I've had one for eight or so years, here's my thoughts. Its a great in that it replaces a lot of much heavier, bulkier stuff...meaning pots, pans and cooking stoves and whatnot. Its also difficult to cook on. The center gets very hot, no matter the burner setting, so you have to keep things in the center moving or they will get burned quickly. Things on the outside are kept warm, but you can't slow cook there. There is a definite learning curve with this device, but I keep taking it car camping with me every time!
Rogue109, I understand your point and it may be an issue for a lot of people. I don't find it a problem because I cook a ton of my meals in a steel wok and wok cooking is medium high/high heat (for many things) and a wok has the same issues you described above - you have to keep things moving. I see it as more of a learning curve but I think your comment is valid as folks need to know the pros and cons of their gear.
All I can think of is it must be great camping in places with no wind... We are so windaffected with camping cookware, how does yours go in windy conditions??
Another alternative is a rectangular cast iron flat griddle over one burner: area for cooking over the burner and warming areas away from it. They seem to be a bit smaller with the largest cooking area about the same as a 16" disk cooker. However, they are inexpensive at $13-$45. Still, the largest rectangular cast iron flat griddle at $45 is about the same price as an South West Disk 18" Madrid cooking disk with legs. Both the disk and cast iron flat griddle still need a heat source like a camp stove, fire, or dedicated burner. .
My family is from Guanajuato Mexico and I’ve never even thought about how unusual this method of cooking might seem! My dad had a big one for frying tilapia that he welded a bit of fencing onto so the lard could drop off the freshly cooked fish and back onto the disco. The taqueros in my moms town (and recently some around LA even) use em for making tacos. Using one for camping is such a great idea! I didn’t realize the disks came from plows 😅 my dad grew up on a ranch, he’d have been disappointed to hear that from me.
Not plows cultivating disks. Plows have heavy metal and are curved. That might make a different type of cook top. I'm thinking of building one of these. 73
I made mine and also made the legs adjustable, have been using this type for over thirty years. A time saver and also does everything I use when camping. I just need to find a bag for it lol. Great video.
How did you make your own, please? I am a disabled mom with two kids in a minivan, homeless in WA state trying to figure out how to cook for us on a very low income. Thank you in advance for any advice!
@@charcat1571 I Purchased a tractor disc, a one inch flat bar, pipe for the legs-two sizes so they slip inside one another for height adjustment. The burner is a commercial swap meet special. Welded and formed. I bet a local welder can help for cheap. You can get most of the supplies at a local metal shop. I buy DROP cuts and save about 30%.
These always caught my eye, I appreciate how you brought it to life! I've been investing in my cooking supplies (w/ whatever is left after gas budget) and will have to seriously consider this route. Thanks guys!
I can see how a Skottle would be useful for a large group but for me and like many others I find myself cooking for no more than 5 people I just use a $55 Coleman gas stove with a $13 ozark trail griddle and I feel like it would do just as good as job for 1/4th of the price. Also the ozark trail griddle has a grill on the opposite side.
I made one of these several years ago. Works beautifully! I use a turkey fryer unit as the heat source. The flame is totally adjustable and the stand is the perfect height for me.
@@PlayingwithSticks the turkey fryer is simply a large propane burner mounted inside a steel framework. Just like a large camp stove burner. My disc is not as deeply dished as yours. They come in different sizes, but I used what I had, which works perfectly.
@@davidallen4552 fortunately used discs are readily available and usually free. I find that lard is absolutely the best thing to season the discs with.
I have a 16 inch and a 26 inch skillet for camp and it's used the same, to cook the things in the center or one side and keep the other stuff warm. It only took 15 years of camp cooking for six months a year to learn to change up the ten inch skillets to the bigger variety.
Yeah. All my "little" stuff went into my camp cookware to "cut down size and weight," so I had a lot of cooking stuff to cover all their limitations. And as you found, it really is more about efficient function outside in the wilds, which is something your huge pans, cooking disks, and griddles are highlighting. Yeah, 15 years to obtain the epitome of camping pan knowledge sounds pretty good to me.
I've been wanting one for years. I've seen people using them on trips to Mexico and some street vendors too, but its probably been 30 years since Ive seen one. They often used the plowing disc to make them there and here in the States too. I'll definitely order one.
Yeah, my 12volt fridge changed my camp eating for the better. My #1 best addition. No more soggy hot dogs and lunch meat. Much healthier great tasting meals.
This was something we never thought we would purchase. The first year we had the channel we got to know a handful of people from the community really well. And once we got to know what they took out with them camping all of them had the fridge in common. We thought, if they all have them there must be something there. Wow were they right!
@@PlayingwithSticks Yeah, it is an expensive item, that I resisted buying. I changed my mind after I was was out for almost a month, and I kept running out of ice making me doubt the quality of my soggy food. Meals became more and more canned and high salt. I started to feel bad. The fridge allows me better quality and variety. Much tastier and healthier, and more fun actually cooking instead of another "on a stick" meal.
I have probably 8 camping stove options at my house. But I've found that cooking on a 22" Blackstone is my favorite camp cooking method, especially when cooking for larger groups. Flat-top cooking is very convenient especially if you have hot and cool zones. This device is just a modified wok. It's a nice bit of kit and probably works great, seems expensive for what they are giving you.
Great video! I think the skottle looks really cool, but I think can do everything this does in a cast iron Dutch Oven for a fraction of the cost. The skottle would be faster but when I'm camping I'd rather not be in hurry; besides, I can also put the Dutch Oven on the propane stove if I'm in a hurry.
I bought a disc with handles welded on at Lowe's after reading about "discada" in Backwoodsman. Its made from a solid disc with no hole in middle and cost $40-60 I forget what exact cost is, but had to have it!
I first saw a "discada" cooker in South Texas in the mid 80s. The Hispanic culture has been using them for a long time. Just an old plow disk with the hole welded up over a wood fire or on a stand with a propane burner. Horseshoes for handles. I have one that I have been cooking and camping with for 20 years. They certainly have their purpose and I can see where it could be your sole source for cooking if you needed to keep it simple or because of less room. I think of it as just one of my tools for camp cooking. Flat griddles, dutch ovens and grilles are all handy to have for variety of methods and keep your food less one dimensional.
Good day to you! I am a senior rider on HONDA Cross Cub from Japan. I am enjoying camping ,touring and upload video. This is so nice cooking video! Awesome! Have a nice day my friend!
Check out our video titled something like how to build a bike camper. Can’t remember the exact title. I think there’s some glimpses of my supercub in that video. I actually built that trailer in the video to be towed by both my E bike and the super cub. Huge super cub fan. Mine is the Thai version though.
Similarly, we use a 2' diameter steel wok with free standing burner that we take with us when the family comes along and have easily fed about 20 people with it. They are very convenient and efficient. I believe the cost of my set up was half of the cost at Bass Pro Shop but was many years ago.
I must say that the skottel braai is one of the best ways to make breakfast while camping, we grew up with it here in South Africa and still love cooking on it. Thanx for the nice videos got a lot of nice tips for my first build!
Damn, blast from the past, we have been using these since the 70's in South Africa. Skottel is an Afrikaans or Dutch word. We used the original made by Cadac. I am going to dig mine out now and make some breakfast.
Great video. Many people focus on price, not what the price buys them. Packing, setup and actual ease of use are factors. Speaking for myself, if something takes longer that 20 minutes to deploy, it seldom gets used and typically stays home. As you well know not every camping day is weather perfect.
>$500 for the setup in the demo is pretty wack. I think if the price was closer to $200, that’s more reasonable, but that ain’t gonna put this guy’s kid through college
Yes, it almost forces most people into going the DIY option. I will say we have got our money out of ours, but we camp a lot! I was pretty sure this purchase was going to be a loss for me. I was pleasantly to surprised to find I really liked it. But would I do it again. Nope, I build one myself.
I knew folks would ask that so I made sure to put no link to the item in the description. Basically letting people make their own, buy this one, or find a different discadas. So no, no kickbacks here.
My wife and I were talking about these when we went camping this past weekend. Its been around for as long as we can remember and we are in our 40's what we werent sure about was if it was common anywhere outside of South Africa.
I was thinking the same thing. I was a little surprised folks are enjoying this video. I kind of made this one for me as a fun video. Looks like others are in the same boat wondering what’s the best way to cook. The Blackstone is definitely on our shortlist.
Something similar to this is a paella burner. You can buy it just as a stand/ burner set, or you can buy it with the pan included. Not saying it's any better or worse than the skottle, just another thing to consider
I just bought a Korean flat BBQ disk (very inexpensive) which I plan on using with my butane stove. Also have an old wok lid which I can repurpose for this. Yay! No extra $ spent. 😎
@@PlayingwithSticksI think RUclips axed my reply so heres another try. The Korean BBQ is thinner, got it on Temu. You might want to look at Southwest Disk, made in New Mexico, veteran owned, authentic Latin cookware and much less $ than the camping versions.
FWIW, I bring my cast iron set with me in my teardrop.....Works on the stove or campfire. That said, once stuff is cooked it holds the heat til you're ready to serve. The only "extra" to bring is oven mitts. Clean-up is water and steel scrubbies (only)... no soap allowed. They can work just like a flat-top griddle, but put away in a small space. Plus, they're indestructible.
I love the idea of the disc grill, and I would pay $85. to $100. that's what it looks like it should be worth. And I have to remember I am only cooking for two.
To me that sounds like the right pricing as well. It also seems like there’s room in the market for someone to come in and undercut all these prices. Thanks for sharing Mark.
@@garretlewis4103 that’s true about the size and weight. I can cook for 4 on my 17” Blackstone. Even the 22” Blackstone is substantially cheaper than the skottle but the 22” is a monster in size
I am from Texas, we use a disk from farm equipment trailer, for tilling, you can find them anywhere, we make tripas and fajitas on them been doing it since I was 4 or 5 and I am 60 now lmao
of course if you do a search you can find very good quality similar with removable discs for $100 - $150 burner and $10-$50 disc or you could find a generic for $85 for everything that would take up a bit more space.
While a great idea for some, the reality is, you will often still need a 2nd or even 3ed burner for different jobs. For example, would you use this for making your morning coffee or tea? Or would you use that 1 pound cylinder and a small burner with a single cup? There are many modles of this on the market, the Oris, colman offers a 4 in 1 system, eastman outdoors has a wok system. In reality though you can buy just a ploughdisk wok or cowboy wok and cook with that either directly over the fire, over a colman stove, or such. Though even then this won't be for everyone, you need to think of your cook style, and camp style. something about a big heavy cast iron pot, slow cooking chilly for hours on end over a low fire in the wood burning stove... while letting the bread cook in the dutch oven. slicing the bread in half and scooping out some of the insides, then filling the loaf with the chilli, covering with cheese then putting it in the wood stove for the last bit to get the cheese golden brown before serving. Yes, there is more clean up to do, but sometimes the cleanup is worth it. Especially if you are making soups, stews, and such. Remember, people talk about cooking different outdoors. And while in many cases thats true... they also forget that outdoors people can burn a lot more callories... especially with chores like chopping wood, collecting water, chasing the sun for solar panels.
Oh man my brain gears were turning. I actually didn’t know what to say. What do I say next? I think I said $395 sounds like a lot to me? But… haha. It’s funny you caught that.
@@PlayingwithSticks Haha. By the way, you'll be happy to know that I just spent a day organizing our small homemade squaredrop based on many of your suggestions. We live in Utah, and have two boys ages 3 and 1, and I really relate to your channel. Thanks for your content!
This looks great. I might prefer a carbon steel wok that I could pick up from the legs, but I don't know of an off the shelf solution that's this compact and light. I'll have to think on being flat vs high sides.
Gotta get me one of these for cooking outside the camper… I think a Spanish portable paella grill would be similar and available here in the UK, but that South African cowboy griddle looks more sturdy.
Even though we had just finished eating dinner when we watched this, I got “Jonesing” a little bit for some steak, potatoes, and asparagus. I almost bought a Skottle. Like the idea. I little pricey. There are some other RUclips videos out there where people have made one. Just like cast iron. Really cannot mess it up. Just take a little time and season it again and good as new (probably better).
Haha. That’s what May kept saying as she was looking over my shoulder during the edit. This summer we’d like to try the baking season method just to see if it’s any different. Seems like most guys in the Overland industry like to throw theirs in the oven when they are re-seasoning.
with a fold out table and this skottle you could ALMOST eliminate the need for a galley in the teardrop. i always wanted to build one without a galley.
Very true. Even though we had our dream galley this summer. We were surprised to find how much time we cooked outside of it. But, we’re also conditioned for this because our teardrop drop has no kitchen in it
Sorry Drew! I’m a huge fan and I have to say you’ve influenced a lot of my choices with your videos and info, but the skottle is the biggest ripoff in the overlanding world. I’m glad you opened with making it for much less, but you don’t have to make it you can buy similar and even better buying a disecada and portable burner.
No sorries needed! You probably noticed I didn’t put any discount code on here for the Tembo Tusk. it’s a great little grill, but I don’t want people to think that’s the only option. I just want everyone to see a plow disc cooker. In terms of the discada the ones I keep running across are still very expensive. If you have the time could you leave some brand names for the more affordable ones. Unfortunately if you leave a link I find RUclips usually flags it as spam.
I made one with a spare turkey deep fryer burner (built in wind screen) and a cast iron cooking surface shaped just like these steel disc platters....total cash outlay was under a hundred bucks.
@@MrRyanmcmahon Surprisingly well, but our family is all about slow cooking. If you need to get things done fast maybe there would be a struggle? We used it for 1 month in the winds of wyoming. We were very impressed. Less by the Skottle and more by the burner they use. It is a Kovea burner. We never even pulled out the windscreen.
So damn true! A little welding and a disecada and a burner and you’re good to go. I honestly can’t believe people that price for a piece of steel and a burner!!!
May and I have come to the conclusion that thicker is better. People in the comments say get a Wok. Well, they obviously have not cooked on thicker surfaces like this. Yes, you can find thick woks in places like Asia. But I think the woks most people are referring to on here are much thinner than a plow disk.
The Skottle is definitely overpriced and the one I saw certainly didn't strike me as very high-quality. We love our 22" Roswell UFO discada from Southwest Disk. It's seriously tough, inexpensive ($95) and it has removable legs so you can use it over a campfire/charcoal with the legs on or remove the legs and use it on a propane burner. Southwest Disk is veteran-owned, which as a retired Coast Guardsman is important to me. Their propane burner is sold separately ($105) and is seriously powerful and well-made. Don't discount the ability to put on the legs and use the Southwest Disk over a campfire - it's a game-changer.
I have one of the burners like what Southwest sells and they pack down fairly small, I need to order a 18" discount from them and it will be a perfect setup.
As a South African I thought everyone in the world knew about a skottle for camping. Its the only tool you need for breakfast. Lunch and dinner is done in/on a Potjie Pot or Braai(BBQ)
I am from South Africa now living in Canada and brought a similar skottle with me when I immigrated nearly 20 years ago I had to modify it slightly to work with a 20 pound gas tank here in Canada but do use it from time to time they have been using these in South Africa for years
That is what we found. This summer we were able to reduce everything down to basically two pots. One thing I didn't note in the video. Is that the Kovea burner on this grill works very good as a standalone stove. So no need to haul an additional stove as well if you wanted to use it for boiling water.
I really like that discado, similar in price to the Firedisc. Like the fact that it is US made as Firedisc sources overseas for parts, no mention on the source of Skottle parts.
Very awesome editing, thanks for sharing, guys. I appreciate adopted from South Africa, made in America, but that price is pretty dang steep for a bowl of metal, a basic burner, and some legs. A side table made of wood for $75? Yikes. I'll stick with my coleman 2 burner. lol
Yes, I think they have the luxury of being one of only a few manufactures in the industry. Seems like there would be a nice space for someone to come in and make a plow disc cooker at a quarter or half the price
Exactly! But you don’t have to make it. There are a lot of “discos” and portable burners on the market. Check out agri supply for a disc and the kahuna burner.
I bought a lodge smooth griddle that fits a Coleman stove. The griddle has handles and we’ve been doing meals on it for two years. You have two burners so it is easily adjustable on both sides, cooking on both sides or whatever you want to do. Your stove cost over $500 when equipped like you have it. I really like your reviews but check out a Lodge griddle and a Coleman stove, they can both be purchased for under a $100, plus I can use mine to make coffee in my percolator. We cook every meal on this and one small pot for beans or other liquid food items. And they take up no more room. Playing with sticks, I hope you got yours free.
We have the same setup as you. You are right it works quite well. You don't see it on the channel often because it doesn't fit the current grills we have been testing the last couple of years. And no. We paid the big bucks for this Tembo Tusk. It was painful. But glad we ended up enjoying it. It really was more of a purchase for the channel than for us.
I'm curious about the spray bottles at the beginning. Is that just water? The cinnamon rolls were GENIUS!! I am definitely going to copy that idea. Mine is homemade and has a cast iron cook surface, so I'm a little worried about boiling water on it, but I'm still going to try it out.
If you want to set up a customized skottle then look for ideas from Korean camping videos on RUclips. There are thousands of videos discussing every aspect of this setup where they emphasize the importance of stoves that disburse flames to cover a wide area. Be sure to turn on Google translate. Please note that Tembo Tusk uses a Korean stove - Kovea Scout Stove.
Love the Blackstone grill. I may be wrong but I feel like these are two totally different concepts. The Blackstone makes the most incredible food by evenly distributing the heat across the surface. Where the discadas are designed to leave food on the edges to stay warm while cooking the food in the center. Does that make sense or do some of these black stones have the ability to only heat the center portion?
