The Best Smokeless Fire Pits

I have worked for Wirecutter for nearly a decade in various capacities, writing about everything from backpacks to luggage to road-trip gear to camping tents. I currently live on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, and spend a large amount of time at the beach working on our guides to beach gear and camp cooking gear. Years ago, I tested a half ton of charcoal for a Wirecutter guide, comparing burn rates and cooking temperatures. I have been playing with fire at Wirecutter for a long time.

For this guide:

• Over the years, we’ve burned a ludicrous amount of wood and wood pellets in our various picks, measuring ash production and seeing how long-term use takes its toll.
• We studied lots of smokeless fire pit designs to see if small differences created large changes in performance. Although we ultimately chose two favorites, in our testing nearly all of the smokeless pit designs worked more or less the same. They all have two walls (kind of like an insulated thermos bottle), and they leverage the difference in air temperature between those walls to create extra airflow through holes in the walls of the fire pit. That extra oxygen creates a secondary combustion of the fire’s off-gassing molecules, which usually create smoke if they aren’t burned.
• What distinguishes fire pits from one another is largely their looks, how easy they are to clean, and, to some extent, the available accessories. To that end, we looked very closely at how easy the fire pits were to operate and use.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

These models are for anyone who has a little outdoor space and wants a simple fire pit that reduces the amount of smoke it produces. We’ve also included one pick that can effectively replace an outdoor grill with a little patience, a bit of practice, and some accessories.

Top pick

Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0

A lightweight option for moving in and out of storage

The simple form and stainless steel finish may be exactly the minimalist effect you want—or it may look more like a dryer drum to you. But the light weight of the Bonfire 2.0 makes it a pit that you can drag out to use and then hide away when it cools off.

Buying Options

$290 $196 from Amazon

You save $94 (32%)

$290 $196 from Walmart

You save $94 (32%)

$230 from Home Depot

$230 from Dick's Sporting Goods

$250 from Wayfair

Get this if: You want a fire pit that’s small and light enough to move easily from storage (say, in a garage or under a cover) onto a patio. If you buy the add-on stand, you can even use it on a deck.

It’s easy to use, easy to store, and easy to move around. Like all the fire pits we tested, the Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0 is easy to load with wood and easy to light—though due to the pit diameter (at 17.5 inches, it’s smaller than our other picks), you have to stack standard-size logs carefully to make them fit. It is half the weight of any of our other picks, which makes it very portable.

It’s almost smokeless. None of the pits we tested are truly smokeless, including this one. However, once it gets burning, the Bonfire does eat up a lot of the extra smoke; by our admittedly rudimentary estimation, the fire pit reduces smoke by about 70% to 80%. (We compared a fire in the Bonfire with an open wood fire by burning them side by side, using wood from the same source.)

It comes in several sizes and configurations. Solo Stove offers a smaller size (the Ranger 2.0, which is 15 inches in diameter) and a larger size (the Yukon 2.0, which is 27 inches in diameter) and sells a grill grate accessory kit (we haven’t tested it yet). The current (2.0) models of the Bonfire, Ranger, and Yukon come with a removable ash pan and grate.

This updated design fixed the one obvious flaw of earlier models—you had to turn the stove over to dump out the ash—so the entire unit is much easier to clean and hose down after a fire. One nice thing about all smokeless fire pits: They leave behind very little ash compared with a regular fire. Still, some cleanup is required.

If you’re worried about sparks, there’s an accessory for that too. One of our testers lives in a high fire-risk area in Southern California—where flying embers are not ideal—so she also tested the Solo Stove Bonfire Shield, a stainless steel two-piece spark screen that sits on the rim of the fire pit. It’s not a cheap accessory: around $160 for the Bonfire size (medium). But like the fire pit, it’s well made, and she found it nice to have a spark screen that fits just right. It comes with two tools that help you remove the lid to add more wood while the fire is going. (You can easily store it upside down inside the fire pit when neither are in use.)

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• One perhaps unforeseen consequence of the smoke-reducing after-burn effect from all smokeless fire pit designs: All of that gas redirection seems to project the heat of the fire straight into the air, cutting down on a lot of the radiant heat you might expect to feel when sitting near a regular fire pit. To mitigate this, Solo offers a heat deflector for each model, which redirects the heat of the stove back to everyone sitting around the fire.
• As with any fire pit, a Solo Stove model should not be left out in the rain without a cover; the rain will mix with the ash and form corrosive agents. Solo Stove makes a fabric cover and a metal cover, though a metal lid from a 20-gallon trash can also does the trick.

