For thousands of years, human beings have been fascinated with fire. Its perpetual motion, warmth, and ability to relax our busy minds have drawn us to fire forever. Or, in layperson's terms, it’s just plain cool and fun to hang around a fire. With striking fire pits like the East Oak Tabletop Fire Pit, you don’t have to dig a big hole in the ground or have propane to have a fire in your backyard.
The weather in Utah is finally getting warm enough to hang out outside, making it a great time to receive the East Oak Tabletop Fire Pit for review. The Fire Pit is available in six colors (I received a green “jungle” unit). It sits on top of your table, and after unboxing and one minute to assemble, the fire pit is ready for use. It’s a compact unit with an opening with a 7-inch diameter and only 10.1 inches tall. The unit also comes with a nylon carrying bag for transportation.
The unit can burn wood and pellets, but we’ll get to that later. Once the fire is done burning and you let the unit cool down, you can simply remove the ash pan from the fire pit and dispose of any ash quickly.
In theory, this tabletop fire pit seems like a simple and cool way to have flames burning in your backyard, but in practice, would it be considered one of the best fire pits available? Read on to find out.
East Oak Mini: Key specs
East Oak Mini: Price & availability
- $69.99
The East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit is available through the East Oak website for $79.99, but at the time of this writing, it is available for $69.99. It is also available via Amazon for $79.99. There are six different colors to choose from, including silver, blue (wave), green (jungle), speckled black (eclipse), gray (obsidian), and red (sunset).
East Oak Mini: First impressions
Putting together the East Oak Fire Pit is as easy as it comes. Out of the box, the fire pit, center column, ash pan, and fire ring are wrapped together. The mat, stand, and carrying case are all individually wrapped. Once unwrapped, it takes one minute to drop the ash pan inside the fire pit, put the stand on the mat, put the fire pit on the stand, and put the center ring on top. And just like that, you have a fire pit ready to burn wood or pellets.
East Oak Mini: Design
The unit I received was the green (jungle) unit. While the fire pit is colored green, the base stand is a matte, almost ceramic-looking gray color. Together, the firepit has an overall great aesthetic look to it. The firepit rests atop a silicone insulation pad to protect your tabletop from any residual heat from the bottom of the fire pit.
The firepit is 7.56 inches wide and 10.1 inches tall and weighs only 4.37 pounds. When you include the nylon bag, it makes for quite the portable little fire pit, allowing you to take it from one place to another relatively easily.
Inside the firepit goes the ash pan. There is also an optional central air inlet column. If you are burning longer pieces of wood, it is best to remove the column, but more on that in the later sections. The central column connects to the ash pan by sliding the metal grooves into the slots. It doesn’t latch in place and lock, making the connection flimsy. But it does make it easy to install and remove. Finally, the fire ring is placed atop the fire pit. When filling the fire pit with either wood or pellets, it is recommended not to exceed the base of the fire ring. This is to keep the fire contained and smoke at a minimum.
Speaking of keeping smoke to a minimum, the air inlets at the bottom of the stand allow air to flow not only through the bottom of the firepit but also through the central air column when installed and the top of the fire pit. This is what the company calls their “triple combustion” system, and it makes for a fuller burn and supposedly less smoke.
East Oak Mini: Performance
The first fire I started in the East Oak Fire Pit was with wood. I had a plank of pine wood that I cut up into about 8-inch x 1.5-inch strips. The first thing I noticed was that even those tiny strips of wood were almost too long to fit inside the pit, that is, if you want to keep the wood below the fire ring. To stack them in any sort of Teepee assortment with some kindling under it, I had to remove the center column. Even then, with kindling underneath, I could only fit a few strips and had to cut a strip into even smaller pieces to fill up the fire pit.
Once I got the fire started, it burned fine. One thing I noticed, though, was that the wood burned relatively quickly. I timed how often I needed to put another piece of wood in the fire pit to keep it burning steadily, and it kept me busy. I put another strip or two of pine into the fire pit every three minutes.
After it cooled down, I removed the ash pan. To remove it, you simply reach into the firepit, grab the notch atop the ash pan, and pull. After a fire had burned there, I noticed the ash pan felt somewhat stuck in the fire pit. It didn’t slide in and out as before any fire was burned, but I could pull it out with a bit of a tug.
