The Best Fire Pits of 2021

How We Tested Outdoor Fire Pits

The Tester

Hi, I’m Lindsay Mattison, a trained professional chef and a barbecue weekend warrior. You’ll find me outside almost every weekend, cooking in my backyard patio setup. In the cooler months, I always have a fire going in the fire pit to keep me warm while cooking on myTraeger pellet grillor大绿色鸡蛋。I’d love to help you find a fire pit that works for your backyard setup!

测试

There are an overwhelming number of options when it comes to fire pits, but we stuck to the models that are portable and don’t have to be built into your backyard setup. After selecting several popular wood-burning and propane models available from online or brick-and-mortar retailers like Home Depot and Lowes, we set about building and testing each model.

我们测试过的大多数火坑都是预先建造的，需要在正确的位置拧紧腿或放火环和灰烬托盘等小步骤。

For the wood-burning fire pits, the first step was to build a fire. It’s important to start with plenty of small kindling, cutting dry wood into finger-width pieces. These small, easily flammable pieces allow the fire to keep going while the bigger logs begin to ignite. We nestled the kindling around a starter cube (our fire starter of choice for wood fires andcharcoal grillsbecause they burn longer than other tinder-like newspaper or bark).

从那里开始，我们等待着点燃来变成灰烬床，加入小块，直到大火被足够处理以处理大型柴火。对于我们测试的大多数火坑，这花费了大约15分钟，尽管有些准备在10分钟内开始。

Then, we added as many large, 16-inch pieces of dry firewood as it could hold and then, timed how long it took for the fire to burn out. After the fire was extinguished, we measured how long it took for the fire pit to cool down and how easy it was to clean out the ashes.

For propane-burning fire pits, we hooked up the propane and tested the line, making sure there were no gas leaks. Then we ignited the fire pit (noting whether it had a built-in ignition or required a stick lighter) and turned it on high for 10 minutes. We weighed the propane tank before and after the test to see how much propane it consumed.

Additionally, regardless of the fuel type, we scored each fire pit on its aesthetics and ease of use. We assessed how easy it was to move and store the fire pit, and added those scores to an overall safety rating and a price-to-value determination before ranking and rating each fire pit.

What You Should Know About Buying a Fire Pit

有几类火坑，每个坑都有不同的功能和价格点。万搏体育官网网址当它像石头火坑一样设计时，有些则内置在露台或甲板上，而另一些则（例如桌面火坑或火坑桌）太重，无法移动，使其成为永久性的特征。这些型号通常非常昂贵，只有在您拥有自己的房屋的情况下才是理想的选择。

然后是便携式火坑，轻巧的移动。这些火坑在没有承诺的情况下提供了内置坑的所有好处。将它们留在您的后院，以使其成为永久的固定装置，或将它们带到您的露营之旅中或在海滩上即兴篝火。虽然价格范围取决于制造商，但这些火坑中的大多数售价不到500美元。

Wood-Burning vs. Propane Fire Pits

试图在燃木坑和丙烷之间做出决定？在购买之前，请记住一些注意事项。对于初学者来说，许多地区都有禁止燃木火灾的火灾限制，因此，如果您将其用于这些区域露营，您可能需要捡起丙烷火坑。

A propane fire pit is easy to ignite and easier to extinguish; simply turn the knob on and off to control the flames. They tend to cool down more quickly and they don’t produce any smoke, but they also don’t get as hot, so they won’t put off as much heat. They rely on lava rocks to cover the heating element, which also affects the flame pattern and helps with heat radiation. Many propane fire pits don’t come with enough lava rock to produce high-quality flames or even flame patterns, so you might need to pick up an extra bag to get the flames you desire.

当然，您还需要有一个丙烷罐才能使用。我们测试的大多数丙烷火坑每小时使用大约三磅的丙烷，因此我们估计，根据BTU和热量设置，丙烷火坑将燃烧3至六个小时。

燃木坑需要更长的时间才能开始，但是它们会产生更多的热量和更好的火焰。它们也往往比丙烷火坑大，可以让您在火周围坐更多（非常适合烤棉花糖和制作S'mores！）。当然，这种额外的温暖意味着您想拥有一对heat-resistant glovesaround to protect your hands!

另一方面,火燃木坑需要steady supply of dry firewood. Wet wood doesn’t burn well, and it produces significantly more smoke. Seasoned wood bundles are available at most camping or hardware stores, but it burns quickly, making it more expensive than filling up a propane tank.

You’ll want to make sure you havea small hatchetfor creating kindling, too. Dry wood can also produce smoke, so you’ll want to look for a smokeless fire pit that is created with an airflow design that minimizes smoke.

---

Other Wood-Burning Fire Pits We Tested

---

Other Propane Fire Pits We Tested

More Articles You Might Enjoy

• The Best Adirondack Chairs
• 最好的户外披萨烤箱
• The Best Kamado Grills
• The Best Pellet Grills