Fire plate, grill, or fire basket – which one suits you?
If you want to cook outdoors, you will quickly stumble upon three terms that are often confused: fire plate (plancha), grill, and fire basket. They look similar, but they perform different functions. Here is what makes the difference.
The Fire Plate
With a fire plate, the wood burns openly in the center, and you cook on the wide steel ring surrounding it. The ring is very hot on the inside and becomes cooler toward the outside. That sounds like a detail, but it changes everything: you sear the steak on the inside, slide it two hands' widths to the outside to let it rest, while vegetables cook next to it. Nothing gets cold, nothing burns, and everything is ready at the same time.
The second difference is social. At a grill, one person stands with the tongs while everyone else waits. At a fire plate, everyone stands in a circle, everyone flips their own piece, and there is conversation. That is exactly what OFYR units are built for.
Matching this: Fire Plates and Grills
The Modular Grill and Outdoor Kitchen
As soon as you cook outdoors more than a few times a year, what you lack isn't heat, but surface area. You need somewhere to put the board, the salt, the bowl, or the sliced roast. An outdoor kitchen solves exactly that: the fire pit, prep surface, and storage are all adjacent, so you don't have to run back and forth to the kitchen three times.
With OFYR, this can be assembled from modules—plancha, prep area, grill, and connection module stand in a line and can be expanded later. The teak elements from the Deck series by Weishäupl add drawers, a tall cabinet, and a sideboard if you want it to look less like a kitchen and more like furniture.
Matching this: Outdoor Kitchens and Modules
The Fire Basket
The fire basket is for those evenings when no one wants to cook. Put wood in, light it, stay seated. With the MOON from höfats, the wood burns in two stages thanks to double-walled wood-gasifier technology. This makes the fire nearly smoke-free and leaves almost no ash—no one has to move their chair because the smoke is shifting.
If you do want to cook, simply attach the plancha grill set. Then the fire basket has a surrounding cooking surface and can do almost everything a fire plate can.
Matching this: Fire Baskets
What size do you need?
The rule of thumb is simpler than you might think: the decisive factor is not how many people are eating, but how many people should be working at the ring at the same time. For up to two people at the ring, a diameter of 75 to 85 centimeters is sufficient. For three or more people, or if you regularly host large groups, go for 100 centimeters.
Where can the unit be placed?
A fire plate requires a solid, non-flammable surface and distance from walls, hedges, and furniture. Wooden decking, awnings, and low-hanging branches are the three things that cause trouble in practice. On your own property, you generally do not need a permit; in rented apartments and on balconies, the house rules apply.
How much maintenance is required?
Less than most people fear. The cooking surface is scraped clean while warm with a spatula and water, then lightly oiled; dish soap is not needed. Corten steel is intentionally allowed to rust on the outside, which forms a protective layer. For the winter, a cover is sufficient to prevent water from collecting in the fire bowl.
Unsure what fits your terrace?
Send us a photo of your space via the contact form. We will tell you which size fits and where it can be placed—without you having to order anything first.
