Afternoon All

Well it looks like if we want to entertain over the next few months it’s going to be al fresco.

In the interests of our guests not freezing to death my wife has procured a fire pit, I’m new to this malarkey so does any one have any suggestions of what we can burn on it to produce plenty of heat without gassing the neighbours?

Thanks!

My chiminea and whatever bags of logs they sell in b&m do a decent enough job without gassing anyone for occasional outdoor use.

To burn smokeless means to burn hot, so wood as dry as possible and as much air through as possible.

Very little seems to burn well (ie smokeless) in a fire pit as there’s no chimney to produce a draw. Chimineas seem to work much better.
Edit, if you have to use a fire pit then small pieces of timber will smoke less and burn quicker than larger pieces.

Occasional fire pit user here. Also purchased by my wife, who liked the look of a massive great copper gong type thing. Personally I’d have bought a chimnea – smaller, work better.

Dry wood for minimum offensiveness.

That said, I tend to stick a few coals on there as well, they burn for a good long while and keep things nice and hot so the wood burns without smoke. YMMV.

Used some of the fake ones (I think made of wax and sawdust?) last year at a mates BBQ (but in the firepit), they worked well (lasted a long time and very little smoke). They cost a fortune though – sort of like this (but wasn’t that brand and can’t remember which one it was…) :

Sadly we’re not that popular so those logs may be a win as we’re unlikely to be entertaining sufficuiently regularly for the cost to be an issue.

Any suggestions in that direction, places to order a load of them etc?

Just wondering out loud, should there be any difference in the amount of heat emitted by a fire pit, chiminea and a proper cast iron stove given the same amount of fuel?

I’m guessing yes (for the same reason a stove is better than on open fire indoors) – but just though I’d check!

I’m sure committed log burners will laugh in derision but…

https://www.homebargains.co.uk/products/22841-pallet-of-56-bags-of-kiln-dried-birch-logs-including-home-delivery.aspx

Good reminder for me to go grab some big softwood pieces at work tomorrow for Swedish candles.