[interview] the project story
Project Overview
A 5 star restaurant quality portable stainless steel BBQ that can pack down to just 5cm thick. Apartment dwelling foodies don't have to miss out on genuine BBQ flavour any longer. Introducing The Sachin Field Kitchen, a BBQ that can be stored almost anywhere with upgradable attachments to transform it into a portable rotisserie.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Tom Farrah - Head Designer
Matthew Gardner
Project Brief
We wanted to create a chef quality grill that is truly portable and versatile in cooking styles that reduced fuel consumption by utilising the properties of stainless steel, but, it had to be able to cook a leg of lamb.
We needed the design to be flexible and up gradable to allow the unit to be used as a rotisserie, or to be used as a stove top with a fry pan, basically we wanted to create a BBQ that would efficiently combust its fuel but be clever enough to harness as much of the heat energy being created as possible and allow the customer to use that heat energy with a variety of different attachments and cooking methods, and what we already have is just the start!
Project Innovation/Need
With the rise in high density living, the popularity of the foodie and an increase in camping due to the current economic climate, The Sachin Field Kitchen just makes sense.
The base unit folds down to 5cm thick utilising its unique parallelogram action, it has upgradable attachments to accommodate a rotisserie capable of cooking an entire leg of lamb and lastly the stainless steel construction provides excellent fuel efficiency and even heat distribution due to its shape. The body of the Sachin also has one removable pin so the unit can be folded out flat for ease of cleaning
The flat top of the BBQ allows for the use of a fry pan and radiant heat underneath the unit can be used to keep food warm after it has been cooked or to warm plates. The variety of different cooking styles the unit is able to complete is attributed to the simple shape of the base unit being the foundation of the design. This simple platform allows for more and more accessories to be designed and retrofitted to the unit expanding on the customers specific needs increasing their experience and value.
Design Challenge
The major challenges with the unit was the parallelogram design, due to the fact that the unit folds down and packs into the body, all of the dimensions are relative, meaning if you want to tweak one dimension it will affect the whole design and the way it operates. We also had to find manufacturers willing to prototype the unit as stainless steel is notoriously difficult to roll into hinging without specific machinery, this however was over come by the addition of a custom designed tool that could be retro fitted into our manufacturers existing machinery.
Sustainability
A strong 1.2mm thick stainless steel construction means the Sachin Field Kitchen is a hard wearing, long lasting product, thus customers will not need to renew their purchase nearly as often as BBQ's made from conventional mild steel or cast iron.
The excellent thermal reflective properties from the stainless steel construction also result in reduced fuel consumption.
Product Design - Home & Garden
This award celebrates creative and innovative design for either a component or overall product. Consideration given to aspects that relate to human usage, aesthetics, selection of components and materials, and the resolution of assembly, manufacturing and the overall function.
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