Next, I installed the center column and added wood pellets halfway up the fire pit. With this, you must add a fire starter square on top of the fire, or you’ll sit there all day with a lighter trying to get it started. Once the fire took hold of the pellets, I was pleased and somewhat amazed by the burning fire. Unlike wood, the pellets didn’t need to be constantly fed. The fire burned for about an hour without any intervention. Looking down into the fire pit (from a safe distance), it also looked like the fire was coming from the ports atop the fire pit, just below the fire ring, and then meeting in the middle of the center column. This burning pattern is the triple combustion airflow that is hard at work. It was neat how the pellets burned and gave the fire pit a more premium look as it burned.
Now, I wouldn’t go as far as saying this fire pit is completely smokeless. Towards the end of the burn with the fire pellets, a little smoke came from one of the air vents where the stand and fire pit meet. Also, when I was burning wood, smoke came from the top, but it was certainly reduced compared to an open flame like a campfire.
That said, burn wood pellets for the most bang for your buck. They give the fire pit a more premium-looking burn and flame, requiring no interaction for an hour. From an aesthetic point of view, when I used the fire pit at night, it set the vibe for the evening in my backyard. It was the centerpiece where my wife and I wanted to gather and hang out.
East Oak Mini: Care & maintenance
Once the fire pit has completely cooled down, removing the ash from the pit is easy. As mentioned above, there is some resistance from the ash pan wanting to come out, but a little pull does the trick. You’ll more than likely want to wear gloves when you are removing the ash. I made the mistake of not wearing gloves, and my hands were immediately streaked with black soot from touching the inside of the firepit walls as I removed the pan.
According to the East Oak website, you should never use the fire pit without first placing it on the stand and isolation pad. You also should not extinguish any fire with water, as it may damage the table below or the fire pit and cause much smoke to billow out. Also, it is recommended to cover the fire pit after use (when it has cooled down completely) and store it in a dry, cool place.
East Oak Mini: User reviews
On Amazon, the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit has 36 reviews, with 92% being five- and four-star reviews. One user who gave it a five-star review said, “It has quickly become the centerpiece of our outdoor gatherings.” After testing the unit personally, I understand this sentiment. It brought a vibe-setting element to my backyard area, which made my wife and I want to hang out outside for longer.
A couple of users like how compact the unit is. One user said, “Nice and compact for travel. I recommend it to anyone needing something compact for travel.” Another mentioned that it was tiny and fun for their back porch table.
There are only two ratings below the four-star mark. The one-star rating seems to indicate that the user received a defective model. He claims the unit was dented, and the fire pit didn’t fit the stand. None of those things occurred with the unit that I received.
Should you buy the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit?
I thoroughly enjoyed having the fire pit in my backyard. However, I wouldn’t recommend burning actual wood in it. With how quickly the wood burned and how often you had to tend to it, it was a little more trouble than it was worth.
After burning wood pellets in the fire pit, I can see the allure of owning the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit. Wood pellets provide a more maintenance-free burn and allow the fire to burn uniquely, as though the fire is being distributed from the ports at the top of the fire pit. But it’s a great-looking display of flames. It truly does change your backyard environment by having a little mini fire pit burn on top of your table. And considering it’s sub $100, I think it’s worth the price of admission.
Buy it if
Don't buy it if
How does the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit compare?
The Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit is another fire pit that sits atop your table. It’s the same price as the East Oak Mini Tabletop and comes in six different colors. However, it is a little smaller and about three pounds lighter, making it a slightly more portable unit compared to the East Oak.
The Solo Stove Yukon is a much larger fire pit with a large capacity for wood burning. It is much more expensive than the East Oak Mini Tabletop, which is priced at $399.99 from Best Buy. It weighs 38 pounds and has a 27 x 17-inch body that only burns wood. This might be a suitable choice if you want something larger than the tabletop East Oak.
The BioLite FirePit+ can run on wood or charcoal. It also has some smart features, such as a Bluetooth app that allows you to control the fan inside the fire pit. It’s bigger than the East Oak, which is great for heating large areas. But, unlike the East Oak Fire Pit, it is expensive, coming in at about $250 from Amazon.
How I tested the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit
The testing process for the East Oak Mini Tabletop Fire Pit involved a thorough look at its key specs, including fuel type, capacity, dimensions, weight, materials, and portability. I also tested the fire pit's performance by burning wood and pellets, taking note of its heating output, smoke production, and flame control. In addition, care and maintenance were evaluated by testing the ash removal process and cleaning the unit after use. Finally, user reviews were considered to provide a comprehensive verdict on the product's overall value and effectiveness.
For more on our process, take a look at how we test.
