The best place to barbecue your food in the wilderness mightn’t necessarily be the best place to make your campfire, but inventor Roby Burch sees no reason that all heat-related activity can’t take place around the same barrel of cold-rolled steel. The Burch Barrel is imagined as a one-stop shop for grilling, smoking and fireside chatting, and uses a nifty tripod design to transition between all with relative ease.
The Burch Barrel is a vertically-oriented barbecue much like the Aquaforno II or Smokemeister, meaning that a bed of wood or charcoal rests inside the chamber with a grill laid over the top. A set of rails allow the height of the coals to be raised and lowered, allowing for high-temperature searing of a steak or a low ’n’ slow smoking of a brisket or ribs.
What’s different about the Burch Barrel is that it’s suspended from a tripod. The adjustable tripod legs mean that it can be leveled out for a flat 18-inch (45-cm) grilling surface whatever the terrain, with quick-released attachments holding the barrel firmly in the center.
The biggest advantage of this design is that the lid can be hoisted up clear of the grill with a pulley, as well as the grill plate if need be. This means when the time inevitably comes to top up the wood or charcoal, you can simply raise everything up and drop a few more chunks in the hole.
When meal time is over, the lid and grill can be removed via a quick-release system, essentially turning the Burch Barrel into a simple fire pit. Adjustable vents on the side draw air in from the top, down between the double-walled sides and then back up through the main chamber. These both allow for control over the temperature during cooking, but are also said to make for a smoke-free fire when you’re trying to relax.
Packing down the Burch Barrel to head for home is also said to be relatively pain free. The removable coal pan can be pulled out to quickly make the walls cool to touch, while the barrel detaches from the stand and the legs are collapsible for easy packing.
Burch has taken to Kickstarter to raise the approximately US$55,000 more he needs to get the Burch Barrel into production. Early pledges of US$895 are available, with shipping slated for May 2020 if the campaign runs as planned.
Hanging Burch Barrel grills, smokes and keeps you warm after dark [New Atlas]