The other really neat thing that I left out in the edit. Is the ability to walk away from the food when cooking. We found this a cooked so nice and even that you didn’t have to babysit the food. Even if you walked away for too long over cooked it, it wasn’t badly burnt, just a nice little charred edge. It was really nice to have hands-free to to get more camp things done while cooking at the same time
Skottles are great. I have 2, the regular and the adventure one. And Jerry is an awesome human. One of my favorite people. support those that support you.
Just Math. A 22" x 16" griddle has the same cooking area as a 21" round cooking disk. A 17" x 15" griddle has the same cooking area as a 18" round cooking disk. A 20" x 10.5" cast iron flat griddle has the same cooking area as a 16" round cooking disk.
Yep. A very old idea. We used one of these when I was a kid here in Australia, although the fuel was sawdust laced with kero. This looks like a nice gas version but I’d be after legs that can extend to any length (for levelling).
Sorry I didn't show that well in the video. This one does have legs that extend. The older models did not. However, it could still benefit from a bubble level.
this is called a tawa, every indian house hold use them since the begining of time to make roti(bread) and every street food vendor uses it in india costs 3-4 $ maxx
i made mine from a wok pan, used a old steel tri-pod welded the wok skillet to the tri pod and burner on the wok and a way you go.
Yes!!!! You rock. Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s good for folks to hear this can be done DIY.
That’s the exact thought I had use a wok pan
Welding the walk skillet exposed you too toxic metals in the food every time you cook with that surface
I imagine the higher sides of the wok being a big benefit. Currys and even deep frying.
That's what came to mind!
I've had one for eight or so years, here's my thoughts. Its a great in that it replaces a lot of much heavier, bulkier stuff...meaning pots, pans and cooking stoves and whatnot. Its also difficult to cook on. The center gets very hot, no matter the burner setting, so you have to keep things in the center moving or they will get burned quickly. Things on the outside are kept warm, but you can't slow cook there. There is a definite learning curve with this device, but I keep taking it car camping with me every time!
Rogue109, I understand your point and it may be an issue for a lot of people. I don't find it a problem because I cook a ton of my meals in a steel wok and wok cooking is medium high/high heat (for many things) and a wok has the same issues you described above - you have to keep things moving. I see it as more of a learning curve but I think your comment is valid as folks need to know the pros and cons of their gear.
thank you for sharing!
Have you tried using it with a pot for slow cooking?
All I can think of is it must be great camping in places with no wind... We are so windaffected with camping cookware, how does yours go in windy conditions??
Plough disc cooking goes back decades here in Aus, but we just put them over the hot coals, so yours is a refreshing update. Cheers and good luck.
Over the coals is how my dad used one to fry fish! He’s from Mexico, they also use em to cook taco meat. Greetings from California :)
@@boredandagitated Recently my wife made me turn ours into a bird bath, welded onto 50mm box tubing, looks good so does the new Weber grill. Cheers
Another alternative is a rectangular cast iron flat griddle over one burner: area for cooking over the burner and warming areas away from it.
They seem to be a bit smaller with the largest cooking area about the same as a 16" disk cooker. However, they are inexpensive at $13-$45. Still, the largest rectangular cast iron flat griddle at $45 is about the same price as an South West Disk 18" Madrid cooking disk with legs.
Both the disk and cast iron flat griddle still need a heat source like a camp stove, fire, or dedicated burner. .
My family is from Guanajuato Mexico and I’ve never even thought about how unusual this method of cooking might seem! My dad had a big one for frying tilapia that he welded a bit of fencing onto so the lard could drop off the freshly cooked fish and back onto the disco. The taqueros in my moms town (and recently some around LA even) use em for making tacos.
Using one for camping is such a great idea! I didn’t realize the disks came from plows 😅 my dad grew up on a ranch, he’d have been disappointed to hear that from me.
bummer a pro Trump add came on and ruined it for me. Sorry
Not plows cultivating disks. Plows have heavy metal and are curved. That might make a different type of cook top. I'm thinking of building one of these. 73
I made mine and also made the legs adjustable, have been using this type for over thirty years. A time saver and also does everything I use when camping. I just need to find a bag for it lol. Great video.
First thing I thought of when I saw the bag was a rope bag (like rodeo ropers use to store their ropes
Bag looks a lot like xmas wreath storage bag . . .just saying
These two hit the nail on the head
How did you make your own, please? I am a disabled mom with two kids in a minivan, homeless in WA state trying to figure out how to cook for us on a very low income. Thank you in advance for any advice!
@@charcat1571 I Purchased a tractor disc, a one inch flat bar, pipe for the legs-two sizes so they slip inside one another for height adjustment. The burner is a commercial swap meet special. Welded and formed. I bet a local welder can help for cheap. You can get most of the supplies at a local metal shop. I buy DROP cuts and save about 30%.
May is working the new cooking set up! Everything she cooks looks delicious and she looks like a pro!! Go girl! 💐
Thank you so much for the kind comment! I will make sure May sees this. She will love it!
I was thinking the same thing. Restaurant quality meals while camping.
I always love to see May.
These always caught my eye, I appreciate how you brought it to life! I've been investing in my cooking supplies (w/ whatever is left after gas budget) and will have to seriously consider this route. Thanks guys!
I can see how a Skottle would be useful for a large group but for me and like many others I find myself cooking for no more than 5 people I just use a $55 Coleman gas stove with a $13 ozark trail griddle and I feel like it would do just as good as job for 1/4th of the price. Also the ozark trail griddle has a grill on the opposite side.
I made one of these several years ago. Works beautifully! I use a turkey fryer unit as the heat source. The flame is totally adjustable and the stand is the perfect height for me.
That is so cool to hear. I can’t even picture that turkey fryer has the heat source. I’m gonna have to Google that.
@@PlayingwithSticks the turkey fryer is simply a large propane burner mounted inside a steel framework. Just like a large camp stove burner. My disc is not as deeply dished as yours. They come in different sizes, but I used what I had, which works perfectly.
Yup same thing I do. I have welded many disks and end up loosing them to other camp cooks (hate to see grown men cry and beg)!!!
