In my experience pellets burn much better/efficient from the top down instead of the bottom up. If you fill it up and use the fire starter on the top instead of the bottom, you shouldn't have the issue of it extinguishing itself. Thats what I do.

After many trials, I’ve come to the assertion that a combination of wood chunks and pellets produces the best results. You get the tall full circular flame while also getting longer burns with less frequent refills. Start by filling with pellets, do a top down burn and add wood chunks as the pellets burn down. Occasionally sprinkle a handful of pellets on the chunks.

I just used my Mesa XL for the first time and filled the chamber with pellets up to the burn holes and a fire starter on top. It burned for 1.25 hours with flame with no more pellets added.

Hey, I have a “radical idea” to improve the even-ness of the pellet burn, . . . it’s called a “stick.” Seriously, about 3 seconds of really superficial stirring of the top layer once the flame gets started pretty much solves the “problem.”

Thanks for taking the time to make this video!

Great video! Thanks for sharing. I actually got this from target off the clearance shelf for $49 bucks and really didn’t know how it worked until watching your video. Great review!

Love the wood as well.😊

Got one of these for Christmas... can't wait for the camping season. Thanks for the video. Definitely be doing the sticks over pellets

If you used a flat stainless steel drain plate in the base of the Mesa and then fill it up with pellets and use some hand sanitizer as the fire starter poured straight over the pellets, you should get an uninterrupted burn of about an hour if filled to just below the internal burn holes. Might be worth a try 😉

Very cool how you were able to light the smoke. 👌🏾

We live in the sierra Nevada mountains..and I cut and split 🪓 firewood all Year..Oak kindling is one of my favorites...lights easily and burns hot... cedar lights easier but burns up fast and not nearly as clean burning..the oils in the cedar can add alot of creasole and black soot.. Great video review ❤

Just bought a two pack of Mesa XLs at Sam’s Club for $100. We have a large patio area with a couple of tables. Looking forward to the experience. Thank you for the video!

I really liked your test. I Have a Tiki fire pit, which is a giant mesa. I like to fill it with pellets, put a fire starter on top and after a while it has a beautiful flame. The trick is to toss some wood in there before it goes out and then you keep the fire going with wood pieces instead of pellets. I have the Mesa XL which has the pellet grate at the bottom already. I have a couple of oak pallets I broke down. I just need to figure out how long of a stick to use in the mesa XL. I'll bring 10 lbs of pellets and half of wood blocks and see how it goes.

Hey Thanks I like the wood myself. I use wood in the evenings and gas in the morning so I don't have to wait forr it to cool down. I have the TOAKS stick stove and love it for the wood smell masks a few of the odors if you have been out a few days

Excellent run down - the most complete test/trial/eval I've seen so far for pellet versus wood - appreciate you taking the time to do this for everyone with Solo Mesa!

Good video thanks - I did see another that filled the chamber up with pellets and then did a top down burn with a fire lighter placed on to of the pellets. Have not tried that but I assume it would not have the air flow issues as much.

Pro tip: buy the cooking insert from the Titan model and it fits perfectly on the Mesa. I've been cooking on it for awhile now. Love it! You're welcome! 😊

Thanks for the video comparison, however there is a problem with your methodology. These wood gas stoves are burned (top down), meaning you fully load the stove so that the material is just under the secondary burn ring, then you light it from the top. This is how you achieve proper pyrolosis, wood gas production and clean and efficient burn. The material will also burn evenly and consistently and much more efficiently. When you light it from the bottom, and then start adding material on top, you are smothering the lit material, creating a bunch of smoke that cannot be combusted since the chamber is not up to temperature, and a very dirty and inefficient burn. You will also have a hard time getting the material to burn evenly when you light it from the bottom and loaf material on top. Keep in mind this is not like a traditional camp fire where you light some tinder and pile wood on top, this is a wood gasification stove, and it's operation is quite different. For the sake of comparison, I would suggest you try this vid again, changing only one thing. Load the stove fully then light it from the top. I'm sure you will see a noticeable improvement in your results. Also, the one disadvantage of a wood gas stove designed like this one, is that when the material burns down to the bottom, and you add new material (like pellets), they need to be added very slowly, or you end up smothering the burn and creating a real messy smoky and inefficient burn. In a nutshell they burn best with a single load when lit from the top.

Hi i just get the solo mesa and my didn’t come like the one you show. Also i read the manual and it show to fill up whit pellets first and them use the fire starter on the top but like i say mine is different they have small holes not the grill on the bottom

Are there stoves like that (without pipes) for iside?

