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Jstroke
Jstroke Posts: 2,600
in EggHead Forum
I have finally confirmed my suspicion's I have for a long time considered that what I cook at home is almost without a doubt better Than 95% of all the restaurants I see and today was no exception. I went to a very reputable barbecue restaurant that had excellent reviews and was sorely disappointed. I give the gentleman credit because he at least had the gumption to sell out his items on a per daily basis but nonetheless the brisket was dry and the sauce was either sickly sweet or hot without flavor. I am on the road for business and when i am i miss my wife, my home and my egg. Not neccissatily in that order.
Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    Welcome to the world of BBQ snobbery - the best approach is not to eat BBQ while on the road, find something else, lots of cuisine out there. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • ksmyrl
    ksmyrl Posts: 1,050
    edited April 2015
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    I'd say what we make at home is better than 95% of all restaurants. SWMBO wanted to eat out tonight cause the kids were not with us. The restaurant was mediocre at best. Although the classic martini was good. She even said "your egged meals are better". We have a few gems that never disappoint but they are at least a Benjamin and a half each time we go. Egged food/home cooking for me all the way.
    Fish, Hunt, Cook....anything else?

    1LBGE, 1MMBGE, somewhere near Athens GA
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  • Cookbook_Chip
    Cookbook_Chip Posts: 1,299
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    Copy that
    Lovin' my Large Egg since May 2012 (Richmond, VA) ... and makin' cookbooks at https://FamilyCookbookProject.com
    Stoker II wifi, Thermapen, and a Fork for plating photo purposes
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    lousubcap said:
    My restaurant rule, "Never order/eat anything in a restaurant that you cook at home."  Gets you out of the routine and you find some interesting dishes.  YMMV-
    Brings back some "rules" I had when I worked and was on a company expense account - I never ate in the hotel I stayed in, gets you out of the room and the bar next to the lobby. Great advice, try something different, you just might find something you like and if it was not all that great, think of it as a not too expensive life experience...
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    The better you learn to cook, the harder it is to find a decent restaurant. No matter the style of cooking. Q is no exception.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • EggNorth
    EggNorth Posts: 1,535
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    If I could only learn how to make NY or McDonald fries at home without a deep fryer I'd never leave the house.
    Dave
    Cambridge, Ontario - Canada
    Large (2010), Mini Max (2015), Large garden pot (2018)
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  • JRWhitee
    JRWhitee Posts: 5,678
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    I hate to say it but I do find good BBQ in Texas.
                                                                
    _________________________________________________
    Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story!
    Large BGE 2006, Mini Max 2014, 36" Blackstone, Anova Sous Vide
    Green Man Group 
    Johns Creek, Georgia
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    EggNorth said:
    If I could only learn how to make NY or McDonald fries at home without a deep fryer I'd never leave the house.
    Here ya go... =)

    http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-perfect-mcdonalds-style-french-fries.html

    Disclaimer. I haven't done this. But Kenji is usually spot on. Enjoy!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • ksmyrl
    ksmyrl Posts: 1,050
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    @skiddymarker +1. I travel a lot in my line of work. My favorite restaurant story is a tiny little place in El Paso Texas. It was about 10 miles north of the city in Canutillo Tx. "The Little Diner" known for their Gorditas. It is literally in a trailer park and I was the only non Spanish speaking person in the restaurant. The Gorditas were out of this world and they used grandma's recipe. I met grandma in the back. The people made the experience one I'll never forget. I was clearly from out of town and they welcomed me with open arms. I'll never forget that place. And to think I almost ate at the Marriott that night. 
    Fish, Hunt, Cook....anything else?

    1LBGE, 1MMBGE, somewhere near Athens GA
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  • beachsmoke
    beachsmoke Posts: 644
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    when we are on the road we try to hit diners drive in dive joints or man vs bacon local joints.  I agree 100 percent I would rather cook on the egg and spend 1/3 and enjoy the cook
    Large egg panhandle of florida
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  • EggNorth
    EggNorth Posts: 1,535
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    Carolina Q said:
    EggNorth said:
    If I could only learn how to make NY or McDonald fries at home without a deep fryer I'd never leave the house.
    Here ya go... =)

    http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-perfect-mcdonalds-style-french-fries.html

    Disclaimer. I haven't done this. But Kenji is usually spot on. Enjoy!
    Bookmarked! Going to give it a try... Thanks.
    Dave
    Cambridge, Ontario - Canada
    Large (2010), Mini Max (2015), Large garden pot (2018)
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  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,647
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    Unfortunately we too are in the situation where we rarely go out because we do our favorite dishes better than the restaurants and not everything is egged.  When we re-did our kitchen, we put in a 36" range/hood and even splurged on a pot-filler. The range is dual-fuel gas cooktop w/electric oven. It is big enough that both of us can cook at the same time without getting in each others way.  
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  • Jstroke
    Jstroke Posts: 2,600
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    I never eat in the hotel and i always go local and as off the beaten path as i can get. I will say that the 5% i do find is off the hook and a specialty that I dont make at home. Tonight I wanted Q and i tried to choose the best around. Isually i pick thai or veitnamese or very small hole in the wall mexican. Tonight just wasnt a winner. Im home tomorrow and the wife will have the egg stabilized when I get off the road. Probably something easy like split breasts or whole chick. 
    Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
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  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
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    It's not just BBQ.  Most things you cook at home, if you do it well, you're going to be disappointed with most places that mass produce it for profit.

    But, if you want to talk disappointing BBQ...compare baby back ribs from Costco made at home with ribs at almost any place, and you're going to be disappointed.  Then consider the prices they charge at higher end places, and it gets really annoying.
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
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    lousubcap said:
    My restaurant rule, "Never order/eat anything in a restaurant that you cook at home."  Gets you out of the routine and you find some interesting dishes.  YMMV-
    I partially agree with you.  I think I make pretty good Italian food, but I also like a couple of Italian restaurants in town and sometimes, I just feel like having a nice hearty plate of spaghetti & meatballs served to me.

