Smokeless fire pits are cool!

I thought about getting one, but it seemed too small and yet took up too much room(with pellets).

Do you use BBQ pellets or heating pellets?  Being how it doesn't smoke, would it make a difference, in type(apple, hickory, cherry)?

They seem nice but out west during the summer they are banned in most places.  Once a certain burn ban takes effect you can’t use them, wood pellet grills, charcoal etc.  You’re basically limited to propane stoves/BBQ’s/Grills.  A few places won’t even allow propane fire pits and require generator use to be in the bed of a truck or in a spot with no flammable material within 10ft.

@RobertMT posted:

I thought about getting one, but it seemed too small and yet took up too much room(with pellets).

Do you use BBQ pellets or heating pellets?  Being how it doesn't smoke, would it make a difference, in type(apple, hickory, cherry)?

Myself & several friends have been using Solostove Bonfires & Yukons for several years.  We all quickly became fond of our clothing not smelling smoky the next morning.  We started using pellets this summer, partly because we were getting a lot of wet campfire wood early on.

We all agree pellets work very good, but not perfect.  Cheap hardwood heating pellets ($6 / 40lb bag) seem to burn better with a little higher flame.  The cooking pellets do give a nicer aroma, but cost about 4X the heating pellets.   In our Bonfire's we find that the $6 bag of heating pellets equals at least 3 average bundles of campfire wood,   a big cost savings.  And we don't have to fight soaking wet wood.

The biggest disadvantage is that the pellet fire requires more frequent feeding to keep the flame at a nice even smokeless burn.   And something is lost from a campfire when you cannot see the pieces of firewood slowly transform into embers.

On a trip a couple weeks ago, we started having hybrid fires,  starting with pellets then switching to a mix of wood and pellets.  There were some in the group who thought it easier to make smores on wood vs pellets and this made them happier.

Our favorite campground has fire pits on each site that cannot be moved.  Our Solo (bonfire model) also gives us more flexibility on where we put the trailer knowing we won't be using the campsite's fire pit.  We still like a wood fire when camping (thankfully no ban yet on the San Diego coast!) and the Solo has been worth every penny.  Just ran out of fire wood so I'm eager to try the pellets!

@Campersince1990 posted:

Myself & several friends have been using Solostove Bonfires & Yukons for several years.  We all quickly became fond of our clothing not smelling smoky the next morning.  We started using pellets this summer, partly because we were getting a lot of wet campfire wood early on.

We all agree pellets work very good, but not perfect.  Cheap hardwood heating pellets ($6 / 40lb bag) seem to burn better with a little higher flame.  The cooking pellets do give a nicer aroma, but cost about 4X the heating pellets.   In our Bonfire's we find that the $6 bag of heating pellets equals at least 3 average bundles of campfire wood,   a big cost savings.  And we don't have to fight soaking wet wood.

The biggest disadvantage is that the pellet fire requires more frequent feeding to keep the flame at a nice even smokeless burn.   And something is lost from a campfire when you cannot see the pieces of firewood slowly transform into embers.

On a trip a couple weeks ago, we started having hybrid fires,  starting with pellets then switching to a mix of wood and pellets.  There were some in the group who thought it easier to make smores on wood vs pellets and this made them happier.

Thanks for those salient comments!  Not worrying smoke into our RV is great!

I have tried twigs etc. and found they just don't work as well as the pellets.  I bought a 40 lb bag of pellets for $7, and that should last a long time in my tabletop firepit.  If I had a large Solo or East Oak model, I would likely use chunks of firewood, since they can take larger wood.  Our size works great to carry in the TC.

Even though we get a 2' flame, we don't plan to cook anything with ours.  However, it does work great for burning marshmallows or S'Mores.       

They're nice.  We have the Campfire (gallon paint can size), Ranger and Bonfire.  We usually travel with the Ranger.  They have their pro/cons. Love not being smoked out, or smoking anyone else out downwind!  Great for cooking hot dogs too!

I have a Solo Stove Bonfire that I bought after seeing @Badkoz Solo at Shingletown. Later, after borrowing @VigII Diffuser at RITV, I bought one.

The Bonfire on pellet fuel needs to be fed quite often. That is difficult with the diffuser, as you can't get a direct drop into the firebowl. I went back to oak, preferably 12" sections. I love the system.

I'd be concerned about making s'mores over a heating pellet fire because of the glue used to form the pellets. Pellets for cooking sounds ok.

Heating pellets don't have "glue", they're just compressed wood fibers (sawdust).

Heating pellets do often contain softwoods, which can give "off" taste.  If pellets are made from scraps (pallets ECT). They may have paint and glue on them

https://www.naturallywood.com/products/wood-pellets/

As a kid, I drank water out of a garden hose after it had been laying in the sun all day.  It didn’t affect/effect me.  

So, using “glued pellets to burn marshmallows should help the flavor.  😆

Seriously though, I first looked at Lowes and Home Depot.  They only had pellets for grilling @ $25-$35 a bag.  After doing a little research, I found some “hardwood” pellets for $7/40lb.  

@Frank 2285 posted:

I have a Solo Stove Bonfire that I bought after seeing @Badkoz Solo at Shingletown. Later, after borrowing @VigII Diffuser at RITV, I bought one.

The Bonfire on pellet fuel needs to be fed quite often. That is difficult with the diffuser, as you can't get a direct drop into the firebowl. I went back to oak, preferably 12" sections. I love the system.

