Bali Outdoors 32″ Wood Burning Fire Pit with Cooking Grill Review
Firepits that can pull double duty as an open-air grill are becoming increasingly popular with homeowners, campers, and RV travelers. It gives you a place for family and friends to gather around while also giving you a place to grill up snacks that go beyond the cliché s’mores or a hot dog on a stick.
The Bali Outdoors 32-inch wood-burning fire pit was designed to be durable, yet it only weighs in at 27-pounds, which means you can really use it as a portable grill. The outer ring of this fire pit measures in at a robust 32-inch diameter. This gives you a place to set plates or if you build the fire just right, warm up your cold toes.
The inner ring measure in at 24-inches and has a 360-degree swinging grill rack. This lets you easily maneuver food over the fire for cooking, or you can leave it swung out for times when you just want it to be a fire pit.
The interior of the firebox has a wire rack. This lets you set burning wood above the lower coal bed for times when you want to cook over an open flame.
Construction & Ease of Assembly
The BALI OUTDOORS 32-inch Wood Burning Fire Pit is made from robust steel in all the places where you want it to be. Yet they also made an effort to save weight in other areas. This means you can use this as a portable grill and fire pit for camping trips. Still, at 27 pounds it’s probably a little too cumbersome for tailgating or cookouts at the beach.
There is little in the way of assembly. Even if you are mechanically inept, you should still be able to get this fire pit grill put together in less than half an hour. There’s a little bit of a protective coating on the grates. Make sure to properly break them in over a campfire session or two before placing any meat on them.
It’s worth noting that the metal used in this fire pit can become prone to rust and corrosion issues over time. Especially if you have a bad habit of leaving the ashes inside it and your area gets a little rain. Springing the extra $30 for a quality grill cover and remembering to use it anytime the firepit is not in use will go a long way toward protecting your investment.
Grilling Performance
As you might imaging a fire pit grill like this is never going to pull double duty for slow-and-low grilling. This is the sort of thing where you swing the grill grate over a high fire to sear off some steaks at the end of a day hiking in the woods.
The internal wire rack in the main fire pit lets you raise the flames up for quick searing. Yet you still could make a bone-in chicken breast by letting a consistent coal bed develop in the bottom and not putting any wood in the wire rack. With a little practice you can grill up simple bone-in cuts like this without burning the exterior black.
The outer ring is a nice touch and is just big enough to hold a prep platter on one side and a serving platter on the other. Just be careful not to bump it.
If you wanted to use this fire pit for making breakfast at camp, you could invest in cast iron cookware. There’s just enough room on the grate to set up a griddle in the front for bacon, and 12-inch cast-iron frying pan in the back for eggs or French toast.
The swinging grill grate can get pretty hot over the course of a single grilling session and it’s pretty heavy to move. The “Poker” that comes with the initial purchase isn’t all that robust. So, you might want to also invest in a heavy-duty welding glove or a robust grill tool to move it safely after you’re done cooking.
Grilling Areas
The 24-inch wire rack is robust and gives you an impressive 452 square inches of grilling space, which is a little more than you might find with the circular grill on a popular kettle grill. You should have no problem grilling steaks and burger patties for six or possibly even eight people.
Special Features
The 24-inch swinging grill grate is technically a special feature and one that you don’t find on a lot of firepits.
The internal wire rack is also a feature that you shouldn’t dismiss. It’s sort of a means of heat control as it lets you make a higher fire for cold nights or times when you really want to put a quick sear on a piece of meat.
Ease to Clean
The grill grates are cross-hatched which is nice for putting attractive grill marks on steaks and pork chops. However, they tend to be sticky once they’re broken in and the crosshatch corners can be troublesome to clean burned-on bits from. It might help to use a grill brush with a round brush head and then clean in a circular motion.
When you are done using the BALI OUTDOORS 32-inch Wood Burning Fire Pit, you need to empty out the ash as soon as all the embers have burned out. Then store it somewhere under a roof or use a high-quality grill cover. When ash and moisture from rain or melting snow mix it makes a very corrosive substance that will shorten the life of this fire pit grill.
Warranty
The BALI OUTDOORS 32-inch Wood Burning Fire Pit is backed by a 1-year limited warranty. This is a little sparse compared to many of the direct competitors who offer three years of coverage.
Conclusion
If you want a heavy-duty fire pit grill combo that can cook for a large family, yet still give you a place to cuddle around on a cool summer night, the BALI OUTDOORS 32-inch Wood Burning Fire Pit deserves to be on your radar. Just pony up the extra money for the grill cover.
