Simply put, yes. Every fire will product some degree of smoke, especially when getting started and building temperature. Smokeless means that the amount of smoke produced is significantly less than the standard fire pit. Once your fire is up to temperature you will have no issues with smoke. We recommend always using dry wood that is reasonably sized. Do not use over sized logs. If you are using wet wood, even a smokeless fire pit won't be able to work. Water + Fire do not mix.