Strong side-eye at that one.
There's a small amount of value-add there, in that you have access to the burner on the stand without the cooking surface, but there's also value-delete in that it loses a lot of what makes the Tembo Tusk Skottle work. The ur-Skottle being thinner steel means that it heats up quickly, and gives good "throttle control". I've never burned my eggs in my Tembo Tusk. The dished "shallow wok" shape is also critical to a number of dishes and is a key part of how I use the tool.
A big, flat plate of cast-iron will have good heat retention, but will take longer to come to temperature and can't be used as readily with wet-heavy or "stir-fry" style dishes where I need to move stuff through a pool of cooking fat or sauce. For the times when I want flat cast-iron, I have a $25 reversible griddle-pan from Lodge that works just fine (though that does necessitate a 2nd burner.)
It's also priced like $100
higher than the ur-Skottle on a like-for-like comparison. A fraction of that price gets you a second Coleman propane burner (or a dual-fuel butane/propane stove) and you can cook two things at once. So, I'm not sure the "use it like a free-standing stove" is enough of a plus unless you're seriously committed to winnowing down your gear and want a single-burner solution for all your cooking/boiling needs. (And in that case I'd be more likely to again use a $30 propane/butane tabletop burner with a pan or griddle plate on top...)
The above only addresses the merits of the tool itself and doesn't even begin to address how I feel about the... let's say,
adoption of an existing idea/product and name. Tembo Tusk may even have a course of legal action on this one, if they've trademarked "Skottle", since that spelling is unique compared to the original Afrikaans "Skottel Braai" that their name derives from.
At least the base set is claimed to be made in USA, but I'd bet folding money that the Bayou Classics griddle plate is not.
EDIT: I had to search, and yes, TemboTusk has a
USPTO Word mark on "Skottle".
