Maybe you've seen them on social media or in your neighbor's backyard. Smokeless fire pits like the Solo Stove are hot, so to speak. But how smokeless are they, really? Consumer Reports put some of the best-sellers to the test to find out which ones will make building, tending and cleaning up a backyard fire easier and safer.
Where there's smoke, there's fire - or is there?
Popular backyard fire pits like the Solo Stove - often called smokeless fire pits -conjure up a roaring outdoor fire, sans smoke.
Consumer Reports just tested seven of these types of fire pits. The quick takeaway:
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"It's a misnomer to call them smokeless. They are less smoky, but they're not smokeless … you will always have some smoke," said Bernie Deitrick with Consumer Reports.
That's the nature of burning wood but the way these fire pits are designed, there is less smoke once the fire really gets going -especially when compared to a traditional campfire.
In its tests, CR's Bernie Deitrick started lots of fires noting how fast each fire lit, and how effectively it burned.
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"The ones that did well in our ratings, you can have a small fire in them or a large fire in them, they start quickly, so that they are out of the smoky phase sooner and they burn the wood completely so that there's not a lot of clean up afterwards," Deitrick said.
Consumer Reports found the Solo Stove left behind lots of wood, and cleaning it up wasn't as easy as some of the other fire pits.
The top performer -- a Cuisinart -- yes, the kitchen appliance brand, Cuisinart! It's fast to light and it burns the wood more thoroughly than any other model, so there's less waste and less mess.
If you want to skip chopping and lugging around firewood, this Inno Fire Pit burns wood pellets instead.
And while it's not as easy to clean as the other two fire pits, this Blue Sky can burn pellets or logs.
And remember, no matter what type of fire you're enjoying, keep it safe!
Place your pit on an uncovered, hard flat surface -- at least twenty feet away from anything flammable.
CR says to avoid placing any fire pit on your deck. The heat could cause wood to catch fire or melt composite decking materials.
