Burch Barrel Over Fire Grill, Smoker, and Fire Pit | 2019-2020

Designers: Drew Jordan, Alex Undi, and Colin Lew, Design Prosody, Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Manufacturer: Burch Barrel, Bozeman, Montana, USA

Humans have always gathered and bonded around food and fire. The Burch Barrel represents years of research and exploration of this effect with the goal of better facilitating outdoor gatherings and bringing people together.

Functioning as a grill, a firepit, and a smoker, the barrel is designed to serve as a social focal point for people to cook and share stories around.
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 firepit 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 wood fire is large, expensive, and single purpose.

The barrel was designed with safety and accessibility in mind, making it great for camping or hosting backyard hangouts.

TRIPOD: 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.

LID LIFT SYSTEM: The suspended lid can be locked onto the cook 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 exploring time honored techniques like the Santa Maria style.

VENT: 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.
FIREPAN TRACK: 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.