@@davidallen4552 fortunately used discs are readily available and usually free. I find that lard is absolutely the best thing to season the discs with.
The skottle is nice but I think that Mae can put together a gourmet meal with a half a chicken and some leftover veggies. She definitely has skills 👍🏼
She will really appreciate this comment David. I must admit she is an incredible cook. Never a dull meal camping with her!
I have a 16 inch and a 26 inch skillet for camp and it's used the same, to cook the things in the center or one side and keep the other stuff warm. It only took 15 years of camp cooking for six months a year to learn to change up the ten inch skillets to the bigger variety.
Yeah. All my "little" stuff went into my camp cookware to "cut down size and weight," so I had a lot of cooking stuff to cover all their limitations. And as you found, it really is more about efficient function outside in the wilds, which is something your huge pans, cooking disks, and griddles are highlighting.
Yeah, 15 years to obtain the epitome of camping pan knowledge sounds pretty good to me.
Great suggestion here!
Haha. Yep, that is us as well. The only reason we got lucky and stumbled across this is because we see all the overland guys doing it.
I've been wanting one for years. I've seen people using them on trips to Mexico and some street vendors too, but its probably been 30 years since Ive seen one.
They often used the plowing disc to make them there and here in the States too.
I'll definitely order one.
Yeah, my 12volt fridge changed my camp eating for the better. My #1 best addition. No more soggy hot dogs and lunch meat. Much healthier great tasting meals.
This was something we never thought we would purchase. The first year we had the channel we got to know a handful of people from the community really well. And once we got to know what they took out with them camping all of them had the fridge in common. We thought, if they all have them there must be something there. Wow were they right!
@@PlayingwithSticks Yeah, it is an expensive item, that I resisted buying. I changed my mind after I was was out for almost a month, and I kept running out of ice making me doubt the quality of my soggy food. Meals became more and more canned and high salt. I started to feel bad.
The fridge allows me better quality and variety. Much tastier and healthier, and more fun actually cooking instead of another "on a stick" meal.
May is just so cute the way she does things.Seems like you have a wonderful family
Aww, thank you so much. I will let May know. Camping would definitely not be the same without her.
I have probably 8 camping stove options at my house. But I've found that cooking on a 22" Blackstone is my favorite camp cooking method, especially when cooking for larger groups. Flat-top cooking is very convenient especially if you have hot and cool zones. This device is just a modified wok. It's a nice bit of kit and probably works great, seems expensive for what they are giving you.
Great video! I think the skottle looks really cool, but I think can do everything this does in a cast iron Dutch Oven for a fraction of the cost. The skottle would be faster but when I'm camping I'd rather not be in hurry; besides, I can also put the Dutch Oven on the propane stove if I'm in a hurry.
I have a RecTeq Matador grill that is similar and awesome!!! I have cooked burgers, dogs, then beef stew for over 75 people. Works so well.
75 people! That is awesome. Thanks for sharing this brand.
This is right out of every Mexicanos backyard. Been around for ages and perfect for tripas and such.
I’ve cooked onmine for at least 35 years, in Mexico. I made it from a plow disc, we call it a disco.
I bought a disc with handles welded on at Lowe's after reading about "discada" in Backwoodsman.
Its made from a solid disc with no hole in middle and cost $40-60 I forget what exact cost is, but had to have it!
I first saw a "discada" cooker in South Texas in the mid 80s. The Hispanic culture has been using them for a long time. Just an old plow disk with the hole welded up over a wood fire or on a stand with a propane burner. Horseshoes for handles. I have one that I have been cooking and camping with for 20 years. They certainly have their purpose and I can see where it could be your sole source for cooking if you needed to keep it simple or because of less room. I think of it as just one of my tools for camp cooking. Flat griddles, dutch ovens and grilles are all handy to have for variety of methods and keep your food less one dimensional.
I like the idea of horseshoes for handles. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
I really like this idea , it’s kind of like a shallow wok but way more versatile. Thanks Drew !
Shallow wok. That’s it exactly.
@@PlayingwithSticks shallow wok that you can't move over the flame.
@@bjnslc Yes. Right on.
Great video! I do love the grill disc.That food looks delicious!
Truly is delicious. And yes! I will get you one for home. Just not a $395 version. Haha.
Hi 👋 how are you doing?
Good day to you!
I am a senior rider on HONDA Cross Cub from Japan.
I am enjoying camping ,touring and upload video.
This is so nice cooking video!
Awesome!
Have a nice day my friend!
Check out our video titled something like how to build a bike camper. Can’t remember the exact title. I think there’s some glimpses of my supercub in that video. I actually built that trailer in the video to be towed by both my E bike and the super cub. Huge super cub fan. Mine is the Thai version though.
Similarly, we use a 2' diameter steel wok with free standing burner that we take with us when the family comes along and have easily fed about 20 people with it. They are very convenient and efficient. I believe the cost of my set up was half of the cost at Bass Pro Shop but was many years ago.
I must say that the skottel braai is one of the best ways to make breakfast while camping, we grew up with it here in South Africa and still love cooking on it. Thanx for the nice videos got a lot of nice tips for my first build!
I think it’s a fascinating concept and better for many reasons, number one being the possibility to keep food hot!
Damn, blast from the past, we have been using these since the 70's in South Africa. Skottel is an Afrikaans or Dutch word. We used the original made by Cadac.
I am going to dig mine out now and make some breakfast.
Love it!
Great video. Many people focus on price, not what the price buys them. Packing, setup and actual ease of use are factors. Speaking for myself, if something takes longer that 20 minutes to deploy, it seldom gets used and typically stays home. As you well know not every camping day is weather perfect.
>$500 for the setup in the demo is pretty wack. I think if the price was closer to $200, that’s more reasonable, but that ain’t gonna put this guy’s kid through college
Yes, it almost forces most people into going the DIY option. I will say we have got our money out of ours, but we camp a lot! I was pretty sure this purchase was going to be a loss for me. I was pleasantly to surprised to find I really liked it. But would I do it again. Nope, I build one myself.
