My BBQ Idea

[rob2595]

Hi everyone

Im am currently a student studying product design and resistant materials, and for my next project I have decided to create a BBQ but I am trying to re-invent the BBQ.

To get started I would really appreciate some feedback so i have a questionnaire here that shouldn't take long to fill out but would really help my when I start to design my BBQ as knowing what the market wants and desires is very important.

My Questionnaire:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Ha-eFS07LzTTHzK3t8JlAe0vV7s0BgUPvo_2f077SYA/viewform

Thank you

[keith157]

We had a similar request a year or so back, if you want to search for it. I think Ed came up with the ultimate in design & desire.

[Saucy Pig]

Done

[Steve]

I don't want to sound negative but reading your survey I think your idea of reinventing the BBQ is probably misdirected.

If you're thinking about a grill with some speakers and an insect repellant attached you're barking up the wrong tree. Especially with the crowd on here

Now if you've done any kind of research into BBQ you'll know that US style BBQ is exploding at the moment with new restaurants, events and even pseudo BBQ dishes as ready meals in supermarkets.

If you want to truly reinvent the BBQ and design a product that will strike a chord with an ever growing market why not design an alternative to the bullet smoker?

Google the onyx oven and think how you could do something similar for the UK. Using lighter and lower cost materials, is it feasible to produce an insulated cabinet smoker that's cheap(ish) and portable?

This would be reinventing the BBQ!

[Swindon_Ed]

Maybe an alternative idea for a new BBQ for the UK could be a kettle style BBQ with a new style charcoal grate that incorporates a Smokenator. So people could have the option of either loading the coals normally on the non smokenator side so they can grill as normal, but with the added benefit that it would force people to have a cold zone which is needed when grilling, whilst also allowing people to fill up the smokenator side if they want to smoke in the kettle. Next up would be to mount a large heat resistant umbrella which could be used to cover the BBQ and allow you to cook in the rain under cover.

The thought of having speakers mounted in a BBQ doesn't appeal to me as for the BBQ to be affordable the speakers will be pants. Also i would never think of mounting any kind of insect repellent as i would worry about contamination of the food.

[Mj2k]

Maybe an alternative idea for a new BBQ for the UK could be a kettle style BBQ with a new style charcoal grate that incorporates a Smokenator. So people could have the option of either loading the coals normally on the non smokenator side so they can grill as normal, but with the added benefit that it would force people to have a cold zone which is needed when grilling, whilst also allowing people to fill up the smokenator side if they want to smoke in the kettle. Next up would be to mount a large heat resistant umbrella which could be used to cover the BBQ and allow you to cook in the rain under cover.

The thought of having speakers mounted in a BBQ doesn't appeal to me as for the BBQ to be affordable the speakers will be pants. Also i would never think of mounting any kind of insect repellent as i would worry about contamination of the food.

Was just about to post similar & you have given me the gift of time.

Design isn't necessarily bolting more onto an existing product. Remember the sexy titanium Nokia phones that were just phones? (My wife washed mine in my trousers )


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Chris__M]

"making a product that would solve the issue of having people dispersed at an outdoor social event by trying to create one focus"

I don't know about everyone else, but when I am cooking - especially when I am serving up - I want my guests anywhere but gathered around the BBQ, joggling my elbows, trying to take over my tongs, and giving the advice gained by them once cooking on charcoal 2 years ago.

Perhaps I exaggerate, but I find that food on the grill is plenty focus enough. As often happens with such design projects, you're trying to solve a problem that isn't there. If people aren't gathering round to look and get the first portions, you're not doing it right.

[keith157]

Wise words Chris and well put. Whilst the grill/smoker is the hub the focal point should be where the food and drink are being consumed. So maybe you want to design a "social hub" rather than revamping the grilling area. If you do fancy a redesign however stick with Steve's solution.

[Chris__M]

Rob,

Further to my previous comment, and having looked at your questionaire; I think you are making a fairly common mistake in that you are doing your research with an idea already in mind.

Out of curiousity, where did you get the idea that having people dispersed at an outdoor social event is a problem? Seems to me the best events I have been to have room for people to mingle and talk, and the worst is when we are crammed into a small area. (However, maybe that is because I am antisocial! )

I think you would probably be better doing your research by asking open questions of people, rather than presenting an idea, and asking people what they think. Like simply asking "is there any innovation you can think of that would improve a BBQ/Outdoor Social Event experience?". Perhaps you have already done this, which has led you to the project you described; but if so, I wonder who you have been talking to, up to now.

Anyway, having rained on your idea, I thought it only fair to present another one. Not entirely serious, as - like your idea - it oversolves a problem that isn't really there. But it is a fun thought experiment.

BBQ Display Centre - consisting of a small touch screen (tablet) linked to a larger display (TV); either directly, or (probably) through a computer.

Tablet is mounted adjacent to the BBQ (but out of way of heat and smoke). TV is mounted adjacent to main social area. Both displays will either need to be weatherproofed, or easily dismounted and portable, as we are talking outdoors. Note that this idea is only really appropriate to a grill, rather than a bullet cooker.

The following is displayed:

1) When grill lid is open, live camera view of grill surface. When grill lid is closed, still image of last view of open grill.

2) Ability to add information notelets to image being displayed. These could be any or all of the following:

a) Temperature readouts from probes
b) Note of what is cooking in that area, (detailed description/recipe optional) with when it hit the grill, and what the target temperature is (when it will be done).
c) Social notes - "Rob and Ellie's chicken", "Extra hot sausage links", "Vegetarian area - no meat"

The whole thing to be controlled from the tablet, with the simplest interface possible (look at post-it notes apps for examples), and displayed on both tablet and main screen.

This provides a "focus" for the guests, and something for them to talk about while waiting to be fed. It stops endless questions of "is the chicken ready yet" from the people who aren't happy to eat what everyone else is eating, and have brought their own. It combines this with a useful readout of multiple temperature probes.

This is a mad, bad (and - that I even thought of it - sad) idea; but if others wanted to also chip in with their crazy ideas, you might see something that catches your imagination.

Good luck with your course, in any event.

[Tiny]

done the questionnaire.

Feelings the same as most of the other posters here. Perhaps we are the wrong crowd to be aiming this product at. Most of us spend what the general population consider to be an insane amount on bbq. I would guess this follows through into BBq accessories, as an example I use a bose sound dock for my choonz outside, ridiculous really in that the quality outside is very iffy so any old speaker system would do. Same applies to the bbq most of us could do a fair job on the cheap garden centre offerings but pursue the finer BBQs in life.


Hence the fear for your product would be that to make it cost competitive then so many compromises would have to be made that it would fall in no mans land.

The idea that you could design a product that would potentially help the very occaisional griller avoid the burnt and undercooked disaster would be something worth pursuing. Also coupling some kind of intelligent grill with a "bbq coach" phone app looks to also have some merit.

So good luck with the project but for me the insect repelling speaker grill wont become my 9th BBQ......

Cheers
Tiny