Fire pit/bbq

[transatlantic]

I was thinking of getting one of these to serve as both a BBQ and also a place to burn scraps of wood. Does anyone have anything similar?

For burning, do they produce a lot of smoke? is it something that is just going to annoy the neighbours?
Do they hold up ok when stored outside all the time, or do they really need to be brought indoors? I know some come with a cover, but that is not very decorative.
Would the Chimnea variety be better for burning wood? (although perhaps not as good as a BBQ)

 

[John Brown]

The one we had fell to pieces. Maybe it was a cheap thing, but it did look remarkably similar to your photo.
If you really want to reduce the air quality in your neighbourhood, I've got a nice 14 year old diesel Merc you can have for 5K.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Or my near new VW ........................... :lol:

 

[Lazurus]

I have a cast iron chimnea which is a few years old, little smoke but it does depend on what wood you burn, gets good and hot though, a friend has a great tattoo of the mesh guard on his calf.......... beer and fire don't always mix

 

[Tasky]

I have experienced these round at friends' places.
The biggest pain was that they were so low down, you got more facefulls of smoke. Pretty useless asa braai/barbecue.
They work OK as patio heaters to sit around, but you need low-smoke fuel.

I've got a nice 14 year old diesel Merc you can have for 5K.

We had a 22 year old one ya could'a had for £500!!

 

[Bm101]

I have one. Cheaper than that I would think. No fancy tiling. Not sure how long that tiling would last anyway tbh. They get pretty hot. Mine gets left outside and is rusty as a bucket of nails on scaffolding.
They are low down so you need to set your fire right. Get it going early if you have guests round so it doesn't smoke people out. If you grew up with fires in the house and you know your wood to burn you'll have no problems.
If you want smoke free go with a chimmenea or whatever they are called. Bit of nouse you can ad a pizza oven and allsorts to one of those.
I mostly use mine in the summer when the kids are in bed and I'm sat outside with the Wise One sharing a glass. Burning a few off cuts and bits and it takes the chill off. Just for the joy of the flames. The one advantage to it over a chimmewhatever you spell it is that it's more like an open fire. You sit there. Poke it a bit. Chuck a bit on. Rearrange it. It's a fire fiddlers fire pit if you like. Natures TV watching the embers. Summat a little primal in there somewhere.
Chimanea: efficient, smoke free, etc etc
Pit fire: Man Poke Fire. Man Like Fire.
If you want to sit round a fire, get the fire pit. :wink:

 

[transatlantic]

There appeared to be the exact same one in my local Bunnings. Looked pretty good for a BBQ and wasn't too low down. But as a fire pit, it looked pretty useless, barely any room for wood, and is clearly designed for a layer of charcoal

 

[novocaine]

man make chiminea
man make fire in chiminea
man not have to put up with smoke in eyes because of chimney.
Kustom fire. Hot hot. by David Rees, on Flickr

don't like firepits, not enough air flow and it hurts your knees when you fall in to it drunk.

 

[Lazurus]

The other thing we use a lot when camping is a firepit made from a washing machine drum, cheap as chips and really effective, google for images easy to make.

 

[Tasky]

But as a fire pit, it looked pretty useless, barely any room for wood, and is clearly designed for a layer of charcoal

I've also seen some with full-on outdoor dining tables built around them.
Maybe they're intended as a braai-your-own, like a fondue set or something, but they looked like something a moneyed individual would buy more for show than actual use, if that makes sense?

As an aside, I heard recycling your sawdust and wood shavings into fire logs can give fairly smokeless results - Worth considering, for when you're not using coals, perhaps?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... it hurts your knees when you fall in to it drunk.

Reminds me of the parties we had years ago that started on a Friday at 6.00pm and finished in the early hours of the Monday morning - at one my friend got extremely drunk and fell in the well. Twice. :lol: