Why is the smoke not drawing out the chimney of my outdoor fireplace?
There are a couple of likely culprits. Number one is the flu architecture. There is an art to designing the flu that will draw the smoke up rather than back out at your guests! Secondly, try starting with a small amount of kindling and allow the flu to heat up first before making a large fire. This will help draw the smoke as well. Finally, once in a great while, there are just some conditions based on the structures around the fireplace and the wind that will make it more difficult to draw the smoke.
All of the above is accurate. For the most part, if your fireplace is designed properly and you follow the above guidance, you should successfully ventilate your outdoor fireplace. In the example above to the right, we integrated a pizza oven above the firebox. While you cannot see it from the photo, there is a 2nd flu for the pizza oven to ventilate out from. To see a wonderful photo gallery, go to https://archadeckofcharlotte.com