I just did a short on the solo mesa xl. Definitely a lot easier to maintain with pelets. It was a pain with a lot of kindling to keep it going. Id prefer the pellets.

I use charcoal in mine. Its definitely a game changer. Hot coffee or tea while fishing.

Good video. Been watching for reviews, bc i keep eyeing the mesa xl. I would absolutely do the pellets top down, instead of that process. Also, I would suggest a small propane torch, and small metal scoop for topping it off...moght make it much easier.

I’m a bit of a fire bug too 😂 nothing’s better than bush tv 📺

ok, I should start by saying that I really appreciated that you made a video about wood versus pellets. thank you for your time and effort. I have a suggestion for the next vs video; at the beginning of the video, you know which is going to be better from your past experiences. as the audience, we don’t know. so from the stuff that you were saying, it was obvious that you were against pellets and you knew wood would be better. in my opinion, this diminishes the audience’s curiosity. when I was watching the pellet part, at times, I felt like a salesman was trying convince me not to buy pellets. so you might actually try to act like you’re curious about the outcome so that we would feel more curious about the other half of the video. I hope it makes sense. Anyway, keep up the good work. no hate, just a little suggestion.

Thanks for your movie, I hav e a question: I was wondering if it is possible or safe to use the solo stove under a shelter or canopy?

The manufacturer recommends placing the fire starter on top of a heap to pellets. I made the same mistake as you with pellets and had a hard time keeping it burning bc the pellets choked out the fire.

I imagine these at like a trendy restaurant and they just make you cook your own food on a stick over the big candle

I would like a clamping handle for emptying while hot ... And a basket with a handle to shake the fuel.... Just a couple tools to help it out

I use a metal scoop for ice to add pellets to mine. I get more in it without risking burning my hand.

With my gasifier stove, I fill 2/3 full….then 2 cotton balls saturated in hand sanitizer opened and spread on top, light the cotton balls and add just a few to the top…..I get fill coverage burn in 5 minutes and the complete burn time is over 1 hour….

Yup, top down burn with pellets. Ditch the pellet adaptor in the video. They sell ones now that are just flat. I made my own flat one long before they started selling theirs.

Liked and subbed, is that a jaffel pan hanging behind you? Getting the Ranger 2.0 in a weeks time so keen to make some fire.

I wonder if pine would burn as fast as the pellets. I seriously doubt the pellets have any hardwood in them. Thanks for the video.

I use a stainless steel soup spoon to feed the pellets

Is there a ceiling or covering over you and the Mesa in this demo? I'd like to buy one but want it on my porch with a high ceiling, like 10 ft.

The spilling literally hurts my head

biomass briquettes need to be more common place. They are pretty much jumbo sized pellets (my best example are charcoal briquettes but made of wood or some other burnable organic material) and for these small fire pits biomass briquettes seem to be ideal.

I have used a gasification camp stove for a few years now. Normally, I use twigs because it's a camp stove. I have also used wood chips. I found lighting the wood chips from the top works better than the bottom. It burns off the wood chips then works itself down as they burn to ash. Obviously, it's a camp stove is different than the Mesa but it seams like the principle should remain the same. By judging from your video, my camp stove is smaller than the mesa since it's made for camping. But it let's me cook a meal and a moka pot of coffee or two on a single burn..

You have to give pellets another go! Starting from the top-down. I have been tinkering with mine a few days, pellets top-down is unreal! Constant, clean, even, beautiful flames with zero feeding. Bottom is not red-hot, it's cold, one hour into my first burn I can pick it up. I used a cotton ball soaked in alcohol on top of a completely full chamber.

Rocket stoves are cool. Are they smokeless also? Yes i think they are its how soldiers used to cook without smoke right? Much cooler design imo. They come small also and u coyld turn any log or piece of wood into one👍

That is the key to long burn time

I think what you are measuring is burn surface area. Pellets should be hotter and faster if equal fuel (BTU maybe). Wood will burn lower temp (less flame) for longer.

Did you watch any videos from "Solo Stove" on how to operate your pit

I’m so confused why you didn’t just pour in the pellets from the pot they are in lol! 😂 great comparison Man! I have heard that the mesa xl works a bit better and you can just fill it up and let it run on pellets so maybe this design for the mini isn’t the best!

I think wood sticks is more efficient and can get for free from nature. Pellets definitely more tricky.

Also the stove you are using matters, the east oak will do a much better job of evening out the burn pattern.

Just curious if this gives off any decent heat?

It is a top burn unit. Add your fuel and forget it. Adding more fuel will not work with pellets.

What size are the hardwood chunks that you have?

stupid question: would this be ok to use in a pyramid top tent that has ventilation at the top?

