What Are the Best Logs for Fire Pits?

Now that summer is within sight, you might be looking forward to long evenings spent outside enjoying the warmer weather.

Of course, even in summer it can get a bit chilly once the sun goes down, but you can spend longer outside if you have a fire pit in your garden to keep you warm. And even if it is warm enough for you not to need the extra heat, a fire pit is still a fantastic centrepiece for everyone to gather around!

However, if you are using a fire pit, it’s important that you use the right kinds of logs, and in this article, we’re going to explore what those are and what benefits you get from using them.

Why choosing the right logs matters

If you’re going to build a fire, you should take the time to make sure that it’s one you can enjoy properly – and a large part of that is choosing the right logs. Ideally, you don’t want to use ones that need replenishing every five minutes, nor do you want logs that produce large amounts of smoke or that crackle and spit. 

If you’re constantly up and down putting on new logs or spending all your time trying to avoid getting smoke in your eyes, you won’t be able to properly relax and enjoy yourself – which was surely the point of the exercise in the first place!

Hardwood vs softwood: which is better?

Hardwood tends to be denser than softwood, and that means that it should burn for longer. It also burns cleaner, and produces less smoke.

Having said that, well-seasoned softwood from young trees can also make a good fire, because it can produce both large flames and an atmospheric and satisfying crackle!

Our firewood bulk bags contain a good selection of each, so that you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

Incidentally, hardwood tends to come from broad-leaved deciduous trees – i.e. those that shed their leaves each year – rather than from coniferous evergreens.

Best logs for long-lasting fires

The first and most important thing to remember is that you should be using logs that have been properly dried and seasoned. They should have a low moisture content because it’s the water in the wood that produces the smoke and spitting you’re trying to avoid.

Popular and reliable choices include oak, ash and beech –  when they’ve been properly prepared, you’ll get good heat output together with a clean and long-lasting burn. You might want to consider apple and cedar as an alternative – they’re not the best burners (although neither are they the worst!), but they do produce a pleasant smell.

At KG Smith & Son, we have top-quality kiln-dried hardwood available in 21kg hemp sacks and 8kg jute sacks that offer exceptional value together with the right kind of burn for a relaxing evening outdoors.

We particularly like using our sawdust briquettes to get our fire pits started, while our South African sun-dried firewood is our top choice for when the fire is established, as it burns hotter and longer than the competition. 

Logs to avoid in fire pits

Using logs with a high moisture content won’t just make for a less enjoyable evening round the fire pit, it might also mean you are breaking local clean air rules. Apart from any wood that hasn’t been dried properly beforehand, you might also want to avoid sweet and horse chestnut, poplar, elder and larch. 

With everything from log nets packed with kindling and sticks to packs of heat logs and large sacks of kiln-dried firewood, KG Smith & Son is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of top-quality logs for fire pits and other uses that are certified ready to burn. And even better, throughout April 2025, you can get 15% off all our bulk bags and log nets!

Get in touch with us to discover more or place your firewood order online now.