Brätle-Tablett

The name comes from Swiss German: ‘brätle’ means to grill. This tray solves a problem every barbecue evening knows: the meat is done long before everyone is seated. It keeps the grilled food warm until it is served.

Two recesses are milled into the top panel to take standard gastronorm pans from above – a smaller and a larger one. The bottom panel carries round pockets milled into its inner face, which hold glass inserts for tealights: two beneath the small pan and four beneath the large one, six tealights in total. That is enough to keep the food at temperature for an entire evening.

The top and bottom panels are milled from 15 mm birch plywood, the side panels from 8 mm green MDF. Ventilation slots are cut into the sides to supply the tealights with the air they need. Two handles are milled into the top panel as well, so the tray and its contents can be carried comfortably from the grill to the table.

The idea is inspired by the BBQ-Hotty, which is available ready-made online. The manufacturer does not, however, offer the colour combination of natural birch plywood and green MDF used here – which is precisely why this tray was built from scratch.