I knew folks would ask that so I made sure to put no link to the item in the description. Basically letting people make their own, buy this one, or find a different discadas. So no, no kickbacks here.
Have to add that to my list of, "needs" for the camping equipment. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Love the “needs” list. 😆
My wife and I were talking about these when we went camping this past weekend. Its been around for as long as we can remember and we are in our 40's what we werent sure about was if it was common anywhere outside of South Africa.
This seems familiar to me I think my grandparents used to use one. If they did odds are it worked. Thank you Playing with Sticks!!
That is so cool! I am a sucker for any camping gear my grandparents used. One I trust them. Two I love the nostalgia factor!
Pans of this style are very popular in the Nordic countries, and they really are great. They make the absolute best crepes!
Yum! We are going to have to try that.
Here in Santa Fe, they are called Discos and you can buy them in all sizes on every corner for an affordable price.
Thanks!
Very helpful and well done. Would love to see you share some recipes, cooking tips or even a comparison with a Blackstone griddle in future videos.
I was thinking the same thing. I was a little surprised folks are enjoying this video. I kind of made this one for me as a fun video. Looks like others are in the same boat wondering what’s the best way to cook. The Blackstone is definitely on our shortlist.
Wow, Brad! Thank you so much for this! RUclips never sent us a notification that you left the tip. We really appreciate it.
Something similar to this is a paella burner. You can buy it just as a stand/ burner set, or you can buy it with the pan included. Not saying it's any better or worse than the skottle, just another thing to consider
I just bought a Korean flat BBQ disk (very inexpensive) which I plan on using with my butane stove. Also have an old wok lid which I can repurpose for this. Yay! No extra $ spent. 😎
Nice! Any chance you could share the brand of that Korean flat barbecue disc?
@@PlayingwithSticksI think RUclips axed my reply so heres another try. The Korean BBQ is thinner, got it on Temu. You might want to look at Southwest Disk, made in New Mexico, veteran owned, authentic Latin cookware and much less $ than the camping versions.
FWIW, I bring my cast iron set with me in my teardrop.....Works on the stove or campfire. That said, once stuff is cooked it holds the heat til you're ready to serve. The only "extra" to bring is oven mitts. Clean-up is water and steel scrubbies (only)... no soap allowed. They can work just like a flat-top griddle, but put away in a small space. Plus, they're indestructible.
You can probably even make a gourmet deep-dish pizza with that thing !
I love the idea of the disc grill, and I would pay $85. to $100. that's what it looks like it should be worth. And I have to remember I am only cooking for two.
To me that sounds like the right pricing as well. It also seems like there’s room in the market for someone to come in and undercut all these prices. Thanks for sharing Mark.
$395 is pretty pricey. A Blackstone is $140.
@@hershlawfirmpc A 17” Blackstone is good for two. The Blackstone doesn’t get as compact as the Skottle.
@@garretlewis4103 that’s true about the size and weight. I can cook for 4 on my 17” Blackstone. Even the 22” Blackstone is substantially cheaper than the skottle but the 22” is a monster in size
Good comparison. And a Blackstone is quality.
I am from Texas, we use a disk from farm equipment trailer, for tilling, you can find them anywhere, we make tripas and fajitas on them been doing it since I was 4 or 5 and I am 60 now lmao
of course if you do a search you can find very good quality similar with removable discs for $100 - $150 burner and $10-$50 disc or you could find a generic for $85 for everything that would take up a bit more space.
Thank you for sharing.
Have one as well, I prefer the BlackStone 22” with stand. Easier to store in the camper.💪🏽 Uses less fuel.
Good points there.
While a great idea for some, the reality is, you will often still need a 2nd or even 3ed burner for different jobs. For example, would you use this for making your morning coffee or tea? Or would you use that 1 pound cylinder and a small burner with a single cup?
There are many modles of this on the market, the Oris, colman offers a 4 in 1 system, eastman outdoors has a wok system.
In reality though you can buy just a ploughdisk wok or cowboy wok and cook with that either directly over the fire, over a colman stove, or such.
Though even then this won't be for everyone, you need to think of your cook style, and camp style. something about a big heavy cast iron pot, slow cooking chilly for hours on end over a low fire in the wood burning stove... while letting the bread cook in the dutch oven. slicing the bread in half and scooping out some of the insides, then filling the loaf with the chilli, covering with cheese then putting it in the wood stove for the last bit to get the cheese golden brown before serving.
Yes, there is more clean up to do, but sometimes the cleanup is worth it. Especially if you are making soups, stews, and such.
Remember, people talk about cooking different outdoors. And while in many cases thats true... they also forget that outdoors people can burn a lot more callories... especially with chores like chopping wood, collecting water, chasing the sun for solar panels.
lololol that "OK" after he said $395, like you're trying not to choke. Looks awesome, but yeah, that is pretty steep.
Oh man my brain gears were turning. I actually didn’t know what to say. What do I say next? I think I said $395 sounds like a lot to me? But… haha. It’s funny you caught that.
@@PlayingwithSticks Haha. By the way, you'll be happy to know that I just spent a day organizing our small homemade squaredrop based on many of your suggestions. We live in Utah, and have two boys ages 3 and 1, and I really relate to your channel. Thanks for your content!
Awesome that others are discovering the wok
This looks great. I might prefer a carbon steel wok that I could pick up from the legs, but I don't know of an off the shelf solution that's this compact and light. I'll have to think on being flat vs high sides.
One of friends had a homemade one of these the she used for SCA camping. It was awesome.
I love hearing comments like this!
My grandpa used to make those and give them as gifts. He would make them from old plow discs from the farm.
How cool is that!
Gotta get me one of these for cooking outside the camper… I think a Spanish portable paella grill would be similar and available here in the UK, but that South African cowboy griddle looks more sturdy.
Even though we had just finished eating dinner when we watched this, I got “Jonesing” a little bit for some steak, potatoes, and asparagus. I almost bought a Skottle. Like the idea. I little pricey. There are some other RUclips videos out there where people have made one. Just like cast iron. Really cannot mess it up. Just take a little time and season it again and good as new (probably better).