Specs

• Weight: 23.3 pounds
• Pit opening: 17.5 inches
• Height: 14 inches
• Material: grade 304 stainless steel
• Warranty: limited lifetime

Top pick

Tiki Patio Smokeless Fire Pit

An easy-to-clean, relaxed-looking fire pit

Avoiding the industrial look of most smokeless fire pits, this has a gentler backyard aesthetic. Though the ashtray is somewhat flimsy, it is simple to remove and clean.

Buying Options

$295 $250 from Amazon

You save $45 (15%)

$295 from Home Depot

$321 from Walmart

$410 from Wayfair

Get this if: You want a sturdy, classic-looking, easy-to-clean fire pit that blends in on your patio.

It’ll fit right in. The Tiki Patio Smokeless Fire Pit is one pit you’ll probably want to leave in place once you set it up; its more classic patio look doesn’t stand out as aggressively as the designs of our other picks. This model feels almost as if someone placed a heavier skin around a Solo Stove Bonfire with excellent results.

It’s easy to clean after your fire and easy to store when not in use. The Tiki fire pit has a simple-to-withdraw ash-collection plate, which makes cleaning the pit after use fairly easy. Smokeless fire pits, because of their “reburning” effect (which recycles the smoke and particles through the fire pit), tend to produce a very fine and easy-to-clean ash without much debris, but in contrast to the Tiki model, many of the pits we tested require turning over and dumping out to clean. Tiki also sells wood-pellet packs as fuel or starter bags, and they’re easy to use, but you don’t need them to start a fire. Like most fire pits, you need to protect its interior from rain; the Tiki fire pit comes with a cover that fits nicely over the entire pit.

The add-on spark screen is easy to use. Tiki sells a stainless steel spark screen kit, the Tiki Patio Screen and Poker, for its fire pit. Our tester in Southern California lives in a high fire-risk area, where keeping sparks and embers contained is essential; she tested this kit along with the Solo Stove screen. The Tiki screen comes with a poker-style tool that you can use to remove the screen when it’s hot and to rearrange logs (the tool also has a handy bottle opener on the handle end). The screen makes the stove’s opening a little smaller, but our tester didn’t have any problems reaching in to tend the fire. We also like that you can remove the lid and hang it off the rim while you add more logs.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• Our only complaint so far is that the Tiki fire pit, like all smokeless pits, doesn’t radiate as much heat as you might like on a cool evening. Tiki does sell a compatible heat deflector to mitigate this issue.

Specs

• Weight: 45 pounds
• Pit opening: 17.5 inches
• Height: 18.75 inches
• Material: stainless and powder-coated steel
• Warranty: two-year limited

Best for

Breeo X Series Smokeless Fire Pit X24

Best fire pit for backyard grilling

Though this is a fine standalone fire pit, its multiple accessories make it very customizable for anyone who loves to cook over an open fire.

Buying Options

$509 from Amazon

$599 from Home Depot

$509 from Breeo

Get this if: You want a fire pit that, with some accessories, can replace your grill or smoke pit. Open-fire cooking isn’t for everyone—it’s not as easy or convenient as using a gas or charcoal grill—but some people enjoy the challenge and the subsequent woody flavors.

It’s made for cooking. None of the fire pits we tested can so fully replace a barbecue grill or cooker as the Breeo X Series Smokeless Fire Pit X24. There are few things you can’t cook on the Breeo X Series once you’ve made the commitment. That said, it truly demands a commitment, both in price and time.

You can cook almost any way you imagine over an open flame. The Breeo X Series has the most cooking accessories of any brand we tested: a SearPlate Griddle, a post and grill plate (which you can also drive into the ground over an open fire, if you like), a kettle hook for a cast-iron pot, or even a pizza oven.

One former Wirecutter staffer used a slightly smaller version of the Breeo X Series for just over a year as her only outdoor cooking device with great success: “We were originally looking for a basic fire pit for backyard hangs with friends. We wanted two special features, the combination of which only this one could provide: a low-smoke design so that we wouldn’t bug our neighbors or smoke up the house when opening our back door, and an option for grilling or cooking, because we like to eat when we entertain. The searing rim and grill rack accessory—which is portable, and which we have used on its own while camping—completely replaced our smoky, annoying-to-clean charcoal grill.”

