Fissler BBQ
The brief and my role
I contracted to Frog on a home barbecue concept for Fissler. I developed the product and proof-of-concept 3D, built and tested prototypes, and handled experimental planning, data acquisition, controller programming, logging, analysis and reports.
Selected general views
Making the brief testable
The client wanted far-infrared cooking and a butterfly configuration that could open flat for soups and hotpot. In our development work, controlling the heating intensity while cooking meat in a practical time became a constraint. I built test rigs with different Calrod heaters to characterize meats and cooking modes, and adapted other appliances for experiments. Induction units also showed promise.
Driving the cage from its edge
The meat cage clamped together in two halves, with teeth around the outer edges. Supported in the cooking position, it was rotated by a drive pinion at different speeds. Driving the cage from its edge kept the drive out of the space between the food and the heat source.
Separating heat, rotation and cooking
The surviving report separates thermal characterization, unloaded rotation and cooking trials. The first thermal checks omitted the meat cage and water tray. The unloaded runs used the rotating cage without meat, comparing a short temperature-ramp test with a longer component-stability run. The cooking trials added food and water in the tray, with a gap between trim pieces recorded as a prototype condition.
The thermal records also tracked thermocouple contact with the window glass. One run attributes a steep rise to a thermocouple shifting onto the glass; another records it falling away. Those sensor-contact notes are part of interpreting the temperature traces.
Results and decisions
The prototypes worked well in many respects, and the surviving cooking report records encouraging results alongside practical limitations: smaller pieces could shift and bind, cooking varied across the cage, and fat spatters or spilled marinades could produce smoke. In a project centered on industrial design, the working models and test results gave us evidence to discuss. I used that evidence to help make and communicate the case for a more practical, manufacturable direction.
The report also identified a mismatch between the heating window and the cage’s containment area. It described charring close to the glass and elements, while portions of meat near the cage’s outer diameter could be less cooked.
Where my involvement ended
My involvement ended with the contract. I did not follow the program’s later development closely enough to claim a production outcome.