Primus Kamoto OpenFire Pit Review

The evenings are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer and outdoor cooking season is definitely upon us! I’m a huge, huge, huge fan of cooking outdoors and especially on beautiful Cornish beaches. I don’t mind if it’s a cool gas stove like the Kinjia or a gas grill like the Kuchoma. Undoubtedly though, you can’t get a more rousing, exciting experience than cooking on an open fire.

With that in mind, I’m going to review the Primus Kamoto OpenFire Pit which is a great, portable fire pit which will allow you to enjoy and cook on an outdoor fire anywhere.

A unique feature of the Kamoto is that it folds down very flat and is very easy to store and transport. It has a black strap which goes round the circumference of the fire pit. When you remove the strap, you can then take off the grill. From here you lift the fire pit up and the legs cross over into position.

It locks into place with pins that slide into the legs, this keeps it very stable and makes the Kamoto extremely safe to use. Being constructed from powder-coated steal it is very strong and is sure to last a long time. Inside the fire pit there are three pieces of stainless steel which are accessed when the fire pit is opened.

There is a rectangular base-plate which clicks into the bottom of the Kamoto and two trapeziums which form the sides of the fire pit. These are precision engineered and fit perfectly into the Kamoto.

With the bottom and side plates in place, the fire pit has a surprisingly large area to make your fire considering how small and flat the package was to start with. Across the bottom and two sides of the fire area are large triangular venting holes which I find allow the fire to breathe from all sides.

My preferred way of creating a fire on this fire pit is a small layer of charcoal briquettes (and a fire lighter) on the bottom with a couple larger logs on the sides and small pieces of kindling and drift wood in the centre.

I find that this creates a really good fire, that will burn down to some solid embers which are excellent for cooking on not long later in the evening.

You may be worried about embers and fire dropping through the vents and scarring the ground which you are cooking on. One of the best features of the Kamoto is the tray that sits on the bottom of the fire pit. This not only gives you an excellent, stable base to cook on but also does a fantastic job at protecting the ground.

This means that you are able to cook in places that you wouldn’t normally for fear of damaging the ground. The fire pit sits high off the ground and all loose embers are caught meaning zero damage to the grass or whatever surface you may be cooking on.

Once the fire has burnt down and some nice hot white embers remain it’s time to put on the stainless steal cooking grate. This allows you to cook in a traditional BBQ fashion or even put a pan on top. I was really impressed by the size of the cooking area (38cm x 45cm). With the embers spread out to the edge there was more than enough room to cook dinner for quite a large group of people if you wish. Or have several elements on the go at the same time.

For an open fire I found that the distance of the grill was perfect and aslong as you leave the embers long enough you can get a nice steady cook. The fat dripping down onto the fire creates some nice little bursts of flame and that gives you that real BBQ taste -which it’s all about.

What I love about a fire pit that you don’t get with charcoal or gas BBQ is the sheer drama of the whole thing. There isn’t much more satifying that finding sticks or bits of driftwood throughout the evening to add to your fire. Poking the fire about with a stick and watching the glowing embers, flames and smoke are all part of the experience. What is even better is that with this fire pit after you’ve cooked your main course you can easily remove the grill, grab a couple sticks and cook some marshmallows!

With the embers removed, the fire pit cools down really quickly, so you can quickly pack it back down in the opposite way to how you assembled it. From here it’s easy to take back home as it has a carry handle on one end and is very light and portable. Once at home, I found as the grill is separate it is very easy to wash up. The simple flat, rectangular design of the Kamoto makes it very easy to transport, pack and store also. With so much of my other outdoor cooking gear being large, bulky or funny shapes I’ve definitely found this a blessing.

I absolutely love the Primus Kamoto OpenFire Pit. It gives you options to cook on open fires in locations where you previously wouldn’t have been able to. Furthermore it’s been designed in a way which makes it no more hassle or any less convenient than a modern gas grill. It has all the usual marks of high quality design and construction that you’d expect from a company like Primus and I’d definitely thoroughly recommend it to anyone that is after a soulful outdoor cooking experience!

To take a look at the fire pit being simply assembled from flat, take a look at the video below:

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