What is the goal of this test? It was burning well at 14 min, etc. Is the goal to keep a high flame? Is the goal to get coals? Is the goal to burn the fuel the fastest?

Please get yourself a metal scoop for the pellets 😂

So I watched a video where they filled it all the way at the top.with pellets First like it says and then used a fire starter in it and it worked Definitely more efficient than how you did it

Using what looks like an Ezbit changes the burn and burn time for wood ignition….

Can you use this little thing inside an apartment? Or is it smokey? Also, does it SOUND like a fire? Thanks:)

i find pellets are a dirty burn and always see black smoke coming off them. there must be some sort of wax or something in the pellets i have bought.

I think I prefer the little concrete fire pits that burn rubbing alcohol, similar burn time and a lot easier

Problem with pellets is they smoke like crazy if they go out. Only time fire department has came to my house was when the pellets started smoking in my bonfire....smoked my whole neighborhood.

dont fill a potbelly with pellets. the first top down burn goes well but the second refill will not stay lit. it then smolders until it hits a flash point which will then blow your pot belly door open and a shoot a jet of flames out like a bomb went off.

Where are you doing that test and how did you ventilate the indoor space?

Thanks for this, I was thinking about trying pellets mainly for convenience, I may stick with wood for the time being... cheers.

An alcohol burner is also a third option for fuel. :)

You have to start with the pellets and then put the fire starters on top.

What was the fire starter you used?

What is the point of these units? Do they give off heat or is it just the ambiance of the open flame on a table top?

What about using charcoal?

In another video, they fill the camber completely full of pellets and then insert the starter fuel into the very top center.

I like wood. The pellets burn weird. And if you don’t feed it pellets while the flame is going strong it will snuff itself out too easily.

These things are very dangerous. I only went to use mine 3 days ago, all of a sudden, flames started coming out of the holes...and burnt all of the paint off. Never again!!

Is this model mest or xl

No pellets for me. 1~2cm sticks around the perimeter with splintered sticks in the middle. Make splinters from sticks with a rock. Build a splinter stack fire right on top & push it in. Don’t build fire bottom-up unless it is windy & you can’t improvise a wind screen.

I didnt read all the comments however, wouldnt it have been more effective if you just picked up the pan of pellets and dumped them in instead of flailing about like my wife does in the morning when she gets in the car to leave. Things go everwhere.

You put all the pellet s in and flame start on top,

My 2 cents... There's nothing to rest, everyone will have their favorite fuel. I prefer pellets, I've used wood and either will do. Enjoy the fire and who really gives a damn on which burns longer - just add more fuel.

Ok, for the love of Moses, how much longer did it take after you stopped recording before the fire went completely out?.It is like forgetting to tell the punchline.

Has anybody just added a couple of pieces of coal ? Think would last for ages no flame just heat but if it's just heat you want is maybe the way forward ?

I have no issues with pellets I would get a better stove it's a cheep one

Pellets burn better with a top down burn

I just used some fat wood purchased at home depot and it produced way too much smoke, plus the sticks were too long and stuck out of the fire pit. I would not recommend them. The video seems to show that the pellet's last longer and cleaner.

I'm not getting the utility of these. They take awhile to get lite. It's finicky. And what is it for, decoration? I can't see using this for anything other than amusement and wasting time when camping in the rain...

Dump the pellets in, squirt in some rubbing alcohol, light. Done.

Why are you tossing pellets with your hand? Inefficient and risking a nasty burn! Use a ladle, perhaps?

It's not serpost to have dump all the pellets in a one time it should burn for 4 to 6 hours slow long

The one huge issue you never addressed in any way was how much heat (how many BTUs) were you getting from the 2 different media.

Thanks for taking the time to do this bruh! 🫵🏽👍🏽🙌🏽

Seems to be a less efficient hobo stove . Thanks for the review

Fire starter what over?

Pellets seems over priced if you buy it online. $18 a bag!

You need to learn how to start a fire with pellets

Dude...just dump from the plastic bin to your metal scoop...killing me watching you scoop like that. Other than that good video.

This guy should watch some other people's videos lol... fill it with pellets light it and enjoy for an hour. Your welcome!

Research it! Pellets burn BEST from top to bottom. 😪🔥🔥😎😎😎

You think you would want to start using a metal scoop or even a spoon to feed the stove but… maybe next time u can look less clumsy

I get an hour but I bought a better stove

Lost interest when this guy didn’t know how to start a fire

Sorry rude but you start pellets from top and it burns top down for 40 min 2 cups.....you did your test verry poorly...it was painful tu watch

how hot is that heat, you was literally a foot away the entire time it burned? lol