Haha. That’s what May kept saying as she was looking over my shoulder during the edit. This summer we’d like to try the baking season method just to see if it’s any different. Seems like most guys in the Overland industry like to throw theirs in the oven when they are re-seasoning.
with a fold out table and this skottle you could ALMOST eliminate the need for a galley in the teardrop. i always wanted to build one without a galley.
Very true. Even though we had our dream galley this summer. We were surprised to find how much time we cooked outside of it. But, we’re also conditioned for this because our teardrop drop has no kitchen in it
Love the Channel and the content! You are a blessed man with a beautiful family!
Sorry Drew! I’m a huge fan and I have to say you’ve influenced a lot of my choices with your videos and info, but the skottle is the biggest ripoff in the overlanding world. I’m glad you opened with making it for much less, but you don’t have to make it you can buy similar and even better buying a disecada and portable burner.
No sorries needed! You probably noticed I didn’t put any discount code on here for the Tembo Tusk. it’s a great little grill, but I don’t want people to think that’s the only option. I just want everyone to see a plow disc cooker. In terms of the discada the ones I keep running across are still very expensive. If you have the time could you leave some brand names for the more affordable ones. Unfortunately if you leave a link I find RUclips usually flags it as spam.
Way to pricey for this type of gear. Also, How does it do in the wind?
I made one with a spare turkey deep fryer burner (built in wind screen) and a cast iron cooking surface shaped just like these steel disc platters....total cash outlay was under a hundred bucks.
@@MrRyanmcmahon Surprisingly well, but our family is all about slow cooking. If you need to get things done fast maybe there would be a struggle? We used it for 1 month in the winds of wyoming. We were very impressed. Less by the Skottle and more by the burner they use. It is a Kovea burner. We never even pulled out the windscreen.
So damn true! A little welding and a disecada and a burner and you’re good to go. I honestly can’t believe people that price for a piece of steel and a burner!!!
instant bubble level for your plow disc cooker, drop a 1/4 teaspoon of water in the depression of the cooker. Tada!
Haha. Someone else mentioned the same thing. I’m a bit embarrassed I didn’t think of that.
Bayou classic has the same kind of griddle for a third of the price. Add a Coleman bottle top propane stove and you’re set
Yay! This is the type of information we were hoping people would share.
Good information! 👍. Link to a website?
LOVE my Blackstone!
What size Blackstone do you have?
@@mikemead2315 17”? 22? Small , just my wife and I but ive made food for 6 on it.
@@rickdee67 Thanks. Good to hear the small ones work well for you. I've been looking at the small ones. I'm impressed.
We were goo goo about them after watching all Eli's videos from East Coast RV. That guy sure knows how to cook on a Blackstone.
Where I'm from, we call that a disco ( theeescoe ) . It's a norm in Texas and Mexico
I love how you broke down the pronunciation. It sounds so much better rolling off my tongue.
I have one made from a old disk so I will say good idea but mine is way thicker. Used it for 20 years. In backyard over half an old steel drum.
May and I have come to the conclusion that thicker is better. People in the comments say get a Wok. Well, they obviously have not cooked on thicker surfaces like this. Yes, you can find thick woks in places like Asia. But I think the woks most people are referring to on here are much thinner than a plow disk.
The Skottle is definitely overpriced and the one I saw certainly didn't strike me as very high-quality. We love our 22" Roswell UFO discada from Southwest Disk. It's seriously tough, inexpensive ($95) and it has removable legs so you can use it over a campfire/charcoal with the legs on or remove the legs and use it on a propane burner. Southwest Disk is veteran-owned, which as a retired Coast Guardsman is important to me. Their propane burner is sold separately ($105) and is seriously powerful and well-made. Don't discount the ability to put on the legs and use the Southwest Disk over a campfire - it's a game-changer.
This is the type of comment we were hoping to get. Thank you so much for sharing this. I believe a lot of people benefit from this comment.
Great Find! Now that is competitive with other camp griddles.
I want the "Roswell UFO Discada" just for the name 🛸👽😃
I have one of the burners like what Southwest sells and they pack down fairly small, I need to order a 18" discount from them and it will be a perfect setup.
Good ol South African ingenuity! 🇿🇦
It’s so fun to know that people are watching this from all over the world
Been camping a long long time. This is ingenious
This has been in use for ages across Southern Africa. Farmers reusing their plough discs.
All I kept thinking is how lucky those kids are. Masterclass in parenting 👍
finally dads that give good food to their kids nice.
I have been spoiled with good food at the campsite. Once you start treating camp meals like home meals it is hard to go back. .
As a South African I thought everyone in the world knew about a skottle for camping. Its the only tool you need for breakfast. Lunch and dinner is done in/on a Potjie Pot or Braai(BBQ)
I am from South Africa now living in Canada and brought a similar skottle with me when I immigrated nearly 20 years ago I had to modify it slightly to work with a 20 pound gas tank here in Canada but do use it from time to time they have been using these in South Africa for years
It's just so cool! But that sticker shock though. Maybe after income taxes! Haha!
Right? When I bought it I convinced myself I could do it because I was doing it for the channel. 😆
Justification analogy well-thought-out!
Nice! It sure would replace my entire outdoor cooking setup and fit into one of my storage bins. Thanks.
That is what we found. This summer we were able to reduce everything down to basically two pots. One thing I didn't note in the video. Is that the Kovea burner on this grill works very good as a standalone stove. So no need to haul an additional stove as well if you wanted to use it for boiling water.
I really like that discado, similar in price to the Firedisc. Like the fact that it is US made as Firedisc sources overseas for parts, no mention on the source of Skottle parts.
Good point on the source of parts. I should have asked.
Very awesome editing, thanks for sharing, guys. I appreciate adopted from South Africa, made in America, but that price is pretty dang steep for a bowl of metal, a basic burner, and some legs. A side table made of wood for $75? Yikes. I'll stick with my coleman 2 burner. lol
If you like the idea/concept there are some RUclips videos where people have made these for much less.
