Christmas Gift Fun – Why Not Buy a Chiminea?

Treat Someone you love to years of alfresco pleasure

When you buy someone a chiminea as a gift, you’re not just buying a useful, practical object. You’re treating them to years and years of pleasure. Whether that means giving them the kit they need to spend time outdoors together around a real fire – romantic or what – or a way for them to gather the family around them regularly for good times and good food, you’re gifting them good times. You are also giving them a way to make their outdoor space special, a handsome and practical item of garden décor.

Which chiminea is best – which chiminea to buy?

Which type of chiminea should you buy? It depends on so many things: the layout and personality of the garden it’ll be used in, the number of people who will gather there for celebrations and entertainment, and the design taste of the people concerned. There are absolutely huge chims available as well as small, neat ones. Some have a traditional design, others are 100% contemporary. Some are plain, others are brightly coloured or decorated. You can choose from a clay chiminea – the traditional Mexican original – or cast iron and even steel chims.

What size of chiminea do I need?

The bigger the chiminea, the more heat you’ll get and the more food you can cook on it. We also stock little 70cm high models that are perfect for heating a small patio, very neat and good-looking. But there’s more to life than size. We also sell chiminea bundles, a collection of excellent value bundled items that come with an great price as well as convenience.

About our generous chiminea bundles

Take our special Toledo Extra Large cast iron chiminea essentials bundle, a snip at just £165 with seriously good savings. It includes one Toledo Extra Large cast iron chiminea, available in a range of finishes, plus a big weatherproof chiminea cover to protect it from the elements, five kilos of kiln-dried hardwood, a blend of alder and oak sourced from responsibly managed FSC Certified forests, plus a cool swing-out BBQ grill and a tool for cooking. Then there’s our four elements bundle, which contains one large, handsome clay chiminea plus a big custom-made cover to protect it and a stock of chim logs to get you going. Here’s a link to all of our best value bundles.

What fuel for chimineas?

If you’re feeling generous you can include fuel with the chim you’re buying as a gift. Many of them burn either wood, coal or charcoal. Whatever fuel type you need, you’ll find you don’t need a lot of it – chiminea fires don’t need to be huge and all-consuming. In fact it’s much more sensible to make small, neat fires rather than fully blown conflagrations, since a too-big fire can crack a clay chiminea through heat stress. Less is more.

About bio-ethanol chimineas for indoors

You might want to think about grabbing a standard bio-ethanol chim-burner insert, the perfect way to use your chim safely either indoors, on a veranda or balcony as well as outdoors. Bio-ethanol burns completely cleanly, just releasing harmless water and carbon-dioxide, so you can use it in any room. Because it’s made from plants it’s completely renewable and environmentally friendly, and it doesn’t give off soot either so makes for a lovely, clean indoor burn. All this means it’s perfect for indoors, without any special installation or building permission.

Take a look at this, our stunningly pretty Talavera Ellipse Bio-ethanol Fireplace with Iron Stand. Imagine this little beauty indoors over the festive season, cheerily burning away completely safely? Talk about Christmassy.

Cook festive food on your chiminea

Want to treat someone to fun cooking on a chiminea? Buy them a brilliant yet simple cooking aid, the chim cooking crown, perfect for cooking fab food on top of your chiminea instead of – or as well as – inside it. It measures 26cm across and 10cm high, is made from heat cracking-resistant clay, and comes with its own steel grill. All you do is pop it on top of the chimney and cook to your heart’s content.

Can you cook Xmas lunch on a chiminea?

Hm… we don’t think there’s any real reason why you can’t prepare an entire Xmas dinner on a chiminea, but the sheer volume of food and all the different types of dish will probably be a problem. Having said that, you should be able to manage a couple of decent-sized turkey breasts, some veg and a vat of gravy. If you’re going to give it a go – you crazy person, you – we’d love to see photos!