A fire pit in an outdoor kitchen or patio connects to the embers of human history. For centuries, archeologists and anthropologists have used the fossilized remains of ancient fire pits to help determine the nature and activities of the civilization that used them. Coals can be accurately dated, while petrified food remains can help provide a window into the diets of our kitchen ancestors.
Fire pits have, of course, greatly evolved since that earlier time. Today, there are portable ones, sunken ones and, if the budget allows, custom-designed ones. A fire pit can also be made to stand out or be less obtrusive, camouflaged as it were into the rest of the outdoor kitchen design. It’s entirely up to the household owner.
The main difference today between the fire pits of yore is that the combustible material of choice is natural gas instead of wood or coal. Unlike a pizza oven or even a camping-use fire pit, the switchover to natural gas does not bring with it any loss of flame, comfort or safety. Quite the contrary.
Fire pits are extremely versatile, and don’t always need to be used for main course cooking. It can of course sometimes be just about marshmallows after the meal. Or all about providing a fire on a cool spring or fall evening, to go along with that mulled wine.
No matter what the setting, sitting around a fire pit is one of the oldest traditions of humankind. Before there were such things as dedicated kitchens, there were fire pits galore. It’s how ancient generations cooked, kept warm and subsisted.
Today, fire pits have become more recreational than essential. And along with more efficient and manageable methods of combustion, there are also a wider choice of casing materials like brick, ceramic ware, porcelain, custom-designed woodwork and more. But with the right ALD guidance, they can still feel as key to a household today as they did, way back when. We can design and install a fire pit of any size or capacity. No matter how big or small your lot is, if you’d like to add a fire pit to your landscape, we can work with you to design just the right one for you and your yard.