tepro Chicago 2-Brenner

The Chicago is a gas grill for the table: a stainless steel box with a lid, two control knobs at the front and two short, angled legs underneath. Tepro lists it in its Grillgeräte 2026 catalogue on page 15 as the Tisch-Gasgrill Chicago, article number 3313, EAN 4011964033139. The same model number appears in the Amazon catalogue under the ASIN we link to. In our gas grill category, it belongs to the tabletop appliances without a trolley. On Amazon it sells for approx. €121 (Amazon page on 21.10.2026: €120.89).

We have not grilled anything on the Chicago, and we have not had it in our hands either. We worked from the 2026 catalogue, from the operating manual for art. 3313 in the 10/2025 edition (published by TEST RITE tepro in Rödermark; the PDF is hosted by the toom DIY store), from the Amazon listing and from the product photo. Assessments are marked as ours.

Stainless steel box on two legs: construction and what is in the box

In the photo, the lid is slightly domed on top. A round thermometer sits in its centre, and in front of it a bar handle runs across almost the full width. No side shelves are visible.

According to the catalogue, everything that comes into contact with flame and grease is stainless steel: two burner tubes, two flame spreader plates above them, the fire pan, a one-piece grill grate, the grease cup, and the lid including handle. The colour is simply called stainless steel by tepro and silver by Amazon. The output is two burners at approx. 3.0 kW each, together max. 6.0 kW. According to the technical data, the nozzle measures 0.75 mm. Ignition is by piezo via the control knob, and the thermometer in the lid is meant to show the grilling temperature according to the Amazon text.

The manual’s parts list has seven items: the burner housing, two flame spreaders, one grill grate, one leg each for left and right, a grease tray, and eight M5 × 12 screws. According to the catalogue, the gas hose and regulator are included, the bottle is not. For assembly you need a Phillips screwdriver and, according to the manual, a level work surface of two to three square metres.

Overall, the Chicago measures approx. 54.0 × 45.5 × 36.0 cm (width, depth, height). These are overall dimensions; handle, knobs and legs are included. The catalogue gives the cooking surface as approx. 47.5 × 35 cm, the manual as approx. 47 × 35 cm, and for weight there is approx. 8.5 kg (manual) against approx. 8.58 kg net (catalogue). Both discrepancies are small. Below, we calculate with the catalogue surface.

In detail: 6 kW on a small grate, and what the lid allows

47.5 × 35 cm gives around 1,660 cm². Spread the 6,000 W over that and you get roughly 3.6 W/cm² on paper. This figure is a rough comparison value between gas grills and not a temperature. How hot the grate actually gets depends on how much heat is lost through the lid and pan and how much the wind carries away at the spot where it stands. Nobody has measured this on the Chicago, and neither have we.

Two burner tubes with two separate control knobs mean that one half can heat while the other stays off or runs low. For food away from the flame, that leaves a good half of the grate on paper, around 830 cm². The Amazon text expressly advertises indirect cooking.

For cooking with the lid, however, the manual sets narrow limits. Page 11 says that with the lid closed only one flame is needed, set to a low or medium setting. According to tepro, this lets you cook larger cuts of meat and whole poultry gently, similar to an oven. In capital letters it adds a warning to avoid overheating the grill, and the advice not to open the lid unnecessarily. The safety notes on page 5 are stricter still: with the lid closed, operate only on a small flame. Our reading: both burners on full with the lid shut is ruled out. If you plan pizza or a steak under the lid at maximum heat, you are buying the wrong appliance.

Which gas bottle do you need for the Chicago?

A standard bottle with 5, 8 or 11 kg of fill, which you buy separately. Only low-pressure gas at 50 mbar is connected, via the supplied regulator. According to the manual, the bottle belongs on the floor next to the grill.

