In the last five years, I've tested beautiful projectors, audiophile-grade turntables, and nearly every pair of wireless headphones worth listening to for my job, and yet the product my roommates have begged me to keep is Solo Stove's new 27-inch Yukon firepit.
It seems absurd. You can build a pretty firepit with bricks for $20, or get an elevated, portable one for about $100 on Amazon. How can this $500 stainless steel circle be that much better? After about a month of socially distanced burning, I’m almost sad to report how good it is. The gorgeous, patented design doesn’t just make my lawn look like a tasteful bee sanctuary instead of a weedy mess—it also burns wood better than anything I’ve ever seen.
I like oak-smoked burnt ends as much as the next guy, but outside of bimonthly excursions to Matt’s BBQ (a Guy Fieri–approved must-try in Portland, Oregon,) I’ve never paid much attention to the type of wood I put in a fire.
It’s not that I don’t know that various types of woods burn differently, it’s just that I never needed to care. My basic teepee fires burn relatively low and slow, no matter what I use. But the first time I piled a mountain of Douglas fir (the cheapest in my neck of the woods) in the Yukon and lit it, I realized I needed much harder wood.
This all comes down to how hot the thing is able to get. Solo Stove’s keglike circle has round holes around the bottom of the outside and the top of the inside, with an elevated section to put the wood in, allowing for excellent airflow. It’s a great design that lets the pit suck air through the wood the entire time a fire is lit.
But that design also comes with a downside: It burns wood hotter and faster than most fires, ripping through my soft fir logs in no time. In my experience, it will reduce a medium-size log to glowing ash in about 30 minutes. Next time, I’ll go with oak or another harder wood, so I won’t have to pop logs in as often.
The design makes it super easy to light, no lighter fluid or kindling required. I usually tear up a paper bag and light it beneath my logs—the airflow immediately pushes the flame toward the logs above, passively fanning the flames. Gathering logs, setting them up in my shape of choice, and lighting a blazing fire takes about five minutes.