To reduce fire pit smoke, it’s important to understand the causes of one of the most common and fixable backyard fire pit problems.

To reduce fire pit smoke, always use properly seasoned firewood with moisture content below 20%. Freshly cut wood contains excessive moisture that creates smoke during burning and prevents efficient combustion. Unseasoned wood burns at lower temperatures, resulting in incomplete combustion and increased smoke production. A moisture meter can help verify your wood is properly dried before use.

In this article, we’ll get to the bottom of what causes it and what you can do to minimize annoying smoke before your next backyard gathering around the fire.

The burning of wood types that contain pitch/sap and other naturally occurring substances can also be a factor in excess fire pit smoke production.

Improper stacking of wood during the fire building process that causes fuel to smoke instead of burn can also contribute to the amount of smoke you may experience.

Pick the right dry wood that doesn’t smoke much. This will keep your guests from constantly moving around the fire pit.

I’ll explore dry wood characteristics and which types smoke least. We’ll also look at how fire pit makers are reducing smoke.

Let’s begin…

Table Of Contents

1. What I've Learned About Eliminating Fire Pit Smoke
   • Smoke from Green or Improperly Seasoned Firewood
   • Other Causes of Excess Fire Pit Smoke
2. 5 Ways to Reduce Fire Pit Smoke
   • 1. Use Well Seasoned or Kiln-Dried Firewood
   • 2. Focus on Using Firewood Types That Naturally Smoke Less
   • 3. Take the Time to Build a Fire That Starts Quickly and Burns Long
   • 4. Keep Your Fire Pit Clean After Every Use to Reduce Fire Pit Smoke
   • 5. Consider Using a Smokeless Fire Pit to Drastically Reduce Fire Pit Smoke
3. Smokeless Fire Pits: The Current Market
   • Solo Stove.
   • Breeo.
   • Tiki.
   • Flame Genie.
4. Wrap-up: Reduce Fire Pit Smoke
5. FAQs: Reduce Fire Pit Smoke

What I’ve Learned About Eliminating Fire Pit Smoke

Wood smoke comes from burning chemicals in hardwoods like oak and softwoods like pine.

Poor heating turns these chemicals into smoke around your fire pit.

Efficient fires burn these chemicals quickly, producing less smoke.

An efficient, well-burning fire quickly consumes these chemicals before they can form significant amounts of smoke.

There are other contributors, but this is the most likely cause of most wood smoke.

Smoke from Green or Improperly Seasoned Firewood

The bottom line is that dry wood burns efficiently and as a result, it doesn’t smoke a lot. 

Freshly cut wood, or “green” wood, contains mostly water. This high moisture content prevents the wood from burning efficiently, causing it to produce excessive smoke.

Well-seasoned firewood feels lighter, sounds hollow when struck, has no smell, and often shows a grayish tint.

You can easily track wood moisture levels with an inexpensive handheld moisture meter, available at your local hardware store.

Firewood needs 20% moisture content at minimum, but 20% or less is ideal—kiln-dried wood typically meets this standard.

For maximum smoke reduction, using the right firewood with proper moisture content delivers the best results.

I now believe the concerns I learned as a child likely related to fireplace use, and even then, I’m not certain those concerns are entirely warranted.

The belief was that pine and other softwoods gummed up your chimney quicker than other types of wood.

The high sap content of these wood types makes this sound logical, but I remain somewhat skeptical.

Anyway, softwoods like pine, juniper, balsam, spruce, etc. can burn very hot for short periods of time, making them good firestarter wood. 

That said, when burned, these wood types with air-hardened pitch can produce significant amounts of smoke.

In fact, people have used “fatwood” from pine tree heartwood as a firestarter for hundreds of years.

The hardened tree sap in fatwood contains a high concentration of terpene, which ignites quickly and helps start the rest of the fire.  

Well-seasoned softwoods can work if your options are few but understand the limitations.

Improper Stacking of Firewood in Fire Pit

A key component to building a quick-starting long-burning fire is good airflow. 

Simply tossing logs and kindling into your pit often results in smoldering fuel rather than a proper fire.

A teepee or log cabin firewood stack will keep air flowing and provide housing of sorts for your tinder and kindling – see the example below.

Take some time to do this right because all you will have is smoke and no fire. See the images below for an example.

Burning of Green Pine Needles, Pinecones, Tree Bark, Etc.

