Bakyard Ember Ring - 2 in 1 Fire Pit & BBQ

You can cook properly on it. The 47.5 cm food-safe grid sits over the wood coals and lifts or lowers for heat control, so snags and steaks get a real sear rather than a slow smoke.

The powder coat resists rust — it's a proper coating rated to 600 °C, not the high-temp paint that blisters off cheap bowls. What does damage a fire pit is standing water, and there's no drain in the bowl. Tip it out or cover it, and the cover's already in the box.

No. Ten minutes, one person, no drilling. Every ring, bracket and screw is in the box, so there's no trip to the hardware shop halfway through.

Steel moves under direct heat, and cooking grids at every price can cup a little. Lift the grid off when you're burning rather than cooking, and it stays flat. Five years of warranty sits behind it either way.

That's mostly the wood, not the pit. Dry seasoned hardwood — ironbark, red gum, box — burns hot and clean; green or damp wood smokes in anything. Sit upwind and give the bowl room to draw.

Pavers, gravel or bare earth. Keep it off decking, tiles and turf without a proper heat shield underneath, and because the rules vary by state and council, check yours before the first burn. Pavers are the easy answer.

It's 81 cm across and 52.5 cm high, about the footprint of a small outdoor table. The wheels mean it lives in a corner and rolls out when you want it.

It's covered for five years, with a 30-day money-back guarantee if it's not right for you. Stock sits in Sydney and Melbourne and the support team is here in Australia.

The cheap bowl is only a bowl. This one cooks as well as burns, comes with the screen, poker and cover, and is warranted five years — about $60 a year. The $89 bowl is another $89 next winter.