Yes, exactly! Thanks for sharing this Garret.
Yes, I think they have the luxury of being one of only a few manufactures in the industry. Seems like there would be a nice space for someone to come in and make a plow disc cooker at a quarter or half the price
Exactly! But you don’t have to make it. There are a lot of “discos” and portable burners on the market. Check out agri supply for a disc and the kahuna burner.
I didn’t realize you already posted this. Hank you!
I love this. For two people it is perfect.
And some of the discadas out there are quite a bit larger than this version.
Yes, you can cook almost anything with this set-up. Very Mexicano-style
We’ve been cooking on this thing year-round not only is it a great camp tool it’s great for the home. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful family, amazing camp cooking tool
.. kinda liking this ,, resembles a large Wok ... I imagine it could be used with a hose kit and a larger tank ...
I have an Iceco 75 Ltr fridgezzer duo. Love the thing.
I bought a lodge smooth griddle that fits a Coleman stove. The griddle has handles and we’ve been doing meals on it for two years. You have two burners so it is easily adjustable on both sides, cooking on both sides or whatever you want to do. Your stove cost over $500 when equipped like you have it. I really like your reviews but check out a Lodge griddle and a Coleman stove, they can both be purchased for under a $100, plus I can use mine to make coffee in my percolator. We cook every meal on this and one small pot for beans or other liquid food items. And they take up no more room. Playing with sticks, I hope you got yours free.
We have the same setup as you. You are right it works quite well. You don't see it on the channel often because it doesn't fit the current grills we have been testing the last couple of years. And no. We paid the big bucks for this Tembo Tusk. It was painful. But glad we ended up enjoying it. It really was more of a purchase for the channel than for us.
How would you drain the grease if cooking ground beef or bacon?
I'm curious about the spray bottles at the beginning. Is that just water? The cinnamon rolls were GENIUS!! I am definitely going to copy that idea. Mine is homemade and has a cast iron cook surface, so I'm a little worried about boiling water on it, but I'm still going to try it out.
I was going to ask the same thing! What's up with Mei just spritzing stuff and wiping it off? Need a future vid on it.
Love my mine! Worth every penny!
If you want to set up a customized skottle then look for ideas from Korean camping videos on RUclips. There are thousands of videos discussing every aspect of this setup where they emphasize the importance of stoves that disburse flames to cover a wide area. Be sure to turn on Google translate. Please note that Tembo Tusk uses a Korean stove - Kovea Scout Stove.
I LOVE THIS WOK LIKE GRILL
I pick up a 17 inch imitation Blackstone grill from Aldi that I could use to cook these items on that burner grill.
Love the Blackstone grill. I may be wrong but I feel like these are two totally different concepts. The Blackstone makes the most incredible food by evenly distributing the heat across the surface. Where the discadas are designed to leave food on the edges to stay warm while cooking the food in the center. Does that make sense or do some of these black stones have the ability to only heat the center portion?
Australia had something very similar in the 70's called a "Superchef Barbeque" which ran on propane, wood or sawdust.
To expensive to purchase but easy to build DIY. For welding go to a shop and they will do it for a little money. Love cooking this way
Greet advice here Danny!
Don't watch this if you're hungry!! everything looks DELICIOUS ❤!
Yeah. Keeping "other" food warm while cooking has been a problem.
The other really neat thing that I left out in the edit. Is the ability to walk away from the food when cooking. We found this a cooked so nice and even that you didn’t have to babysit the food. Even if you walked away for too long over cooked it, it wasn’t badly burnt, just a nice little charred edge. It was really nice to have hands-free to to get more camp things done while cooking at the same time
I’ll just keep using my wok or griddle. Kinda cool though.
Yes, if your gear is meeting the challenge why change it!
“ Chorizo ??? ” ¡Ay, caramba !!! 😋
Skottles are great. I have 2, the regular and the adventure one. And Jerry is an awesome human. One of my favorite people. support those that support you.
Love hearing this. Always nice to hear testimonials from people who actually know the manufacturer.
In Mexico that’s how street vendors sell food. It used to be heated with wood but now of course propane.
Just Math.
A 22" x 16" griddle has the same cooking area as a 21" round cooking disk.
A 17" x 15" griddle has the same cooking area as a 18" round cooking disk.
A 20" x 10.5" cast iron flat griddle has the same cooking area as a 16" round cooking disk.
Love the part where you can bake on it. Looking for a cowboy wok to sit on my single butane burner.
👍👍 Thanks!!!
We’re making these from new agriculture discs, but you have to put in sweat equity: the factory made one affords instance gratification
This is known as a Sarg (like Sargent) where I live & throughout Middle East & the rest of Asia, heated with wood traditionally
Would love to get one but boy are they pricey. Great video guys, thanks for sharing.
Yes the price is painful. The discadas are a bit cheaper but still pretty expensive.
Thanks for the reply, I've put it on my list of wants not needs. LOL Keep up the good work.
Yep. A very old idea. We used one of these when I was a kid here in Australia, although the fuel was sawdust laced with kero. This looks like a nice gas version but I’d be after legs that can extend to any length (for levelling).
Sorry I didn't show that well in the video. This one does have legs that extend. The older models did not. However, it could still benefit from a bubble level.
El viejo y querido disco de arado. En mi país es parte de la cocina tradicional
@@Martin_3D Me encanta escuchar cosas como esta. La diversión con otras culturas se adhiere a las tradiciones de cocina de larga data.
Do you have a video for your dish cleanup system? I saw some spray bottles and stuff... would love to see some details on that!
this is called a tawa, every indian house hold use them since the begining of time
to make roti(bread) and every street food vendor uses it in india costs 3-4 $ maxx
The price about made me swallow my tongue. I never imagined it would be THAT much.
You and I both! I wish you could’ve seen my face in the video where he tells me the price. Haha.
There are some people who have built/made these. Do a RUclips search. The price got me too. Like the concept though.