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Different Strokes for Different Folks

butwhymalemodels
butwhymalemodels Posts: 267
edited March 2012 in EggHead Forum

I'm from Portland, Oregon, so perhaps it's just a regional thing, but we don't rub or marinate our steaks here. It's odd for me to see pictures of rubbed steaks...just because the flavor is so darn good all by itself. Tri-tip, on the other hand just soaks up a marinade and it's awesome.

Chicken is marinated almost always. Ribs are usually mopped with sauce. I'd never had a dry rib (memphis style) until I got my egg and most of the people that tried both recipes actually liked the Memphis better (I was the lone wer-rib guy).

It's fun to see different versions of the same thing, I guess is all I'm saying, but you can keep your rubbed steaks.

A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    have you tried it?

    i like regional differences too.  but the one thing i can't abide is "our way is better".

    i like a straight S&P steak too, but not every steak is dry aged ribeye here.  same thing over and over, as good as it is, can boring.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I have once, seemed salty. I bought the big Costco steak rub and ended up sprinkling it down into the coals on my other grill. Threw lots of smoke and worked really well with brats.

    Steak is a rare treat up here with my family so we usually just go with what works for us. I've no doubt it's wonderful, but it actually physically looks odd to see a rub on a steak since we're so used to seeing them uncovered.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well, i'll just say that it's only salty if there's too much salt in the rub.

    i guess i'm just reacting to the idea that the post seemed a little odd.  didn't sound like you were asking for different interesting regional takes on things, so much as telling people that your personal preferences are different than theirs, and that you don't care what theirs are.  :))
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    i have to atleast put salt on which is all i use most times, but some rubs are good, and sometimes i go even further
    :)) have to mix it up

    crying tiger steaks for instance
    image

    flank steak pinwheel, this was just store bought pinwheels, i dont know if i could make them better

    image

    terriaki steaks, hows that for the kitchen sink

    image

    image
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    I put a rub on my steak last night because I knew it wasn't the best quality steak and I knew that it didn't have a lot of flavor. I know that because I bought a batch of them awhile back and froze most of them. The first one I cooked was just plain salt and pepper and it wasn't that good. I'm not one to waste food, even if it isn't the best quality, so I've been trying to add flavor to them. Now on a good steak....s&p works just fine for me.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • Like everything else, I think it's what the person is used to.

    To me, "Bar-b-que" (American-style) either means dry-rubbed, or "sauced" food (usually meat) that is cooked over a charcoal / wood fire. I don't know if that's an "official" definition or not, but that's the one that *I* use. So, by MY definition, using a propane grill isn't "true" "BBQ" (again, this is they way *I* see it, may not be the way others see it).

    And actually, I think I saw a show w/ Alton Brown where he went through the history of BBQ & it came from the Spanish (or Caribbean, can't remember now) word "Barbacoa"

    And I've been told by someone who should know that the American Cowboys used to rub coffee grounds on their steaks & cook them over an open fire - hence, the "coffee rub" some companies now produce.

    And then there's the "non-Western" style of BBQ - ie, Korean (Kalbi), Mongolian, Indian (Tandoori), etc, etc, etc. It's a safe guess to say that pretty much every culture on the planet has some type of open fire cooking and it's own spices / sauces that it uses (which, one could say, are all different types of "BBQ").

    Awhile back, I ate at a "Macau" restaurant - apparently Macau is an island (or chain of islands off the coast of China that has been "owned" or influenced over the years by China, India, Portugal (and maybe some other countries). Anyway, their food also got influenced by all these different cultures, and was actually pretty interesting & tasty!!!

    Also, if you go to say, North Carolina, their "BBQ sauce" is vinegar based, and is much different in taste than say, a "St. Louis" type of sauce. And then in the Southwest, you have a lot of dry rubs instead of the wet sauces.

