Why a fire pit is the best thing in your backyard this winter
It is June, which means the nights have turned properly cold across most of Australia, and a fire pit is about the cheapest way to keep using your backyard right through winter. Light one at dusk, pull a few chairs around it, and a courtyard that was unusable an hour ago becomes the best seat in the house. You do not need a deck, a heater or a renovation, just a steel bowl, some dry firewood and somewhere safe to put it. Under a covered patio, where an open flame is not an option, an outdoor heater is the alternative that does the same job.
There are dozens of fire pits on Amazon Australia, and most buyer guides just list them by price and walk away. We would rather help you make three actual decisions, because they are the ones that decide whether you love your pit or it rusts in the shed. First, the TYPE: do you want a plain steel bowl, a 2-in-1 fire pit and BBQ, a foldable camping pit, a smokeless secondary-burn design, or a designer statement piece? Second, do you want to COOK on it, or just sit around the warmth? Third, how much SMOKE and mess are you willing to live with? Get those three right and the rest is easy.
The types of fire pit
Almost everything on Amazon AU falls into one of five buckets. Here is how to tell them apart and which of our six picks sits where.
Steel bowls and pits (cheap, classic)
The classic fire pit is a deep steel bowl on legs. There is nothing clever going on, and that is the point: you get the most fire and the most warmth for your money, with the fewest things to break. The Grillz 70cm Fire Pit Bowl is the example here, a big, deep 70cm dish with a large burning capacity, and crucially it ships with no assembly, so you are not fighting a flat-pack in the cold. It is a pure fire bowl, not a cooker, so it suits people who want warmth and ambience and are happy to cook somewhere else.
If your budget is tighter or your space is smaller, the Grillz 26in Fire Pit and BBQ below is the same family, and it throws a grill plate into the bargain.
2-in-1 fire pit and BBQ (cook over it)
These pits put a grill plate or grate over the fire so you can cook as well as warm up. The cheapest credible one is the Grillz 26in Fire Pit and BBQ, a powder coated steel pit with a stainless grill plate, a mesh spark guard, a poker and a log grate. It is small and light, so think courtyard rather than acreage, but it is the best value entry point on this list and the reviews are genuine local Australian ones.
Can you cook on it?
Not every fire pit is a cooker, and it pays to be clear before you buy. Four of our six picks let you cook over the flames. The Grillz 26in and Grillz 30in both include stainless grill plates, with the 30in being the more serious cooker thanks to its size and wood-or-charcoal flexibility. The SAN HIMA camping pit has an adjustable grill bridge and side plates, and the Teamson ships with a cooking grate for the odd skewer or marshmallow.
The odd one out is the Grillz 70cm Fire Pit Bowl. It is a pure fire bowl with no grill, and that is deliberate. If your priority is warmth, ambience and a no-fuss centrepiece, a plain bowl gives you more fire and fewer parts. If your priority is dinner as well, our top pick the Grillz 30in Fire Pit and BBQ Combo covers both from the one pit. Plenty of people go the other way and own a 70cm bowl for the fire with a separate BBQ for food, which is honestly the better experience for both.
Smoke, and the smokeless option
All wood fires smoke, and it is worth understanding why before you spend extra to avoid it. Smoke is mostly unburned fuel, the gases and fine particles that escape when wood does not get enough oxygen and heat to burn completely. Damp wood, a smouldering low fire and poor airflow all make it worse, which is why an open steel bowl on a still night can leave everyone chasing their chairs around to dodge the plume.
Secondary-burn smokeless pits like the Ciays 19in tackle this with physics rather than magic. The pit has two walls with a gap between them. As the fire heats up, air is drawn up through that gap, gets hot, and is injected back into the top of the fire through a ring of holes. That superheated oxygen ignites the smoke a second time, burning off most of those unburned gases before they leave the pit. The result is a cleaner, taller flame and far less smoke in your eyes and your clothes.
The trade-off is real, though. Smokeless pits cost more than a plain bowl of the same size, they tend to be smaller, and they still produce some smoke while they are getting up to temperature or if you load them with damp wood. For a small entertaining space where you sit close to the fire, the extra spend is well worth it. For a big open yard where the smoke drifts away anyway, a cheap steel bowl may serve you just as well.
A note on Amazon star ratings
This is the part most guides will not tell you, so here it is plainly. Some fire-pit listings on Amazon Australia show a pooled global rating, where the star count and the number of reviews combine feedback from overseas marketplaces, not just Australian buyers. That is not against the rules, but it means a four-star, hundreds-of-reviews badge can be mostly American or European shoppers reviewing a unit that was packed, shipped and supported differently from yours.
On this list, the Teamson Home and the Ciays counts are pooled global figures. Their star ratings are still a useful signal of how the product performs, but the volume is not a measure of Australian demand or local after-sales support. By contrast, the Grillz pits and the SAN HIMA show genuine local Australian reviews, which is why we lean on them as the safest picks even when their review counts look smaller. Smaller and local beats larger and global when you are the one who has to chase a warranty.
