The brief for the King Fork came from a direct failure at a Bison Hill Grill event. A lightweight carving fork bent under the weight of a 3kg brisket. Not catastrophically — but it bent, the joint shifted, and the situation became awkward and potentially unsafe. That doesn’t happen with properly specified equipment. We went away and specified properly.
What Standard Forks Get Wrong at High Loads
Most carving forks are designed for a kitchen environment — a roast joint on a board, low risk, controlled conditions. A 3kg brisket being lifted from a live fire over a grate, wearing thick gloves, with guests waiting, is not that environment. The load is real, the grip is reduced by the gloves, and there’s no surface immediately below to catch a failure.
Standard fork tines are too thin and the shafts too light for this scenario. The result under load is flex — the tines splay slightly, grip is reduced, and the joint shifts. It’s the kind of failure that looks minor until it isn’t.
The King Fork Brief
One fork. Handles 3kg without detectable flex. Long enough to work safely at a live fire without the hand entering the heat zone. 420 stainless throughout — the same specification we use across the tool range.
Tine geometry was the key design decision. Two wide tines versus four narrow tines for a brisket or whole joint: two wide tines win. They penetrate cleanly, grip the full width of a thick joint, and pull clean when removed. The shaft thickness was calculated against a 3kg hanging load test — we hung test weights and measured flex until the geometry was right.
The Handle
Handle ergonomics for the King Fork were specified for use with a gloved hand. The grip diameter is larger than a standard carving fork handle to account for the additional layer of a heat-resistant glove. Under load and with gloves on, the King Fork sits correctly in the hand. That’s the condition it was designed for.
It launched alongside the Bison Skewer in September 2023.