    Heck, even Outback restaurant has started selling what they call a "wood-fired, dry rubbed" steak - I've actually had it, and I like it MUCH better than their original steaks (which I quit eating once I perfected my steaks on the Egg). Now, whether or not they really have a wood-fired pit back there, or if it's just processing & seasoning, I dunno...

    Anyway, my (LONG WINDED) point is that it means different things to different folks, and I've tried many many different kinds & types of "BBQ" and most I have liked, some I have not.

    P.S. As far as the rub being too "salty" - well, sounds like you just got a salty rub - there are many types of dry rubs out there w/ little or no salt (salt is a quick, cheap, and easy way to add flavoring from a rub-maker's standpoint). So find one that is labeled as being low or no salt.

    Even Dizzy Pig offers at least 2 different type of steak rubs - one is a Montreal-style, which I think has more salt than their other steak rub, but I enjoy both. And I know they offer low/no salt options on at least a few of their rubs.

    Anyway, just my $0.02 ;-)
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • I hope you have at least tried the TRex method for your steak.
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    I tend to agree with Griffin.  If it is a high quality meat, S&P is all you need.  Putting a rub on it only hides the good flavor.  Do you put ketchup on it at the table too?  Also, a lot of these marinates are overpowering.  One easy to overdo is wine marinate.  I don't want to drink my steak, I want to eat it.   :-q
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • I love the regionalism of food.  I was lucky enough to be in Bonaire the week of Thanksgiving and really enjoyed the different rubs and sauces that influenced the food, Dutch, South American and African.  Just about everything we ate was the Bonairian version of BBQ.  Chicken, beef and goat are staples. 

    +3 for a good quality meat, S & P is all you need but adding a different spice or rub to food keeps the taste buds guessing and you may find something that really works.

    I wish I had a picture to share but in Bonaire at a BBQ we attended the grill-master took a tank of Nitrox and used it to get more air to the coals.  Good thing I was "3/4 in the bag" or I would have been scared to death to been as close to that Weber as I was.

     

    _________________________________________________________________________________________

    Johnson, Navin R... Sounds like a typical bastard.

     

    Belmont, NC

  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    @Hokie Smoker.  I hope you weren't at the Sand Dollar, waking up in the middle of the night to two young thieves trying to steal your stuff.  I chased one and my wife chased the other.  She caught him on the fence and he lost his hat and knife before slipping out of her grip.  The police weren't interested.

    Don't mess with my wife.  
    =D>
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited March 2012
    not sure he was talking about over marinating it.  and we all agree a high quality steak needs nothing more than s&p.

    but that still doesn't mean the logical conclusion is that rub doesn't belong on a steak

    i think lobster should be steamed, and that those frozen tails sold down south aren't really anything close to a steamed lobster.  but that doesn't mean i'm right, or that anyone should listen, if i said "you can keep your grilled lobster"

    sounds like the dude gets a steak once a in great while.  maybe if it weren't so infrequent he;d be a little more forgiving to those who like something different once in a while.




    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • butwhymalemodels
    butwhymalemodels Posts: 267
    edited March 2012
    The dude doesn't give a (petunia) what you do with your steak, stike. It was merely an observation.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239

    I'm from Portland, Oregon, so perhaps it's just a regional thing, but we don't rub or marinate our steaks here. It's odd for me to see pictures of rubbed steaks...just because the flavor is so darn good all by itself. Tri-tip, on the other hand just soaks up a marinade and it's awesome.

    Chicken is marinated almost always. Ribs are usually mopped with sauce. I'd never had a dry rib (memphis style) until I got my egg and most of the people that tried both recipes actually liked the Memphis better (I was the lone wer-rib guy).

    It's fun to see different versions of the same thing, I guess is all I'm saying, but you can keep your rubbed steaks.

    I've become more "adventurous" in my eating with age. I have to admit the first time I was offered a dry rib, I thought the kitchen had forgot the sauce. When I mentioned I wanted some sauce, my host said the cooks would probably be offended. So I passed, and over the years have pretty much gone over to the no-sauce camp. I've come a long way. When I was growing up (folks across the south and south-west will cringe when I say this) BBQ was a sandwich of loose ground beef, pan fried, usually with little bits of carrots, drowned in bottled sauce.  I was astonished the first time I heard brisket was used for BBQ.

