GripFlame

A staple of high-end restaurant equipment, kitchen blowtorches have blazed into the consumer market, targeting the passionate home chef looking to expand their collection of gadgetry. With the exception of a few outliers, manufacturers have approached this need with two mutually exclusive factors in mind: fuel capacity and torching experience.

GripFlame, a concept kitchen torch product brand, illuminates this unexplored space with a torch head that fulfills both priorities.

My research process began with user research on a customer whom I knew had personally tested a long line of kitchen torch products and thus would have significant insights on the user experience: my uncle.

Current torch users are forced to sacrifice a comfortable, secure grasp in order to have a robust, industrial fuel capacity.

Age: 70's

Occupation: Retired

Primary Use of Product:
Cooking at home, 1-2 timesper month, for crisping meat

Product Critiques:

Manufacturers have generally approached kitchen torch solutions with two mutually exclusive factors in mind: fuel capacity and torching experience. There is an area for improvement within the bridging of these two sectors.

In current mid-sized torch solutions, the hand either strains to wrap around the cylindrical cannister diameter or awkwardly clenches the torch head with little to no palm support.

Based on the profile of the final selected design, a 1:1 scale sketch model of the torch head was created to define the hand fit dimensions to ensure the design intent would be faithfully translated when it was modeled in CAD.