A frame with nothing else around it
The Grillfürst Tripod consists of a steel frame and a chain with a hook. Nothing more. On the manufacturer’s page, it says in capital letters that neither a grill grate nor a Dutch oven nor a fire pit is included. If you overlook that, you end up standing in the garden with three legs, with nothing hanging from it and nothing burning beneath it.
Grillfürst sells the frame as an own-brand product in its own shop, under the name “Dreibein für Dutch Oven oder Schwenk Grillrost / höhenverstellbar, inkl. Kette und Haken” (tripod for Dutch oven or swing grill grate / height-adjustable, incl. chain and hooks). On Amazon it is at approx. €84.90 (as of October 2026). In our grill accessories category, that puts it among the frames, not among the complete sets with a fire bowl, and that is exactly how we compare it below.
Construction and technical details according to Grillfürst
The frame is made of steel, and Grillfürst gives the material thickness as 2 mm. It weighs 5.84 kg and carries up to 60 kg, so a good ten times its own weight. The legs are height-adjustable; the manufacturer’s page says “110 to 200 cm” for this, while the Amazon catalogue mentions telescopic legs. It does not say whether the figure refers to the leg length or the set-up height. That matters because Petromax states both separately for its tripod, and the values differ.
The box includes a tripod with a metal chain and hook, plus three further short chains with hooks, to which a grill grate is attached. The Amazon title lists “THREE grate hooks”.
The product photo shows three straight legs that meet in a head at the top, and a link chain hanging down from there and ending in a hook. A point can be seen at the bottom of the front leg. Grillfürst describes the feet as points with a widened section, so that the frame does not sink into soft ground. Amazon writes of stability even on uneven surfaces.
The tripod is said to be quick to set up and just as quick to stow away, according to the Amazon text. We have not handled it; that remains a manufacturer’s claim.
In detail: why three legs are enough and what the 60 kg covers
Three points always define a plane. That is why a tripod stands on bumpy ground where a four-legged table would wobble. The load hangs from a chain directly below the head, so in the middle between the feet, and runs as compression through the legs into the ground. The further the legs are splayed, the harder it is to knock the frame over. At the same time, the feet then push outwards more strongly. Points that dig into the ground help against this. Grillfürst does not state the splay angle.
We take the 60 kg to cover everything that hangs from the chain: pot, lid, contents and, with a grate, also the grate and the food on it. Whether the figure applies to still-hanging loads or also to swinging ones, the manufacturer does not say. We would therefore not load it right up to the limit.
How quickly the 60 kg is reached is shown by a look at our Dutch oven guide. There, a mid-sized pot (6 to 7.6 litres) weighs around 10.7 kg empty, and a large one (11.5 to 14 litres) around 15 kg. One litre of stew weighs roughly one kilogram. The largest pot, filled to the brim, therefore comes to around 29 kg, the mid-sized one to about 18 kg. In each case that is less than half of the load capacity. For these pots, the 60 kg is therefore a reserve; it only becomes a bottleneck in special cases, such as a huge cauldron or a grate with several kilos of meat.
The chain makes height adjustment simple, but coarse. You hang the hook in a different link, and the load then sits one link spacing higher or lower. To re-hang it, you have to briefly carry the pot yourself. With a hot, filled Dutch oven, that is the most critical action on the whole frame. If you want to change the height often during cooking, you are better served by a crank, like the one the Lemodo set below has.
A Dutch oven in a tripod works differently from one in the embers. It hangs in the heat, with warmth coming from below and from the sides. The briquette arrangement for a pot on the ground, as explained in our Dutch oven guide, can only be transferred to a limited extent: briquettes on the lid add weight and make the pot swing. We would treat the hanging pot more like a cauldron over the flame. How direct and indirect heat differ is covered in the guide to direct and indirect heat.
How does the frame become a swing grill?
With a grill grate that you hang from the three short chains. The grate is not included, and Grillfürst does not give a suitable diameter.
Amazon describes the set-up as a swing grill for swing roasts, roast beef or steaks. You set the height via the chain, as with the pot. Three chains means three suspension points: your grate therefore needs three eyelets or brackets on its rim, evenly spaced and matching the hooks. Grates that are only meant for a freestanding frame often lack them. Before you order, hold the grate up against the description, not just against the diameter.
The weight of the grate counts towards the load capacity. Cast iron grates are clearly heavier than those made of steel rods, so factor that in.
