Tested: Zorali Pack & Stash fireplace

As its name suggests, the Zorali Pack & Stash Fireplace features a clever foldable design that makes it super easy to pack and stash once you’re done with it, such as in your vehicle or a small space at home.

And it’s not just a portable firepit, but also a useful barbecue with an adjustable-height grille.

The Pack & Stash is easy to pack and stash because it is supplied flat in a carry bag that’s about the size of a pizza box. The bag has decent carry handles and Velcro straps to keep everything inside, while the fireplace and grille setup is made up of five components.

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How does it work?

Pack & Stash set up is easy: if you just want a fire, lay out the base plate and position it with the clips facing up; unfold and attach the firepit frame via the four clips in the baseplate; drop in the coal plate; build and light your fire.

Getting a fire going is easy thanks to the ample ventilation provided by the holes in the coal plate and the firepit walls. The top of the firepit measures approximately 35cm x 35xcm when set up, so the Pack & Stash is not designed to accommodate large logs, but it’s still sizeable enough that you can get a decent fire going.

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You could use heat beads in the Pack & Stash, but I’ve been using smallish logs cut to short lengths, and a combination of fire starters and small twigs to get a fire going.

If you let the fire burn for 30 or 40 minutes, you’ll soon have enough glowing coals in the firepit that you can fit the grille bridge and the grille, and then start cooking. If you need to add more fuel to the fire at any stage, there is enough of a gap between the grille bridge and the firepit to squeeze in some extra logs when it is set at its two highest levels.

With a few small flames still licking the underside of the grille, you could start cooking on the highest setting, and then drop the grille down to a lower setting as the fire settles. As you’d expect, the grille will be hot, so make sure you wear decent fireplace gloves when handling it, or when making adjustments.

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Thanks to the open-grille design, you can use the Pack & Stash to barbecue meat and/or veggies, or you can position a frying pan or a camp stove on top – there’s reasonable space and the structure is strong and stable enough to easily handle the weight of a full cast iron camp stove.

Once you’re done with cooking, throw some more fuel on the fire and while you’re warming yourself it will burn off any food bits and pieces that might have been left on the grille.

One of the best things about the Pack & Stash design is that because the fire is elevated well above the baseplate, you can use it on grass or even on your veranda without fear of burning a big hole in the surface on which it’s placed. The baseplate also catches most of the ash and embers as they fall through the ventilation holes.

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Once you’re finished with the Pack & Stash, and it’s cooled down, all you need to do to put it away is empty out the ash, dust the components off with a brush, pull it apart, fold it and, of course, pack and stash it. It takes a couple of minutes at most.

Key components such as the foldable firepit section, the grille bridge and the grille are made from high-quality stainless steel, so the Pack & Stash should last a lifetime… and it is covered by Zorali’s Lifetime Warranty.

Packed in its bag, the Zorali Pack and Stash Fireplace weighs in at a reasonable 8.6kg, so it’s far from the heaviest of portable firepits on the market, making it well suited to vehicle-based camping or even for use in the backyard.

RRP: $279.95 (inc. shipping)
Available from: www.zorali.com