Sometimes it makes sense to collect debris from the forest floor to use as kindling, tinder, etc. By debris, I mean pine needles, pine cones, tree bark, etc.

If using these fire starters, ensure everything is completely dry with no green material present.

This kind of debris will smoke excessively if it hasn’t had a chance to dry out.

Burning Household Waste in a Fire Pit

Certain types of treated cardboard will smoke heavily when burned in a fire.

Beyond smoke, you’ll face potentially unhealthy fumes that could harm you and your family.

Stick to tinder, kindling, and firewood in the fire pit. A little newspaper at the beginning of the fire to get things going is ok. 

Don’t stuff a week’s worth of papers on a fire that just won’t start to help it along. It’s probably something else keeping it from catching.

5 Ways to Reduce Fire Pit Smoke

Let’s explore how to apply this knowledge to minimize smoke during your next fire pit session.

Let’s explore how to apply this knowledge to minimize smoke during your next fire pit session.

These action steps and pointers address several smoke-reducing strategies that you can use individually or in combination with each other:

1. Use Well Seasoned or Kiln-Dried Firewood

As we covered above, wet wood is bad when trying to keep fire pit smoke down. Using adequately dried wood will produce much less smoke and perform much better for a longer time.

Seasoned (Air-Dried) Firewood for Fire Pits.

I recommend hardwoods over softwoods when chopping your own firewood, as they produce less smoke.

Hardwoods require longer seasoning (6 months-2 years) to reach 20% moisture but provide significantly longer, hotter burns than softwoods.

Know your wood type and required seasoning time after chopping when preparing your woodpile.

Each type of hardwood has its own estimated seasoning timeframe so know these times when planning. Naturally, the seasoning time will be reduced if you season your wood indoors in a garage or shed.  

Most firewood drying time estimates you will see are for outdoor seasoning specifically. 

Oak contains higher moisture than other firewoods (maple, hickory, ash) and requires six months to two years for low-smoke readiness.

If you recall, I mentioned using a moisture meter to monitor and keep track of your firewood’s seasoning progress.

Remember, under 20% moisture is ok, below 20% is what you are shooting for.

When purchasing seasoned firewood, confirm both wood type and moisture content with your dealer.

Keep your moisture meter ready during delivery to verify they’re providing the promised wood quality.

You are going to pay the same whether it’s adequately seasoned or not. Make sure it is to get the best lighting and heat performance for your money.  

Kiln-Dried Firewood for Fire Pits.

Kiln-dried firewood is a luxury option, typically costing 30% more than standard air-dried wood.

The advantage: it’s extremely dry wood, kiln-processed for two days at ~250°F to achieve optimal 20% moisture content.

Kiln-dried firewood is ready to burn immediately and because the moisture content is so low, smoke is minimal to non-existent. 

It should light easily, stay lit, and burn hot and long, especially in comparison to non-kiln-dried firewood.

Another excellent benefit of kiln-dried firewood: the kiln process eliminates insects and mold from the wood.

This feature makes storing some of your firewood inside the house a much easier choice.

When purchasing kiln-dried firewood for your fire pit, only order what you’ll use soon.

It’s expensive, and without indoor storage, damp outdoor conditions may eliminate its advantages.

For more on the subject of kiln-dried firewood for fire pit use, check out my article on the topic here or this factsheet from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Products Lab on kiln drying times for oak firewood.

Bottom Line:  Make sure you are using dry (to very dry) firewood, preferably hardwoods, to reduce fire pit smoke. Once you’ve tried kiln-dried firewood though it’s hard to go back to anything else. Check out Cutting Edge Firewood, a premium firewood delivery service near Atlanta, Georgia, to learn more.

2. Focus on Using Firewood Types That Naturally Smoke Less

Hardwoods generally smoke less than softwoods in fire pits, but not all hardwood varieties are low-smoking.

We’ll talk about them and hit the softwoods one more time in an effort to keep smoke to a minimum.

Hardwoods As Firewood.

Because of their natural density, hardwoods tend to hold much less water than other types of wood and we know water is not our friend with regard to the subject at hand. Looking at you softwoods!

Oak, ash, hickory, and maple are good examples of low-smoking hardwoods.  

Dried pitch or sap from these woods can produce heavy smoke in your fire pit.

If using softwoods, ensure they’re extremely well-seasoned—completely bone-dry.

Even when thoroughly seasoned, expect smoke from softwoods, maybe just a little less of it.