Safety, councils and fire bans
A fire pit is real fire, and Australia takes that seriously, so a few minutes of homework saves a lot of grief. Before you light up, check your local council rules: some councils restrict or ban backyard fires outright, some allow them only in a proper pit or brazier, and many limit what you can burn to clean, dry firewood rather than rubbish or treated timber. Your council website is the authority here, not the bloke at the hardware store.
On top of council rules, watch for total fire ban days. On a declared total fire ban, fire pits are generally off limits regardless of your council, so check your state fire service before every burn in the warmer months, whether that is the CFA in Victoria, the RFS in New South Wales or the equivalent in your state. Sign up for their alerts if you can.
When you do light one, keep it well clear of fences, eaves, decking and overhanging branches, set it on a non-flammable surface like pavers or bare earth rather than a timber deck or dry grass, and keep a bucket of water or a hose within reach. A home fire extinguisher on a bracket by the back door covers what a bucket cannot. Never leave a fire pit unattended, never leave it burning when you go to bed, and let the ash cool completely before you tip it out. Keep kids and pets at a sensible distance, and put it out properly when you are done.
Looking after a steel fire pit
Raw-steel bowls are tough but they do need a little care to last.
- Empty the cold ash regularly so it does not trap moisture against the steel.
- Keep the pit covered or stored under cover when it is not in use, and tip out any rainwater that pools in the bowl.
- Expect a rust patina to form on raw-steel bowls over time. This is normal and largely cosmetic, not a fault.
- If you want to slow the rust, season the inside of the bowl with a wipe of cooking oil after it is cleaned, much as you would a cast-iron pan.
- Stainless pits like the SAN HIMA and Ciays resist rust far better, so they need less of this fuss.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are fire pits legal in Australian backyards?
In most cases yes, but it depends on your local council and your state fire rules. Many councils allow a fire pit or brazier burning clean, dry firewood, while some restrict or ban backyard fires entirely, and most forbid burning rubbish or treated timber. On top of that, fire pits are generally banned on declared total fire ban days. Always check your council website and your state fire service, such as the CFA or RFS, before you light up.
What is the best type of fire pit for a backyard?
It depends on whether you want to cook over it. A big, deep steel bowl like the Grillz 70cm Fire Pit Bowl gives you the most warmth for your money with the fewest parts to fail, and it ships with no assembly. Our top pick goes to a 2-in-1 instead: the Grillz 30in Fire Pit and BBQ Combo is the biggest pit in this guide at 76 x 76cm, it sits at table height, and a stainless grill plate over the bowl means the same pit handles the fire and the food. If you want far less smoke, a smokeless secondary-burn pit is worth the extra spend.
What is a smokeless fire pit and is it worth it?
A smokeless fire pit uses a double-walled design that draws in air, heats it and feeds it back into the top of the fire to re-burn the smoke, so you get far less of it in your eyes and clothes. It is not completely smoke-free, especially while it warms up or with damp wood, but it makes a big difference up close. For a small entertaining space where you sit near the fire it is well worth it, while in a big open yard a cheaper plain bowl may serve you just as well. Our smokeless pick here, the Ciays 19in, delivers that secondary-burn design at a fraction of the big-brand price.
Can you cook on a fire pit?
Many fire pits let you cook if they include a grill plate or grate, such as the Grillz 26in and 30in combos, the SAN HIMA camping pit and the Teamson statement pit. A pure fire bowl like the Grillz 70cm has no grill and is built for warmth and ambience rather than food. If cooking matters to you, choose a combo with a grill plate, or keep a plain bowl for the fire and use a separate BBQ for dinner.
How do I stop my steel fire pit from rusting?
Empty the cold ash regularly so moisture does not sit against the steel, keep the pit covered or stored under cover, and tip out any rainwater that pools in the bowl. A wipe of cooking oil on the inside after cleaning helps slow rust, much like seasoning a cast-iron pan. Bear in mind that a rust patina on a raw-steel bowl is normal and largely cosmetic, and that stainless pits resist rust far better if you want the least upkeep.
Are foldable fire pits any good for camping?
Yes, a good foldable pit is ideal for camping because it packs flat and travels easily. Look for 304 stainless steel so it will not rust in a wet swag, and a folding design with a carry bag so it stows without fuss, like the SAN HIMA in this guide. The main trade-offs are size, since camping pits are smaller than backyard bowls, and that some newer models still have only a handful of reviews, so check whether those reviews are local Australian ones.
Are the star ratings on Amazon fire pits trustworthy?
They are useful, but you need to know whether a rating is local or pooled. Some fire-pit listings show a pooled global rating that combines reviews from overseas marketplaces rather than Australian buyers only, so a large review count can be mostly overseas shoppers. In this guide the Teamson and Ciays counts are pooled global figures, while the Grillz and SAN HIMA counts are genuine local Australian reviews. Treat the star score as a quality signal, but weigh local reviews more heavily when after-sales support matters.