    I think I've seen exactly 1 tri-tip at a butcher shop. I think if a restaurant opened offering "authentic tri-tip, Portland style," most people would just scratch their head.

    When I was younger, nobody ever did anything with steaks but S&P. Maybe sometimes a little garlic. But a restaurant just had no class if they also didn't offer steak sauce. And for holidays, plain old steak was not good enough. Had to be smothered in melted onions, or a mushroom sauce. Really daring guys would have a horseradish sauce, but they were crazy.
  • JerkChicken
    JerkChicken Posts: 551
    I always dress my steaks up with some rubs or spices. I happen to like it a great deal. With so many different flavors, spices, and sauces in this global market I think it's ignorant to not try them.
    LBGE, Weber OTG w/ Rotisserie, Weber Genesis S-330, Chargriller Duo, AR-15, AK-47
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited March 2012
    @malemodel: i didn't think you would care.  that's my point.

    you fail to see that you believe we are supposed to care about your observation (otherwise, you wouldn't have posted it, right?), but you want us to acknowledge also that you don't care about ours.

    i guess i was just trying to tiptoe around it.  but since you have no such qualms, i'll offer my observation:  no one cares how you like your steak either.  your dismissive personal observation offers nothing to anyone.


    dude.


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Let me apologize then, stike:

    I'm sorry your panties are bunched up this afternoon.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • I have to run to a meeting, but if anyone else feels I have dismissed their way of cooking, let me know via this thread and I can apologize to you, too, when I return.

    Love,

    The Dude

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • @VI, not at Sand Dollar but at a place owned by Buddy Dive for the Nitrox bellows system.  Not to Hijack this thread but I noticed on your site several dive trips but nothing recently, you still like to get "tanked" or has wokking taken over as your passion?

    I had several people warn me about Bonaire but I had no episodes with crime, I think the people there are figuring out that tourism is their cash cow. 

    _________________________________________________________________________________________

    Johnson, Navin R... Sounds like a typical bastard.

     

    Belmont, NC

  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    Hokie, we quit diving about 15 years ago.  Went to all the Caribbean Islands, many of them, like Cozumel, Roatan and Belize,  multiple times.  Got my Advanced NAUI, Nitrox certification, etc.  Even got Cave certified in Florida.  We kinda lost interest after awhile.  The bleaching of the coral had begun, and the beckoning of the mountains started calling me.  It was a fun, exciting time for awhile, but it was time to move on.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    HIGHJACK ALERT.

    Gary, you ever dive north or south Bemini? I had some good times on those islands. The Tourtugas too.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    Yes, South Bimini, Travis.  Not a good time.  Our "dive masters" would take us to a location, and say "the pool's open" and not go in themselves.  Normally, that would be fantastic, but there were newbies on every dive that needed (and wanted) help or oversight.  I had to take up the slack and I didn't appreciate it because I wanted to do my own exploring.  They would even come about an hour late in the morning for our dive, and when we'd ask, they'd just say "hey, it's Bimini time"

    At the end of the week, when one of the dive masters was hovering over me at the bar, wanting a tip, I let him have it with both barrels.  I told him that they should have paid me for the trip.  I will say that Bimini was some of the best shark diving I ever had.  Also, saw my only whale shark there.


    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited March 2012
    @butwhy.  panties not bunched.  [edited to remove references to imbecility, banality, and yawning]
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I have to run to a meeting, but if anyone else feels I have dismissed their way of cooking, let me know via this thread and I can apologize to you, too, when I return.

    Love,

    The Dude

    butwhymalemodels as Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy: Is there no one else? Is there no one else?

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • IrishDevl
    IrishDevl Posts: 1,390
    Stike doesn't wear panties only Commando style.  He will have no issue sending you some photos I am sure.