Flame Genie

Cyclonic

Once again we were at a campground this weekend where our site had no fire ring.  How can you camp without a fire to wind down the evening by?

I had considered the Little Red Campfire, a propane powered campfire, but we like to cook over a fire as well and you can't really do that. 

In the latest Camping World ad I found the Flame Genie, a wood pellet powered portable fire ring.  So we detoured to a Camping World on the way home today and picked one up. 

I had to test it out when I got home I did not fill it all the way, and it took a little time to really get going.  I expect had I filled the pellets up it would have heated more quickly.  It makes a nice warm fire that you can cook over the open flame on (so I can do some cooking on it).  It produced no smoke or sparks, a very clean burn.  When done, the pellets burn down to almost nothing, there was just a little ash left. 

The one Camping World sells is a little different then the ones I have seen on line.  This one comes with a detachable base that can be placed inside the top part for storage.  It all seems well built and is not too heavy, and come with a carry bag.

I look forward to really giving this a go on my next trip in a few weeks.

Photomom

Interesting. Because of the emerald ash borer every place around here prohibits bringing firewood from home, so campers are at the mercy of local suppliers and invariably the wood is too green and/or wet to make a good fire. Would be really nice to be assured of a decent fire. 

DougandMia

Photomom, we have been buying kiln dried wood from grocery stores or Home Depot. That can be transported, even across the border. We keep the plastic covering to prove it is kiln dried. It is more readily available in the winter months, (most likely for fireplace use) and much better than the green wood and other stuff that passes for firewood at some camp grounds.

ChanW

Yep Photomom, that's what we've dealt with too.

At Rollins Pond last year, the nice firewood selling lady making the rounds of the campground with the truck full of firewood... It looked like good wood to me, but it was 'all night' wood. It took all night on the fire to dry enough to eventually turn into ash.

Re the pellet stove: does anyone know if there's anything added to the pellets to make them stick together, or to burn better? 

This device sounds smart, but I'd prefer not to grill over 'chemically enhanced' firewood, if there are fire starters in the pellets or something.

Cyclonic

The pellets are 100% hardwood and have no chemicals to bind them.



You can use any hardwood pellets in the fire pit, but while there I just picked up a bag of their own pellets.

One of the big advantages is, as mentioned, you can transport the pellets anywhere,  a bag costs about $5-6, and should last about 4-5 hours.

Photomom

ChanW said:

Yep Photomom, that's what we've dealt with too.

At Rollins Pond last year, the nice firewood selling lady making the rounds of the campground with the truck full of firewood... It looked like good wood to me, but it was 'all night' wood. It took all night on the fire to dry enough to eventually turn into ash.

Same here. We were there in August. One of the charms of Rollins Pond is the ice/wood/canoe/ice cream vendors, but in the future we'll probably try to bring some kiln dried firewood (now that our vehicle won't be stuffed full of camping gear.)

tfire328

We bought a Flame Genie and tried it out for the first time this last weekend. So far we are very happy with it. Burned super clean with a nice flame to enjoy. Could not be easier to take with you as it packs in itself. I also put the wood belts in an old kitty litter container for transport. Much easier to deal with than firewood.

Cyclonic

boo said:

Somehow my post got integrated into Cyclonic s post. That is fine.

The difference between Cyclonic s Genie and mine is he bought the
larger model. Mine is the smaller model that sits on four legs.

I merged the threads as they were on the same topic.

Both models have the same dimensions, there are just two differences, the legs and the model I have also has a catch built in to catch the ashes.

Pop-T@B

I ordered mine over the weekend from Camping World, it just arrived today. We will be trying it out tonight, I will let you know what the wife and I think of it.  

Pop-T@B

Well here’s my review of the Flame Genie. First off, I really like that it is made in the USA, as Cyclonic stated it is very well made and comes with a nice tote bag. It has a very nice looking flame, puts out a fair amount of heat for those cool evenings and is very easy to get going with some fire starting gel. I also wanted to comment on the “no smoke”, this is true as long as you learn how not to add too many pellets at one time as they burn down. I made the mistake of adding a whole small coffee can at one time and poured them around inside the burn pot, BAD IDEA!!!, let’s just say we smoked out any bugs within a 30 ft. area . I found that if you add them to the center of the fire pot, it has almost no smoke at all. It does state in the manual you will learn how much and when to add pelletsJ. I also wanted to get an idea of how long it would burn on a given amount of pellets, here’s what I estimated (I know this will vary by pellet type so this is just and estimate). I am using standard hardwood pellets, nothing special. I filled up a 5 gal bucket, we burned it for one hour and added pellets as needed to keep the flame going. I used 4” of pellets out to the bucket, so I should be able to get about 3.5-4 hrs. Of burn time per 5 gallon bucket of pellets, so you would need about one bucket full per night of camping. Everything they state in the manual and website is accurate, but I do disagree on one thing. The cool down time, it took about 40 minutes from the last time I added pellets for the fire to go out and the unit to cool down, not the few minutes they state in the manual. This is no big deal, I just wanted to point this out. The only down side to this unit is, given the small amount of space we all have in our T@B’s is finding enough room to store the pellets or finding a local place close by to the campsite to buy them. All in all this is a very nice product, well made and I enjoy buying American made products! I also have the Big Red CampFire in a can, I like it just as well and the flame looks very realistic and almost as good as the Flame Genie. I think for the convenience factor I would use the CampFire in a can more often when camping and the Flame Genie at home on the back patio.    

Dalehelman

PopT@b Thanks for the FG write up. We also have a Red campfire in a can. I was looking at the FG as well. After your write up I think we will stick with the RC in a can. We also carry a Weber Smoky Joe for cooking and a wood fire when no fire ring is available. The good thing about the Red Campfire is it can be used when a there is an open fire ban in effect. The RC can also be used under our  canopy if it rains because the flame is adjustable. Now I have to find something else to spend that $100 on.

AldebaranJill

@Dalehelman - what type of propane connector is needed for the propane campfire in a can - do you add some kind of Y to the system so you don't have to unhook the propane from the RV system?

Dalehelman

Yes most any hardware store can fix you up. Probably in the  barbecue section

TabberJohn

Odd this company gets great reviews and all three models are out of stock:  http://campfireinacan.com/
Or does that work hand in hand?

kybob

We were at a couple of campgrounds recently that had burn bans posted. Is it permissible to use either of these types of campfires during a burn ban?

Dalehelman

In some cases it is ok. Not all.

ChanW

I thought the Kickstarter for the Campfire in a Can guys failed. No?

TabberJohn said:

Odd this company gets great reviews and all three models are out of stock:  http://campfireinacan.com/
Or does that work hand in hand?

Verna

ChanW said:

I thought the Kickstarter for the Campfire in a Can guys failed. No?

TabberJohn said:

Odd this company gets great reviews and all three models are out of stock:  http://campfireinacan.com/
Or does that work hand in hand?

I thought it failed also. 

Verna

My Little Red Campfire is the single most requested accessory that my friends want me to bring to AZ in the winter. They provide most of the propane for it and I provide the fire and warmth!

Cyclonic

kybob said:

We were at a couple of campgrounds recently that had burn bans posted. Is it permissible to use either of these types of campfires during a burn ban?

My experience this past week is no, they are only allowing camp stoves, no larger flames.  Went through some of the areas with recent forest fires, pretty bad, they are just springing up in spot fires every day.

Cyclonic

This is a fire just outside fire just outside Tellico Plains, TN last week.