This is exactly where it gets practical with a tabletop grill: the hose has to reach from the floor up to the table, yet according to the manual it may be at most 1.5 m long and must lie free of kinks and twists without touching other parts. How long the supplied hose is, is stated neither in the catalogue nor in the manual. So measure beforehand how high your table is and where the bottle can stand.

On the type of gas, the documents contradict each other. The technical data give appliance category I 3B/P (50) for Germany and Austria, plus butane and propane at 50 mbar each. Page 9, on the other hand, says the appliance and connections are designed only for liquid propane gas. If in doubt, we would use propane, which satisfies both passages.

You screw the regulator hand-tight onto the bottle valve and follow the instructions supplied with the regulator itself. The hose is tightened firmly with a 17 mm open-ended spanner. A left-hand thread applies here, and no additional seal is added. Before connecting, you look into the openings, because according to the manual dirt, spiders and insects can settle there. A blocked burner can start a fire beneath the appliance.

You check for leaks before every use and at every bottle change, always with soapy water and never with an open flame. For this you mix one part washing-up liquid with three parts water; about 50 ml is needed. The liquid goes on the hose and on all connections. Where bubbles rise, there is a leak. Then you close the bottle valve, tighten the connections and check again. If it stays leaky, the appliance is not to be operated until the leak has been properly repaired, and you contact the dealer or the manufacturer. The control knobs, pressure regulator and hose should also be brushed with the solution like this regularly. How to find the right bottle and where to swap it is covered in the guide Gas bottle for the grill.

Consumption can be calculated, because tepro states a nominal heat input of max. 437 g/h. On paper, a 5 kg bottle then lasts just under 11.5 hours at full load, and an 11 kg bottle a good 25 hours. This is our calculation from the manufacturer’s figure and the worst case. If only one burner runs on a low setting, it uses less gas; by how much, the data do not say.

Lighting, preheating, switching off

Before the very first grilling, you wash off coarse production residues with warm water, expressly without detergent or washing-up liquid, and rub the grate with cooking oil. After that comes the burn-in: at least 15 minutes on a high flame with the lid closed, without food. According to tepro, smells and light smoke are harmless and only brief, but you should still make sure there is ventilation.

This instruction clashes with the note on page 5 to run only a small flame with the lid closed. The manual does not explain how the two fit together. We would stay next to the grill during burn-in and, if in doubt, ask the dealer.

Before each further use, tepro recommends approx. 10 to 15 minutes of preheating with the lid closed. A time to reach a particular temperature is not stated anywhere.

Ignition works like this: open the lid, set the temperature control to off (on the control this is a dot), open the gas bottle valve without leaning over the cooking surface. Then press the control, hold it pressed and turn it anticlockwise to the flame position (max) until it clicks. You may repeat this four to five times. If nothing burns, the control and bottle valve are closed, you wait five minutes and try again or use a match. You never bring the match in from above, but as an extra-long fireplace match from below through the large hole in the base of the fire pan.

Wind has more to do with ignition than you might think. The troubleshooting table names too much wind as a cause of a small flame or flashback and advises a spot sheltered from the wind. As a second cause of a small flame it lists a bottle that is too small; in that case a larger one is needed.

Finally, you let the grill burn off for 5 minutes on the highest flame with the lid open and no food. Switch-off follows this order: first the regulator on the gas bottle to off, then the temperature control on the appliance. You close the lid only once the grill has cooled down.

Setting up, cleaning, smell of gas: what the manual prescribes

According to the manual, the Chicago is for heating, cooking and grilling food, exclusively outdoors and only in a private setting. Any other use counts as not intended. Because gas is odourless and can be deadly in enclosed spaces, tepro repeats the outdoor-only requirement in several places.

These points apply to the table. The surface is level, horizontal, secure, heat-resistant and clean. The grill stands on a heat-resistant mat and does not overhang the table edge. It does not go on mobile items it could tip over from. It keeps at least 1 m clearance from highly flammable materials such as awnings, wooden decking or furniture. In operation it is neither moved nor carried and is not left unattended, and you keep children and pets away. As protection, the manual requires grilling or oven gloves of category II for heat protection (DIN EN 407 as an example), long-handled grilling tools with heat-resistant handles, and no clothing with wide sleeves. Lighting fluid such as petrol or methylated spirits is forbidden, and you check the screws for tightness before every use.

