading about cooking in a fondue pot, I went on the prowl in the thrift stores. I couldn't find an actual fondue pot, but I found a coffee carafe thingy that I decided to try out. It had a really nice silver plated stand with the candle holder, and a glass coffee pot that fit down in the stand. I filled the pot with cool water and put a lit tea light candle in the holder. After 3 hours it was just barely hot enough for hot chocolate that could be drank right away. Definitely not enough to ever really heat any food. I thought maybe it would be a way to warm soups and things already cooked. I'm sure it would have gotten hotter if I used Sterno, but that's awful pricey to be buying a lot of. I have 3 bags of tea lights now. Have any of you actually tried to use a fondue pot to cook in? I've seen recipes for meat fondue, where the meat is cooked in oil in the pot. That would have to get pretty hot. I'm thinking that maybe the candle is closer to the bottom of the fondue pot than it is to the coffee pot in this thing. Or maybe it takes Sterno for that too. I've seen pots that take one or the other, but don't know enough about them to want to buy one yet after this experiment failing! Guess I might be back to trying to find a way to cook with the gas fireplace. We have a grill and a Coleman stove, but I was looking for something else to use that didn't have to have fuel stored for it.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

All the fondue pots I've seen (all 2 of them ) have had a small metho burner on the bottom. Judging by the size of the nice blue flame it gives off, I'd say you'd need half-a-dozen tea candles (at least) to get the same heating effect.

You probably end up losing a fair bit of your heat from the pot with it just radiating out into the air. If you could --carefully-- wrap a tea-towel or some such thing a couple of times around the sides of the coffee pot, it would be a bit warmer, quicker. Another tea-towel on the top as well would help. Careful you don't set fire to it with that giant flame you've got going underneath though

Any more mods to this setup and you might as well go build a haybox cooker with a hole in the bottom for your candle.

 

[Lindabel]

I did the fondue pot thing with a can of soup & a tea light...the pot is metal with a metal lid...It took about 20 minutes to heat up enough to take the chill off (not steaming) also stirring occasionally helps...

I would imagine a 3 sided shield of some sort would increase the heat to the pot, rather than allowing it to dissipate.

Not ideal, but in the worst circumstances it would be better than nothing IMO


a large (LARGE) coffee can with a grate of some sort midway up to hold a can of soup or chili with sterno or a hobo stove below, would also work...just use caution whereever you do this...ceramic stovetop maybe or heat-shielded trivets?

 

[blueberry]

I tried cooking rice in a fondue pot as an experiment, using a tea light candle. It did cook, but it was mushy and took many hours to cook. After that experiment, I stocked up on cans of sterno to use for emergency cooking.

I will keep the fondue pot and tea light candles, because it can keep things warm and can be used for some very slow cooking.

 

[Dinghy]

Oh well, I guess it was worth a try. I'll have to come up with another use for all the tea lights!

 

[blueberry]

Oh well, I guess it was worth a try. I'll have to come up with another use for all the tea lights!

Keep them! They will cook, just very, very slow. And like Lindabel said, they can be used to heat up a can of soup - or maybe heat up water to wash with.

 

[It'sJustMe]

Votives are the candles I think might be more useful for actual cooking, Dinghy. But the tealights would work nicely for keeping things warm, if the need be. Those carafes were made to place your hot coffee or water into, and keep it warm at the table, with the use of candles, I believe.

I found a useful little antique, light weight, cast iron emergency cooker, in my travels quite a few years ago. The older German lady said her Mom had always kept it in the home, for emergency use. It is about 6" X 5" X 2" high. It's in a kidney or pear shape. The bowl on the bottom is covered with a removable grill top. It looks more like a decorative item, really, but it's usefulness hides inside. The shallow bowl like base is for candles, twigs, coals, or charcoal, she said, whatever was available to make fire and coals. Her Mom used to pluck red hot coals from the fireplace, or wood stove, she said, to make morning coffee, soups, whatever. She said the main dish was made on this, set on the hearth. Then the bread was made in the covered cast iron dutch oven, on top of the stove. Of course, I bought both pieces and still have, and love them. It might be possible to find a shallow cast iron piece, and add some sort of a grilled top, to use in the same way? It's Just Me

 

[justRose]

I have used my fondue with its alcohol burner with great success just a few days ago when our power went out. I reheated left-over roast beef and gravy and it boiled water for tea nicely. I have a supply of 91% alcohol from the Wal-mart pharmacy. I haven't tried a tea light candle.

 

[prudentwatcher]

Sterno is too expensive--for name brand stuff. Go to a party supply store and buy some warmers for the buffet dishes. I think it is jelled alcohol. Same thing as Sterno. Cost is 99 cents each and I was able to get some last year for 50 cents each. They will burn for about 2 hours continuously, but can be used over and over for shorter times. I have a bunch on hand to warm up soup, ravioli, etc. Doesn't really BOIL anything, but warms up pretty well.

 

[Dinghy]

Thanks everybody for all your input! I used to have a little cast iron cooker like that It's Just Me. It was big enough to cook one hamburger on, and you could use sticks or paper in it. I don't know what ever happened to it. I have a little backpacking stove that works like that, but I wanted something bigger and that didn't use a real fire so I can cook inside with it. Don't want people smelling my food! Just Rose, I never heard of an alcohol burner. Do you use regular rubbing alcohol in it like you would get from the Dollar Store?? It sounds like that's what you mean. I have a few Sterno and I think gelled alcohol cans in the basement that I can use, but I hate to stock up on them and then maybe never use them. I read that they can dry up and not work any more. I guess the best solution for now would be to have a little of each until I decide which works best. I'll check out e-bay and see what shows up for alcohol burners.

 

[justRose]

The cheaper alcohol will work but remember that when is says 70% that 30% is water and that doesn't burn, so you will have to spill it out more frequently. The alcohol burner is what came with the fondue. The gel alcohol works well too.