My wife bought this for me for Christmas. Let me first say I love this pit. However, it burns a lot of wood and you have to keep the fuel in it to get the secondary burn going. Hopefully it gets easier as I learn. As for the smoke I have used it where there was very little smoke. Mainly when you have it just right. Also used it where there was just as much smoke as any other fire pit. Waiting on delivery of seasoned firewood to try. Think if I was recommending to someone else I would say go with the bonfire because if the amount of wood the Yukon burns through. Overall I have not been disappointed.