Wilmington, Delaware, USA
“Taking an idea and turning it into reality is no small feat. Design Prosody truly designed an award-winning masterpiece! You won’t find a team more passionate about what they do. They really got into my head to figure out what I needed to move my business forward at scale.” — Roby Burch, Founder & CEO of Burch Barrel.
Drew Jordan, Alex Undi, and Colin Lew of Design Prosody have designed Burch Barrel Over Fire Grill, Smoker, and Fire Pit to serve as a social focal point for people to cook and share stories around.
Their design has been awarded a 2021 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
When designing the Burch Barrel, the design team sought to shift the paradigm of open flame cooking as well as the structure of outdoor gatherings.
Offering a variety of cooking styles, the barrel is capable of producing exceptional food and, when the cooking is done, can be converted to a fire pit to keep the conversation going.
The wood-fired style of cooking afforded by the Burch Barrel is inspired by the Santa Maria style of the American West.
This cooking method has a long history of serving large family gatherings and is still practiced by grill masters and culinary enthusiasts today.
Unfortunately, the equipment required to cook over a wood fire is large, expensive, and single-purpose.
The barrel is designed with safety and accessibility in mind, making it great for camping or hosting backyard hangouts.
The unique tripod frame of the barrel affords a variety of use cases including setup on uneven terrain as well as providing a cable system that allows the user to lift and suspend the lid over the grill.
The suspended lid can be locked onto the cooking surface enabling users to raise food over the fire.
This suspension feature gives the user quick but precise control over the exposure of their food which is critical when cooking over a wood flame.
This level of control makes open flame cooking accessible to grilling enthusiasts of all skill levels and offers users the freedom to experiment with new cooking methods as well as explore time-honored techniques like the Santa Maria style.
The vent of the Burch Barrel comprises a single spring steel baffle that gives the user continuous control over the amount of air allowed into the firepan.
The barrels’ double-walled construction funnels air from external vents near the top of the barrel into the bottom of the fire.
This design enables the positioning of the vents in a way that eliminates the risk of coals falling through the bottom of the barrel.
The flow of air created in the double-wall also cools the outer wall of the barrel to safe-to-touch temperatures and keeps the fire burning clean.
This feature was critical for making the barrel safe for use around families and in the outdoors.
The internal firepan of the grill sits on a track system that allows the user 12 inches of travel for additional control over the heat exposure of their food. It can be raised for high direct heat or lowered to work as a smoker or firepit.
Project: Burch Barrel Over Fire Grill, Smoker, and Fire Pit
Designers: Design Prosody
Design Team: Drew Jordan, Alex Undi, and Colin Lew
Manufacturer: Burch Barrel