    But for the most part, I do prefer to order things I'm not likely to make for myself, like Prime Rib.
    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • AUCE
    AUCE Posts: 890
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    I'm a snob for sure...since adopting my egg I too find myself being over critical of the food when eating out. Not to say I haven't had many a fine meal at a few select establishments. I never order anything I cook at home including burgers as I'm always disappointed.
    Sushi is one thing I don't attempt..nor will I as we have a place that's off the chain. Now we do sear ahi regularly and our recipe is the bomb. I spent many years traveling and found the off the beaten path places were the best. When SWMBO travel out of the country we always dive deep into the bowels of the cities were visiting to find authentic fare many times at our own peril. We have never been disappointed. 


    I would much rather be able to say I was glad I did than wished I had........

    XL owner and purveyor of pallette perfection...

    Homosassa....Mecca of Florida

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  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
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    Right there with you on this one.  We usually hit ethnic restaurants when we dine out because those are the things I can't quite do at home without spending a small fortune on specialty ingredients.  We do go out to brunch every Sunday after church to the local BBQ restaurant because they serve one helluva breakfast.  I could do the same at home but breakfast has too big a clean up.

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    This sort of thread has come up several times over the years. The prime reason I bought my first Egg was because I had spent about 20 years trying to make ribs as good as I could find at one place in town. Within about a year of getting the Egg, I reached my goal. The local places weren't much worth visiting.

    Same is true for lots of other foods. A few years after I got "serious" about home cooking, my family would tell me things like "You could sell this." My response was that it was just decent home cooking, and that people had become used to pretty poor stuff.

    At this point, eating out is more a matter of convenience, or laziness. Or its because there is a Thai or Indian restaurant that makes things I'm clueless about.
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  • THEBuckeye
    THEBuckeye Posts: 4,231
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    I still like to buy sides, beans and slaw, from the BBQ joint. 
    New Albany, Ohio 

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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,767
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    its not just eating at resteraunts, i dont like most peoples cooking anymore =) eating out its pasta, fried chicken, or burgers, its not ever going to be a steak
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,164
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    I hear you!.....but you always need to have a good BBQ joint in your back pocket. In SC, I have not been able to duplicate some of my favorite hash (over rice). Sometimes you need to supplement the entire meal with a few gems!
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
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  • TnJed
    TnJed Posts: 118
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    I had an awesome steak at Bob's not long ago. 32oz Waygu Tomahawk.

    I love eating out, so I might be in the minority. I rarely get BBQ or Steak though. 

    “All normal people love meat … You don’t win friends with salad.” - Homer Simpson
    http://griffinmotors.blogspot.com/
    https://instagram.com/griffin_motors/ 
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  • Sameydog
    Sameydog Posts: 154
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    AUCE said:

    Sushi is one thing I don't attempt..nor will I as we have a place that's off the chain. Now we do sear ahi regularly and our recipe is the bomb. 


    Does it have the word Bistro in it's name? And can you send me the ahi recipe...please.  :)

    Bill
    From the deep south...land of saltwater fish...west central Florida
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  • robnybbq
    robnybbq Posts: 1,911
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    I prefer to get a good steak at a good steakhouse.  I have tried at home and they are OK but nothing beats a properly aged/cooked steak from a high end restaurant.

    As for an average restaurant I would not order a steak as I can do better than that.

    BBQ I can cook on the Egg pretty good when I have time.  

    We eat out allot as I am not a good cook (I am my worst critic) and dont have time to cook/prep for hours.  I find most meals I eat out are better then what I can make.

    _______________________________________________________________
    LBGE, Adjustable Rig, Spider, High-Que grate, maverick ET-732, Thermapen,

    Garnerville, NY
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  • gabriegger
    gabriegger Posts: 682
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    I don't like to eat in restaurants.  People come up and say are you him?  I say yes, they say nah!  So I say OK.  And the food sucks and is usually overpriced served by out of work actors.

    the city above Toronto - Noodleville wtih 2 Large 1 Mini

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  • BuckeyeBob
    BuckeyeBob Posts: 673
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    I end up eating out a lot as I travel frequently for business. I too prefer not to eat the things I do well when out.  That being said, I also love to find more ethnic type restaurants that I can't do as well at home. 

    i will say, certain BBQ restaurants I have been to in he South and Kansas City are pretty damn good. 
    Clarendon Hills, IL
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  • ibanda
    ibanda Posts: 553
    edited April 2015
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    I have had quite an awakening the last few years. I didn't know how to cook anything about 7 years ago when I got my egg. About a year after I got my egg I would eat at a restaurant and think, "I can do better better than this". Then I would go to another restaurant and get a different dish and think again, "I can do better than this".

    I realized you eggheads had taught me how to cook! I told my neighborhood I would cook for the block party, and women were hugging me and kissing me and complementing me on my fajitas! Not only will I eat my own cooking now, lots of people now ask when I am going to cook for them again.


    "Bacon tastes gooood, pork chops taste gooood." - Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction
    Small and Large BGE in Oklahoma City.
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  • THEBuckeye
    THEBuckeye Posts: 4,231
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    Come to think of it, I don't think we've been to a restaurant since......

    Don't remember!
    New Albany, Ohio 

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  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
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    I really just hate eating out.  We're a little busier than used to be and a lot of times home just doesn't work but what's at home is always better tasting, better for me, more fun to cook, more personal with my family, and sometimes cheaper. 


    _______________________________________________

    XLBGE 
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