#HTE

A Modular Mess-Minded Cutting Board

Despite my shitshow of a writing desk, I’m a big fan of knolling and prep stations in my other work. Kitchens and workshops are safer, cleaner, and more satisfying to use when tools and materials are clearly available and ergonomically ordered. For that reason, I’ve always been interested that home kitchens don’t take more cues from the pros at restaurants or even on TV. 

Pre-chopping and a fiddly array of tiny bowls might seem unnecessary, but having ingredients prepped and ready to go can be a meal-saver. This is particularly true in a tiny kitchen. 

The Frankfurter Brett team first debuted last year, with a heavily supported Kickstarter for a pro grade chef’s workstation, and this year they’ve scaled it down into a Basic model for home use. Its bro-y creators are Johannes Schreiter, a chef, and Joseph Schreiter, a product designer. 

The Frankfurter Brett system is a take on kitchen streamlining that pulls from both professional logic and innovative product design. At heart, it’s a stout cutting board plus sliding racks to hold bins for prepped food and food waste. Beyond that, it advocates a system for cooking that considers everything from space efficiency to ergonomics to waste reduction.

View from below

Much like the one-handed system that caught my eye back in October, this system integrates and separates storage for prepared food and food waste in two distinct bins that hang below the level of the cutting board. This takes advantage of gravity and minimizes dropped bits as you transfer off the cutting board. It also pulls the working area closer to the front of the cutting board and gives you more storage area at the back of the board. The rear rack can hold containers of ingredients waiting to be prepped, regularly used seasonings, or even an iPad or book stand. 

They point out that the addition of the bins adds depth to the work area, but this just pulls the work area forward and doesn’t change much about the angles needed to cut safely and effectively. As a wicked short person, I might point out that it’s hardly a universal fit issue, but the overall point is sound. 

The bins are quick to remove to stage a new ingredient or to dump food scraps. They’re also tough enough to mix sauces in, and lidded to save overflow or store for later. The larger bins are even big enough to hold unwieldy tools like whisks or tongs that can add mess to a workspace when not in use. The sliding brackets will also likely fit similarly sized bins from other sources, and the rails appear to be easily removed for cleaning.

While the bin system could lead to a bit of user error cross contamination at first, getting food waste off the cutting board efficiently is enormously helpful for workflow. You can get pretty close to this concept with standalone bowls or tubs, but the modular staging and flexible racks certainly free up your hands. 

This new line is available in five different wood options and a ton of bin configurations, and it’s already well funded. The super simple concept seems to have struck a chord with a lot of mess (and space) minded home cooks.