It is best to clean after every use, because some foods release flammable fats and juices, and only once the grill has cooled down completely. Beforehand, you set the regulator on the gas hose to off. You remove the grate, clean it thoroughly with washing-up water, rinse it clear and dry it. Residues in the grill base you loosen with a brush, spatula or cleaning sponge, then comes warm soapy water, and you dry with a soft, clean cloth without scratching the surfaces. You clean the burners with a soft brush or compressed air, and blocked openings with a pipe cleaner, a wire or a paper clip. Strong or abrasive solvents and scouring pads are off limits, as are paint solvents and thinners against stains. More on grates and grease trays in general is in the guide Cleaning a gas grill.

Outdoors, the grill should be protected from constant exposure to the weather and covered when not in use. The cover goes on only when the grill is cold, clean and dry: on a warm, wet or dirty appliance it can, according to the manual, lead to severe corrosion.

If you smell gas, the manual gives this order: immediately close the gas supply at the bottle, put out all open flames, do not operate any electrical devices, ventilate the surrounding area and carry out the leak check as described above. If it still smells of gas afterwards, you stop using the appliance and contact the dealer.

What tepro does not state

The catalogue, the manual and the Amazon text lack:

• an accessible product page for end customers (tepro.de returned only an error page during research)
• warranty period and warranty terms
• scale and maximum value of the lid thermometer
• a heat-up time to a particular temperature
• the grade of stainless steel, for example 430 or 304
• material and sheet thickness of the burner housing and legs
• the height of the legs and therefore the working height on the table
• the outlet pressure of the supplied pressure regulator
• a matching cover with article number
• a number of people for the cooking surface
• spare part prices and a spare parts shop
• country of origin and year of market launch

What else is worth considering?

The prices are guide values from our price boxes and change. The rating is our editorial assessment; we have measured nothing.

When the Chicago fits and when another one does

First the table. The Chicago needs a standing area of at least approx. 54 × 45.5 cm with nothing overhanging its edge, plus room for the bottle on the floor and a metre of clearance all round to wood, awnings and furniture. According to the manual, a wobbly camping table on wheels is out. What is usually regulated on balconies is summarised in the guide Grilling on a balcony.

Then the group. Our assessment: on around 1,660 cm² of grate you grill comfortably for two to three people, with four it gets tight, and for six you load in several rounds.

If you also want to boil water or fry something in a pan at the campsite, the Enders Explorer II with its pot grates is closer to what you need. It has less burner output and costs approx. €122 according to our price boxes, against approx. €121 for the Chicago.

If the grill stays on the patio permanently anyway, shelf space matters more than weight. In our comparison, a good deal then speaks for the LEHMANN from the table above, which costs approx. €130 according to the price box, against approx. €121 for the Chicago, and in return has two side tables and a cast iron grate and is around 4.5 kg heavier.

The large bottle is the point where the Chicago is ruled out for some buyers. If you travel by bike, canoe or in a small car, you do not want to carry an 11 kg bottle. The Weber Q 1200N runs on a cartridge, but has only one burner and costs approx. €249 according to our price boxes, against approx. €121 for the Chicago.

On budget, on top of the price-box price come the gas bottle with its fill and a cover, which tepro requires when the grill is not in use. Regulator and hose are included. We would not buy the Chicago if you want to work at full heat with the lid closed or do not have a sturdy, heat-resistant table. For two or three people with a garden, patio or outdoor pitch who want two separate zones for little money, it is in our comparison a sensible choice. What else matters with grills for travel is in the Camping grill buying guide, and if you are torn between gas, electric and charcoal, the Grill finder narrows down the choice.