I use this in my backyard to make it smoky with fragrant resins. I burn charcoal disks in it and they burn nicely. They do not sit flat, but that actually works out better because air flow is allowed. The larger one that I have often has charcoal that went out, whereas theirs one and it’s 3 siblings are always burning and burning and burning. I can usually get at least 3 resin refills before they burn out and that lasts a good while. I wish I could find a much larger one to put a lot of charcoal in. Then I would only need one. As this one stands, it is perfect for burning charcoal. I and I ordered larger disks.