It comes in two finishes and four sizes. The finishes are Cor-Ten steel (pictured), which I think patinas nicely, or, for about $200 more, stainless steel (more like the Solo Stove Bonfire). The X24 size is the second-smallest option; the smallest size has an opening of 18.5 inches in diameter, and the two largest models’ openings measure 28 inches and about 40 inches across. (Breeo sells a spark screen for the X24, as well as the other sizes.)

Breeo makes a bunch of accessories for maintaining the pit as well. For our money, the ash shovel (if you don’t already have a small garden spade or some such thing) and the heat deflector are the best for cleaning up and enjoying the pit on chilly nights.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• Cleaning out the ash is fairly arduous. As opposed to our other picks, which all have an ashtray or basin of some sort, the Breeo design requires you to shovel out ash from the pit itself. This process is made even more awkward by the vent channels along the floor of the fire pit, which block a small shovel’s path.
• If you treat your fire pit like a cook pit, it’ll end up looking like a grill—grease-stained and blackened by char. Even if that’s not a concern, you may still want to stock up on good grease-cutting soap and several boxes of steel wool.

Specs

• Weight: 40.5 pounds
• Pit opening: 23.5 inches
• Height: 14.75 inches
• Material: Cor-Ten or stainless steel
• Warranty: limited lifetime; Breeo will also replace any fire pit that rusts through or burns through within five years of purchase

Best for

Blue Sky The Peak Smokeless Patio Fire Pit 2.0

Best fire pit for heavy use

If you don’t mind the Peak’s stealth-bomber looks, the price is irresistible for a sturdy and well-made smokeless fire pit.

Buying Options

$258 from Amazon

$233 from Walmart

Get this if: You want a heavy-build fire pit with a bargain price.

It’s built well but doesn’t cost a lot. The hefty weight (nearly 50 pounds) and solid construction of Blue Sky’s The Peak Smokeless Patio Fire Pit 2.0 make it a bargain. There’s not much more to it than that.

It’s better for large logs. The Peak has a wider diameter than most fire pits we tested, so you can more easily stack standard logs, without having to set them up like a pyramid. If you prefer to burn large split logs, this fire pit may be a good choice. (Blue Sky makes a spark screen for the Peak.)

It’s now easier to clean. In the 2.0 incarnation of its fire pit, Blue Sky updated the ash collection, a former small flaw in our eyes, with a much easier system. To clean out the Peak, simply reach inside after everything has cooled and pull out the ash collection tray. The tray is similar to the Solo Stove’s except it has handles, which might be a small improvement over our top pick if you’re splitting hairs.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• This one comes down to aesthetics. The whole thing looks like a piece that fell off a stealth bomber or an alien aircraft—if that’s to your taste, you’ll enjoy this fire pit. Over the years the Peak will fade into a muted gray color, which can be very striking depending on your location and vista. The bold laser-cut branding along the lower edge is eye-catching, for better or worse.

Specs

• Weight: 46 pounds
• Pit opening: 18.75 inches
• Height: 16 inches
• Material: powder-coated steel
• Warranty: three-year limited

Best for

Burly Scout Fire Pit

Best fire pit for a lifetime

The two-piece construction and wood-handle details separate this pit from the rest, but so does the jaw-dropping price.

Buying Options

$595 from Burly

May be out of stock

Get this if: You want the highest-quality fire pit—one you can buy for life—and don’t mind spending a lot to get it.

A unique design makes it easier to clean and move. The Burly Scout Fire Pit is the only pit we tested that comes in two pieces (an outer cylinder and an insert that nests inside). So it removes two of the hassles you might expect with smokeless fire pits: cleaning and moving. Of all the pits we tested, it’s the most obviously well-built option, and it’s equally overengineered.

