I'm one of those who has long coveted a fire pit, but never found one that works for me. I love to sit around a fire pit - it creates an unrivalled atmosphere and generates enough warmth to make cooler evenings stretch into longer nights.
But a number of things put me off, number one has to be the smoke - it chases you around so whereever you sit it always seems to be blowing in your face, and the cast iron looks great, but once it gets rusty it can start to look a mess. So Solo Stove's smokeless fire pit, made entirely from stainless steel, intrigued me.
The Solo Stoves have been around since 2016, first launching with the help of a Kickstarter fundraising campaign, and they have built a large and loyal following of fans in the UK and the USA. It was the 'smokeless' bit that intrigued me - the idea of enjoying a firepit without having to shower and wash all your clothes afterwards sounds genius.
So I ordered one, and it duly arrived in the post - the Solo Stove Bonfire, a mid-size fire pit ideal for my garden. The Bonfire is substantial, but compact enough that it comes with a cover that you can carry it around in - if you are heading out camping or going to the beach.
Unbxoing was simple enough, as well as the large fire pit there is a collar that sits on the top, and a stand that goes underneath. Very simple!
The smokeless trick works because of some clever science - secondary ignition. If you have a log burner you may be aware of how this works already. The Solo Stove is two layers of stainless steel with a hollow space between them, surrounding the pit itself.
There are holes around the bottom and around the inside at the top of the fire. As the fire gets going, it draws air in through the bottom holes - super heats it and blasts it out of the holes at the top.
There it meets the smoke coming off the top of the fire - and sets light to it again, burning off all that unburnt soot and pollution that would otherwise make the annoying, smelly smoke.
I remained to be convinced, but I piled up a little kindling and a couple of dried hardwood logs and set the fire alight. I thought it may be tricky to get going - but without any firefighters or fluid it caught straight away and was quickly burning hot. I chucked on a couple more logs and with 20 minutes that secondary ignition was fully up and running.
Having fully read the instructions and watched a couple of videos I was confident in how to get the best out of the fire pit - but it was really simple. There's a little smoke as it is heating up - but once it gets going it is clean and hot.
You get an impressive show of fire jets blazing from those holes around the top into the pit, and the smoke just vanishes - we kept the fire burning for a couple of hours. No smoke, no smell, no mess, no fuss - it works!
After we let the fire die down (you can buy a lid which helps speed up the process, but it happened quickly enough) then in around an hour the firepit was completely cool. If you've had it going longer, you may need to leave it longer - but this would definitely work for a camping trip or beach evening out if you plan when to let the fire die down.
It seems to burn through the wood at a fair pace, faster than other fire pits or our open fire - but one standard 'garden centre' size bag lasted us for two hours with a good, hot fire. You could slow it down with less wood - or greener wood - but the effect may not be as good and some of that smoke could return.
For a great fire with no complaints from the neighbours about their washing - this was worth it.
After the whole thing is cool you just need to tip out the ash. There isn't much left - it burns very efficiently - but tipping it out will require a couple of people thanks to the size and weight of the fire pit.
Fortunately, in their first update to the pit since 2016 Solo have now included a system for removing the ash quickly and easily - no tipping! Problem solved.
The stand also lifts the pit off the ground, meaning you should be able to use it safely on even wood or composite surfaces - read the instructions carefully!
There are add-ons you can buy, including a deflector to direct the heat, a barbecue grill and a spark shield,
In short, this is a great firepit. Plenty of heat for plenty of people to sit around, without any of the mess and fuss. It comes in multiple sizes (there's even a pizza oven) - so choose your weapon and find the latest prices at SoloStove or on Amazon.
