Column and gallows arm instead of three poles
If you think of three long poles over a campfire when you hear swivel grill, you will find something different here. The product image shows a wide, flat black fire bowl between three cylindrical legs joined by a ring below the bowl. From the top of the left leg a shiny silver column rises and bends at the top in an arch to over the middle of the bowl. A thin rope hangs from the tip on a hook, and from there three thinner strands run to the outer ring of the round grate.
The crank sits on the column, a little above the rim of the bowl: the handle on the left, a small drum on the right. Higher up, two wing screws are fitted in the column. What they are for is not explained in any text we could find.
Lemodo lists the unit in its own shop under the article number NA305, as “Holzkohlegrill mt schwenkbarem Grillgitter, Feuerschale, Schwenkgrill mit Kurbel” (charcoal grill with swivelling grill grate, fire bowl, swivel grill with crank), typo in the name included. We match it to the Amazon listing on three features. The model field in the catalogue reads, truncated, “NA30”, the dimensions match the shop page, and the photo is the same. We found no link from one page to the other on either, so the match is ours, not the manufacturer’s.
In our catalogue the grill is in the category charcoal grills. It costs approx. €59 (Amazon page on 20/10/2026: €58.50).
Dimensions, material and a figure that cannot be right
For a device in this price class, Lemodo publishes an unusual number of values. The overall size is approx. Ø 64.5 cm and 125 cm in height; Amazon lists the same figures converted. The fire pit alone, meaning bowl with legs, measures Ø 64.5 cm at 32.5 cm in height. Inside, the bowl is approx. Ø 58 cm and 12 cm deep, and the feet have a diameter of 6 cm.
The grate is Ø 55 cm, 3 cm high, and its bars are 2 cm apart. For sausages, steaks and pork belly slices that spacing is not a problem. Small pieces such as sliced mushrooms or prawns, on the other hand, slip through easily; for those we would put a grill tray or skewers on the grate.
Lemodo gives stainless steel 201 as the grate material. This is a chromium-nickel-manganese grade in which part of the expensive nickel is replaced by manganese. It costs less than the common grade 1.4301 (often called 304 in the trade), but is more prone to surface rust with moisture, salt and acid. For a grate that hangs outdoors, that is the more important detail than the word stainless steel alone. What helps against surface rust on grate and bowl is covered in our guide What to do when your grill rusts.
The fire bowl is steel, black. Under “material thickness” the shop page says 1.2 cm. That cannot be right: a steel sheet 1.2 cm thick the size of the bowl base would on its own weigh a multiple of what Lemodo states for the entire unit. Presumably 1.2 mm is meant, but this cannot be verified. The Amazon text speaks of “robust, thick metal” without a figure. We do not calculate further with either figure.
For the frame, the material is given across the board as “stainless steel, steel”. Which part is made of what remains open; in the photo, column and arch gleam silver, bowl and legs are black.
In detail: 30 centimetres of adjustment range
Over open charcoal, most of the heat reaches the food as radiation, and its strength falls off sharply with increasing distance. A grill without a lid and without a vent slider therefore has essentially a single control: the height of the grate. Just above the embers, meat browns quickly on the outside. Higher up, a chicken leg cooks through more slowly without charring on the outside.
Lemodo gives the greatest distance between grate and fire bowl as approx. 30 cm. Whether measured from the bottom of the bowl or from the rim is not stated, and with a bowl depth of 12 cm that makes up a good part of the travel. How low the grate can go at minimum, we likewise do not know.
With the classic chain swivel grill, to adjust you hang a different link on the hook. That only works in link lengths, and you reach for metal that hangs directly over the fire. Here you turn a crank on the side of the column and stand beside the bowl rather than over it when adjusting. That follows from the design in the photo and is, for us, the real reason to prefer this grill to a chain model.
The shop page leaves two things open here. Whether the crank adjusts continuously or in notches is not described, nor is whether a lock holds the drum under load. We would crank the empty grate up once before first lighting and let go, to see whether it stays put.
The sources contradict each other on the suspension. Lemodo writes that the grate is “attached with hooks to the cable pull”. The Amazon text speaks of retaining chains from which you remove the grate with carabiner hooks. The photo fits both readings: a rope at the top, three thinner strands below.
In addition, the grate can be swivelled left and right according to the manufacturer. That way you push it aside when charcoal is to be added or the embers spread, and the food stays on the grate. No source gives the swivel angle.
Does a cauldron fit on the hook?
A filled cast iron pot, rather not. Lemodo gives the load capacity of the grill grate mount as approx. 5 kg, and a cast iron pot with stew in it quickly weighs more. Whether the grate’s own weight is already included in that 5 kg, the figure leaves open.
That a gallows arm carries less than a tripod we consider plausible. With a tripod the load hangs centrally between three legs and presses them into the ground. Here it hangs at the end of an arch that projects sideways over the bowl, and levers at the point where the column sits in the leg. The heavier the load and the further from the leg it hangs, the stronger that leverage. For comparison: for its tripod Petromax states a maximum load of 40 kg.
For sausages, vegetables and a few steaks on the grate, the mount is sufficient. If you want to braise over the fire, you are better off hanging the pot from a separate frame or standing it on a trivet in the embers.