Frank,  I fill mine with one 40 pound bag and use three Tumbleweeds to light it off. It will burn at full force for 1.5 hours.  @Les1 saw this at Spring Thaw this year.  It's impressive! You do not need the screen unless it's required. Pellets I've used don't throw sparks.

Both pictures are full bag pellet fires. First one with heat diffuser in place.

I also questioned the what all may be in the pellets.  From what I have been able to learn in the past months;

• The binder, or adhesive, used to make pellets is the natural lignins that are present in wood. The lignins are activated by heat.
• If the pellets get wet, they quickly dissolve to a mush and turn back to sawdust when dry.
• So far (this summer), all the cheap heating pellets that we have bought (here in Michigan) have been labeled as 100% hardwood.  Mostly we buy at Tractor Supply because stores are plentiful and the pellets are usually found immediately inside the door.   I would avoid pellets that were not labeled as 100% hardwood.
• None of the pellet bags have mentioned any other ingredients other than wood. I realize that does not assure that there may not be undesireable stuff in there.
• It appears to me that smokers & bbq's may have combustion control sensors or devices that may not perform as well with 'dirty' pellets.

I have also bought cooking pellets at Costco for as low as $18 on sale, as I recall.

Bottom line for cooking, imho,  while it can be done over a solostove, campfire cooking is still best done over a wood fire after the fire has mostly burnt down to a bed of red hot coals.

I found this scoop to work well for feeding the fire.  This also works well on a Bonfire when using the Heat Deflector accessory.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...le?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Another tip;    The Heat Deflector works very good also.  It does direct more heat out to the sides if campfire warmth is what you are looking for.

Thanks @Campersince1990 for the scoop

on the scoop! 😎

LOA is the dorkiest reading I do weekly, and I sooooo appreciate it. I purchased this product to use with pellets, mostly for my disabled son. He'll use it regularly, and I'll swipe it from him when I'm on a trip. I did consider the weight but decided that it's worth it. I'll travel with a half-full water tank to accommodate, which I should be doing anyway.

I've had two sizes of the Solostove pit since their kick-starter days. My camping Bonfire DIY modified for multi fuels travels with us everywhere. I previously mentioned filling the pit with pellets. Initially I'd start a small wood fire and hand feed pellets. Now I fill it up to the desired height with pellets. With a Solostove Bonfire a 40 pound bag will be 3 or more inches below the superheated air holes on the top inside. This will burn about an 1 1/2 hours at a steady full intensity. This method is explained on the Solostove web site: https://www.solostove.com/en-u...e-pit-pellet-adapter

If I'm having a pleasure fire I'll use pine pellets. TSC sells them labeled as stable bedding absorbent usually in the large animal area. Pine has more volatiles. More volatiles equals more flame with the air feed design of these stoves. If I intend to cook or smoke food, I use hard wood. I wouldn't bother with pellets to cook on but rather a bit of match light charcoal and a few small sticks of wood for smoke flavor. I found this method faster than building a wood fire and letting it burn down to coals, that is unless it's happy hour before cook time!

FWIW, I recently put more pellets in my small East Oak table fire pit.  It is slightly larger than the Solo MesaXL model.

I didn’t fill it up completely, using an empty jar that holds 2 lbs.  Only used 2-3 jars of pellets and got a good flame for over one hour.  
Pretty long considering the small amount of pellets used!

This is helpful. Based on information here on LOA, I bought a Bonfire. (It's still in the box.) I bought some heating pellets but I like the idea of a good flame pellet alternative for a pleasure fire. I'm going to do some testing. Have you started with cooking and then added different pellets for a good flame? That's what I'm interested in perfecting.

I first tried sticks from my yard.  Most had bark on them.  These took a  long time to get a full fire going with tall flames.  

OTOH, wood pellets provide a more tightly packed & dense fuel base than sticks, Sticks simply can’t be packed in as tight.  

The large fire pits may do better with split firewood that produce coals, but I’m not sure about that.  😎

@Tam posted:

This is helpful. Based on information here on LOA, I bought a Bonfire. (It's still in the box.) I bought some heating pellets but I like the idea of a good flame pellet alternative for a pleasure fire. I'm going to do some testing. Have you started with cooking and then added different pellets for a good flame? That's what I'm interested in perfecting.

I have tried building on top of an existing fire base in my Bonfire. This didn't work as well as filling to a chosen height and lighting the pellets from the top due to the way these pits manage air flow. If you want to do this it works well if you feed pellets scoop by scoop, it just takes more attention but the results are just as good as filling with pellets and lighting from the top of the pellets.

The pits have two different air feeds supplying the fire: One from beneath the fuel - the perforated inside bottom feeds primary combustion air (*1) to the fuel. Another ring of holes above the fuel - the ring of holes near the top feeds superheated secondary (*2) air to the hot smoke just as it exits the pit. Both feeds get heated air through the double wall design creating a chamber that preheats all of the combustion air.

These pits work well with either wood sticks or pellets. Expanding on @Les1's comments above, the primary air (*1) travels through the pile of pellets to the surface where it feeds the main fire. This creates a lot of hot smoke! Once the fire is hot enough to preheat the secondary air (*2) the shaped top folds the superheated secondary air into the hot smoke and Voilà - a column of flames appear.

Yeah, you can tell I've been a fan of this design since Solostove was running on Kickstarter. I bought two models as soon as they appeared on Kickstarter, my current Bonfire and the original Yukon. I ended up with 2 Bonfires because I bought in so early they didn't have a return policy for shipment damage!