3. Take the Time to Build a Fire That Starts Quickly and Burns Long

Firewood stacking method directly impacts ignition speed and burning efficiency in your fire pit.

That efficiency is a key contributor to keeping smoke from forming and burning it off quickly if it does.  

Proper airflow between firewood pieces distinguishes fires that ignite quickly from those that merely smolder and smoke.

I prefer the log-cabin configuration for stability, preventing collapse and hot debris ejection from the fire pit.

Tinder and kindling can be loosely packed in the center at the base for quick and easy ignition.

How to do it: 

Stack two pieces of split firewood parallel to each other, about 12″ apart, depending on your fire pit’s size.

Add another row with the same spacing on top, positioning each piece across the ends of the first row.

Stack the wood 3-4 levels high, adjusting based on your fire pit’s size.

Likewise, a tipi stack is another option mentioned prior that is relatively stable and allows for strong airflow between firewood.   

How to do it: Stack firewood pieces upward against each other in a circular, cone-like formation. Distribute the pieces evenly to ensure good airflow while maintaining a wide base.

Tinder and kindling are then loosely packed at the base, inside the tipi – also see below.

Check out my article How to Start a Fire Pit for more on the subject.

4. Keep Your Fire Pit Clean After Every Use to Reduce Fire Pit Smoke

Old fire pit debris from previous burns may become damp if exposed to weather, hampering new fire starting.

Building a new fire on top of this debris may inhibit your ability to get a good fire started.

Take a moment to clear your fire pit of all debris after it has completely cooled. 

Cover your fire pit, turn it on its side, or store it indoors to prevent water collection and rust formation.

Taking these steps prevents cleaning soggy ash before your next fire and helps you start a strong, smoke-free flame immediately.

5. Consider Using a Smokeless Fire Pit to Drastically Reduce Fire Pit Smoke

Fire pits have evolved from simple bowls with fire rings into sophisticated designs using traditional technology.

What’s the old technology? It’s called a top-lit updraft gasifier or TLUD.

Innovative outdoor companies have adopted this design to create highly efficient fire pits that minimize or eliminate smoke.

Understand though, smokeless doesn’t mean “no smoke,” just greatly reduced smoke.

You may get a little at the moment when new firewood is added but it usually passes quickly.

Smokeless Fire Pits: The Current Market

Currently, there are four primary players (in my opinion) in the smokeless fire pit industry, they are Solo Stove, Breeo, Tiki, and Flame Genie.

All four companies use TLUD in their design and have been pretty successful in carrying the technology over from the industrial market to the recreational side.

Just a few facts about each company and their product lines…

Tiki.

• Tiki Brand, headquartered in Minnesota, started in the early 1960s and became famous for their iconic torches.

• Built their first smokeless fire pit in 2020

• Tiki Brand currently offers two smokeless fire pit options, its Patio Fire Pit (27.5″ diameter) <— links to Tiki

All fire pits mentioned are considered smokeless by their manufacturers. 

While truly smoke-free fire pits don’t exist, smokeless designs dramatically reduce smoke compared to traditional models.

One of the great smokeless fire pit advantages is that they forgive slightly damper wood once burning, efficiently managing smoke with less-than-perfect fuel.

Once you get the fire going, you can add less dry wood later. These fire pits do a surprisingly good job of keeping the smoke down and burning through the wood efficiently.

Finally, smokeless fire pit cleanup is usually very easy as they typically reduce everything to a fine ash and there’s usually not much of it. 

Wrap-up: Reduce Fire Pit Smoke

There’s really not a lot to reducing fire pit smoke. Using well-seasoned dry firewood is going to do the most to move the needle in the right direction.  

When choosing firewood, opt for hardwood varieties that produce less smoke for a more enjoyable experience.

Take your time building your fire, making sure to give the fuel space to breathe to prevent smoldering and smoking.

Keep your fire pit clean, dry, and ready to use the next time you decide to fire it up. You’ll get better performing, low-smoking fires, plus your fire pit will not only look better when you aren’t using it, but it will also last much longer.

If you’ve implemented all these smoke-reducing strategies and remain unsatisfied, take the final step and try a smokeless fire pit.

Quality smokeless fire pits are available that work as promised, look attractive, and are reasonably priced.

Take your time and shop around to find one that meets your size and performance needs. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

For related content check out our Ultimate Fire Pit Firewood Buyer’s Guide!

Good luck in your battle to reduce fire pit smoke and thanks for reading!

FAQs: Reduce Fire Pit Smoke