What the manufacturer does not state
First the gaps, in one place. The Grillfürst page is missing:
- the instruction manual, including safety, set-up and cleaning instructions (the download section is empty)
- warranty terms, as the page only refers to a warranty summary
- the finish of the steel: painted, galvanised or powder-coated
- the length of the chains and hooks, the hook material and the diameter of suitable grates
- dimensions when folded, splay angle and footprint
- heat limits and the distance to the embers
- country of origin, spare parts and colour
- what the small hooks and brackets on the legs, visible in the photo, are for
On the construction: Grillfürst does not mention any rust protection, and whether the points are removable is not stated anywhere either. With no stated rust protection, the screws are the places we would check first. If you leave the tripod outside over winter, you should dry it after every use and check it regularly for rust; we found no care instructions from the manufacturer on this, and the recommendation is our assessment based on the material, steel. With small open hooks, we would choose a grate with closed eyelets or put a carabiner in between.
Set-up, safety and care without a manual
General rules apply here, not manufacturer specifications, because Grillfürst does not issue any.
Open fire belongs outdoors, not under a canopy, not on the balcony, not in the tent: glowing charcoal gives off carbon monoxide, and you cannot smell it. Before setting up, check whether the local authority, campsite or wildfire risk level allows open fire at all.
Chains, hooks and the upper part of the legs get hot near the flame. Heat-resistant gloves are a must when re-hanging, and not only with a pot weight of 20 kg.
On care: unalloyed steel rusts without a protective coating, stainless steel does not, and Grillfürst only writes “steel”. We would therefore wipe the frame down after it has cooled and store it dry, the screws in particular, and not leave it out in the rain. Before loading, press the points into the ground and check whether the frame wobbles without a load.
What else is worth considering?
| Model | The difference | Price | Our rating | Choose this one if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grillfürst Dreibein für Dutch Oven (this one) | Frame only, 60 kg load capacity, 2 mm steel | approx. €84.90 | 8.1 | you already have a pot, grate and fire pit and want to hang heavy pots |
| Petromax Dreibein ft9 | 40 kg load capacity at 88 to 144 cm set-up height, galvanised steel | approx. €74.80 | 8.5 | you want a compact, galvanised frame with a manual and use lighter pots |
| Grilltante XXL Dreibein-Grill 200 cm | 200 cm height at 8 kg weight, chain height adjustment | approx. €86.00 | 7.8 | you are looking for a tall frame to set up in one place |
| LEMODO Schwenkgrill | Crank instead of chain, fire bowl included | approx. €58.50 | 7.6 | you want to start grilling straight away and will not be hanging a Dutch oven |
The prices are guide values from our price boxes and change. The rating is our editorial assessment based on data sheets, not a measurement result, and the models are only partly comparable: the Lemodo is a complete set, the other three are frames.
When this tripod, when another?
Start with what you already have. If you do not own a Dutch oven, grate or fire pit, all three items come on top of the frame’s €84.90, and we have no prices for them in this source. In that case, the Lemodo set with a fire bowl (approx. €53.00) is more likely to pay off.
The weight of your pot decides between Grillfürst and Petromax. If your pot with its contents hangs under 40 kg, the Petromax ft9 (approx. €74.80, 40 kg according to the manual) is cheaper and, according to our review, comes with a manual, which Grillfürst does not show on its product page. By the calculation above, even the large Dutch ovens from our guide fall below that. In our assessment, the extra cost for the 60 kg is therefore only worth it if you want to hang more than 40 kg: for the other three models, we have no load capacity of this size.
On the ground, what matters is whether it can be pressed in. Soft garden soil, meadow, forest floor: the points with a widened section are meant for these. On paving, we would not use a frame with fixed points.
And the height? If you want to hang below 110 cm, compare the figures with caution, because Grillfürst and Petromax may not be measuring the same thing. If you want a tall frame for more headroom, look at the Grilltante with 200 cm.
Last, transport: you carry 5.84 kg, we do not know the folded length, so do not measure the boot until you have it from the manufacturer.
Who is it suitable for?
For people with an existing fire pit and a heavy pot who know exactly what they want to hang from the chain. For everyone else, the sums are open: grate, pot and fire bowl cost extra, and the manufacturer’s page does not help with distances and heat.
It is the wrong choice for two groups. If you need a documented manual, for example because children are sitting at the fire or a club requires a risk assessment, you will find nothing from Grillfürst to file away. And if you often change the height of the food, you will find the chain a hindrance. Both groups are better off looking at the Lemodo or the Petromax.
If you are unsure which grill system suits your cooking style, start with the Grill Finder.