Without the gallows arm: the bowl as a fire pit
The mount for the grill grate is removable according to Lemodo. After complete dismantling you use the bowl “as a pure fire pit”, and the manufacturer suggests grilling twist bread and sausages on a stick directly over the fire. For the cold season Lemodo promotes using the bowl on the terrace as a “warming centrepiece”.
We would recommend taking the gallows arm off for any wood fire, not just for the campfire evening. Wood burns with much higher flames than burnt-through charcoal, and the rope and strands, whose material nobody states, run exactly above the bowl. If the grate stays hanging, it also sits in the rising smoke and gets sooty.
At 12 cm deep, the bowl is rather shallow. Logs in it should be chopped small and stacked flat so they do not project over the rim. Lemodo says nothing about a spark guard, and sparks fly freely from an open bowl. Hedges, parasols and awnings should therefore be far enough away.
Setting up, safety and care
We found no instruction manual either at Lemodo or at Amazon. The “Safety information” tab on the shop page contains three sentences, given here in full: “Place the fire bowl only on a level and fireproof surface.” “Only move or clean the fire pit when it has cooled down completely.” “Keep children, persons with limited abilities and animals away from the fire pit.”
Nothing is said there about lighting, extinguishing or indoor use. As a general rule for any charcoal grill: it belongs outdoors, because glowing charcoal releases carbon monoxide, which you can neither smell nor see. Liquid fire accelerants such as methylated spirits or petrol have no place at a grill. Ash that looks cold can still smoulder inside, so it goes first into a metal bucket with a lid. These are general rules and not requirements from Lemodo.
On care: according to the Amazon text you take the grate off the retaining chains with the carabiner hooks and clean it separately. Following the second safety note, that means only once everything has cooled down completely; brushing the grate while still warm, as you often read, is therefore not what Lemodo envisages.
The black surface of the bowl will not stay that way. Lemodo writes: “Fire bowl takes on a rusty look after use”. The Amazon text says the bowl takes on “a rust patina in use and needs no special cleaning”. Patina here means surface rust. On thin sheet metal it can eat through over the years, and how long that takes depends mainly on how often the bowl gets wet. A dry spot between barbecues is our advice, not the manufacturer’s.
What Lemodo does not state
These details are missing for the NA305 in all the sources we could use: an instruction manual or a data sheet, minimum clearances from flammable objects, a statement on balconies and enclosed spaces, lighting instructions, a grilling area in cm² (there is only the grate diameter), whether the crank adjusts continuously or notches, the smallest distance between grate and embers, the material of column, arch, rope and crank individually, coating and heat resistance of the bowl in °C, the actual wall thickness, whether rope or chains carry the grate, maximum temperature, heating-up time and charcoal quantity, a number of people served, guarantee duration and guarantee terms, the country of manufacture, spare parts that can be ordered individually such as grate, rope or crank, the year of market launch, assembly time and tool requirements, and matching accessories such as a cover.
Three alternatives from our catalogue
| Model | The difference | Price | Our rating | Choose this one if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEMODO swivel grill with crank and fire bowl (this one) | Column with crank, Ø 55 cm grate of stainless steel 201, up to approx. 30 cm above the bowl | approx. €59 | 7.6 | you want grate size and adjustment range in black and white before buying |
| Lemodo swivel grill with crank | also with crank, approx. 110 cm tall in the Amazon catalogue, grate size and adjustment range unpublished | approx. €62 | 8.0 | you want a lower unit and can do without technical data |
| Gregman Roast 30 swivel grill | Tripod, 166 cm tall, grate on chain suspension with hook, fire bowl Ø 51 cm | approx. €69.99 | 7.7 | you want a frame that can be taken apart for storage |
| Petromax tripod ft9 | frame only, made of galvanised steel, load capacity up to 40 kg, without grate and without bowl | approx. €74.80 | 8.5 | you want to hang heavy pots over an existing fire pit |
The prices come from our price boxes and change. The rating is our editorial assessment from the data comparison; we have not measured or tried out any of the four units.
When this grill, when another
If you want to know before buying how big the grate is and how high it can be raised, the LEMODO has the most going for it in this field. It is also the cheapest of the four units. The Lemodo swivel grill with crank costs approx. €62 instead of approx. €59 and is 0.4 points higher in our rating, but the very figures that are available here are missing for it.
For camping, for the club ground or for a small shed, how small the unit gets matters. Gregman describes the Roast 30 as compact once dismantled; it costs approx. €70, the LEMODO approx. €59. For the LEMODO we do not know whether the 125 cm tall column can be split.
If you prefer cooking in a cauldron to cooking on the grate, the gallows arm’s 5 kg limit is the deciding factor. The Petromax tripod ft9 costs approx. €75 and carries 40 kg according to the manufacturer. For that you get only the frame: you already need a fire pit and grate.
For a balcony we would take none of the four. An open bowl without a lid lets sparks and smoke rise freely, and whether open fire is allowed where you live is governed by your tenancy agreement, house rules or owners’ resolution.
Our assessment of the LEMODO itself: it suits you if you grill in the garden on stone or gravel, prefer to regulate the heat at a crank rather than a chain, and want to use the bowl without the grate in winter too. If you need a lid for indirect cooking or long cooking times, a swivel grill is the wrong design; the Grill Finder then helps narrow things down.