But it does cost a lot. Are you potentially overpaying for a “Made in the USA” stamp, sturdy wooden handles, high-quality steel, and hand welding? Probably. But if you want to know you’re buying the absolute best construction with a handsome look that none of the other pits we tested can mimic, this fire pit is your only choice.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The Scout Fire Pit is incredibly tough, but it’s also expensive; we wish the company still offered its original lifetime warranty. (It now offers a limited two-year warranty, which covers any defects in material due to workmanship under normal use.)
• As of 2023, Burly no longer makes the Scout in the stainless steel finish we originally tested; now it comes only in carbon steel with a matte-black finish. The company makes a slightly larger pit in the same design, called the Gather Fire Pit. Both the Gather and the Scout have corresponding lids available.

Specs

• Weight: 43 pounds
• Pit opening: 17 inches
• Height: 17 inches
• Material: matte-black carbon steel
• Warranty: two-year limited

If our top pick from Tiki is unavailable: Consider the Cuisinart Cleanburn Fire Pit, which looks somewhat similar to the Tiki model—maybe even a touch more refined. However, unlike our other picks, the Cuisinart fire pit is a hassle to clean. The main body unscrews from an ash pan (similar to the Blue Sky model’s design), but the rounded basket design and the peculiar weight of the fire pit itself make this process unwieldy.

If you wish you could take the Breeo X Series on the road: Consider the Breeo Y Series Portable Smokeless Fire Pit. From a cooking and design perspective, the two Breeo lines are largely identical. The Y Series is more portable than the X Series: It comes with collapsible handles and spring-loaded feet, which you can set at two height levels. If you see yourself potentially bringing a stove to a remote location for fire and cooking—while truck camping, for instance—then the Y Series is a fine choice. But if you’re looking for a backyard fire pit, you’ll probably prefer the sturdiness of the slightly more expensive X Series.

We gathered a list of possible candidates and tested models in the desert of Southern California and on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Five of the six models we initially tested made the cut as recommendations. (Since then, we’ve tested three more fire pits, none of which became picks.) In our testing and research, here are some questions we considered:

• Do the pits actually eliminate smoke? We initially thought that there might be a measurable performance difference among smokeless fire pit designs: the most smoke eliminated through the secondary combustion. But after several months of testing, we discovered that all the pits worked more or less the same. How well your pit performs is much more affected by your choice of wood, how wet or green that wood is, how much wood you burn at once, and the wind conditions outside than it is by the pit design itself.
• How much do you want to spend? At a certain point, choosing a fire pit comes down to how and where you want to use it, your personal taste, and your budget. Too cheap and you’ll notice a decline in the material quality of your pit, and it may not last very long. Generally speaking, I wouldn’t want to spend less than $200 on a fire pit.
• What are you hoping to get out of it? When looking for a fire pit, consider size and weight first. A larger fire pit accommodates more people, but smaller fire pits are easier to store and move around. However, in our testing we found that the heavier a pit is, the more heat it appears to radiate, which is important because the smokeless after-burning effect of these designs seems to drive the natural heat of a fire upward and away from the people gathered around it. If heat is your main concern, know that many of the companies making our picks offer heat deflectors, which will push the heat out sideways from the stove.
• Where are you going to use it? Examine the space you have outdoors and make sure it’s a safe distance away from your house and other flammable objects (sheds, trellises, and the like). Ideally, these pits should be situated on a concrete slab, sand, or bricks; although smokeless fire pits reduce the number of embers and sparks over time, they are still open fires. (You can, if you like, buy spark shields for many of our picks.)

Biolite FirePit+: Unlike other smokeless fire pit designs, which employ the heat transfer and airflow through their double-wall designs to create secondary combustion, the Biolite FirePit+ uses an electric fan to force air into the pile of wood. It works extremely efficiently, and the fire pit is especially lightweight. However, the device as a whole feels poorly built, of weak materials—especially the mesh grill enclosure, which is made of thin pressed metal that, in our experience, has been prone to rust and brittle spots after exposure to high heat. We’ve already encountered some wear on our testing unit, after only a few uses. For the price, we’re not convinced this pit is worth the investment.

Inno Stage Smokeless Fire Pit: This fire pit is made of two metal pieces that stack when you’re using it. It’s a simple design and certainly keeps the cost low. But the overall lower quality of the metal and small size of the fire pit prevent this from being a pick.

We’re currently testing Hotspot’s Compañero 30″ for backyard cooking. Though it isn’t a smokeless fire pit, its buy-it-for-life construction and handsome looks make it an intriguing option.

This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan.