Made from scratch or store bought??

[The_Kapn]

We have a multitude of threads about "Home made rubs and sauces vs commercial" and "My BBQ or Steak is better than them".
That is NOT about what I am talking about!

Mrs Kapn and I spent 10 hours in the truck going to Disney and back.
Time for some quality "conversation" :redface:
One topic--"Why do we cook somethings from scratch at home and other things we buy prepared?" This included "Why do we buy some meals at restaurants and others we always cook at home?"

As I write this, remember that we are of "historical" age and seldom cook for others except for holidays and such. We do not eat a lot and are not feeding a family routinely. Also, Mrs Kapn can not eat some things like cooked peppers and is not a "breakfast fan" like I am.
So, our "decision making" process will probably not apply to you.

Turned out our "considerations" were:

1. Item is simply not available in most stores.
This is like the multitude of appetizers like ABT's, MOINKS, Pig Shots, Stuffed mushrooms/tomatoes/peppers/etc. and several things I cook that have not been an Internet Kraze yet.

2. Item is simply not "cost effective" to make from scratch (for us).
For us, this is something as simple as a pie. A full pie would mold before we ever ate it all :redface: So, we keep a couple of Marie Calander's pie slices in the freezer for those occasions every month or two where I am "jonesing" for a slice of pie. A bit of time in the toaster oven and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and I am "good to go". :grin:
Mrs Kapn's heritage is European and we used to make piorgies from scratch. Tons of them! Now, there is a commercial brand that we just cook up with a lot of onions and they are "OK" ! Fact is, those are for supper tonight! As good as the old days??, not really. but still pretty good eats.

3. Our home cooked meal is simply not that much better than a version from a quality restaurant.
Mrs Kapn makes excellent Lasagna and Spaghetti. But, when it comes to Ravoli and the other Italian meals, we just go to Olive Garden or such and let them do the cooking and the dishes.
There are seafood restaurants that just "Blow Away" my skills, so I bow to them in a heartbeat.

4. I hate "messes" and washing a lot of dishes unless there is a clear benefit to the process!
This is like biscuits and pasta.
I was raised with a MOM and GRANNIES that made biscuits from scratch every day or two. Feeding a lot of hungry mouths and there was no commercial alternative. Now, I think the Pillsbury Grand line of biscuits (and their Cinnamon Rolls) work great and we use them all the time. There is even some individually frozen biscuits I use when I just want two for a breakfast of Fatty Sausage Gravy and Biscuits. :grin:
I have a son who makes his own pasta and pizza dough and it is literally "to die for" :grin: So much superior to store bought or dried stuff. But, once again, a huge mess that is simply not worth it to us day in and out.

5. Finally, the "thing" is simply EXPERIMENTAL or I want to IMPRESS FOKS!
I love to explore new ingredients and processes. So, sometimes I just "do it" because it seems like a "good idea" and does not seem to present a large risk in time or $$ !
I have cooked about 10 gal of my "Smoked Tomato Soup" in the last year. Looking for my definition of the ultimate blend of taste and texture and am getting real close! Not there yet :redface:
Just started working on "Smoked Potato Soup"!
Keeps me "off the streets and out of trouble" :wink:

I do stuffed and wrapped fatties at the holidays just to IMPRESS the family.

We have a multitude of threads about "Home made rubs and sauces" and "My BBQ or Steak is better than them".

That is NOT about what I am talking about!

Your thoughts ??

TIM

 

[buccaneer]

What an intense thread opener.
I'm a little bit frightened...

 

[boogiesnap]

most of the stuff i cook at home is just for fun. i can't best my fave restaurants.

i guess, maybe, that's why i do it so seldom at this point. it's waaay, messy, faaar less cost effective(most of the time), and takes a ton of time. but still....it's fun to cook.

except in BBQ, for this homemade is superior than any restaurant i have been to.

 

[Bludawg]

I DON'T buy pre pakaged or prepared foods!!! I buy ingredients. it keeps me from ingesting things I cant spell or pronounce. Eating in restaurants is a regretful convenience when I can't get home. I can't remember the last remediable meal I ate out. I cook for 3 max and usually only one unless I pick up a side gig .

 

[Gnaws on Pigs]

We don't eat out much, but we just enjoy cooking. I honestly like the stuff we make at home better than most restaraunt meals. For example, I don't think I've ever had a steak at a restaraunt that was better than the one you can make on your grill or over the campfire for about a tenth of the price. I'm also usually disappointed at a bbq restaraunt. Most just don't have as good of bbq as you can make yourself. Same with burgers, Mexican food, shrimp, fish, and a lot of other things. If you make it at home, you're making it to taste good, not to make a profit; so you're more likely to use better ingredients and more of them.

 

[funugy]

I'm with ya Kapn.

I enjoy cooking and trying to make it better or recreate a meal i've had in the past. As for BBQ'n, it is a challenge for me. I also love the "wow" I get from my friends when I tell'em I made it in my backyard.

 

[Gore]

So I'm confused. Are you asking us to PM our rub recipes to you?

 

[landarc]

There is no real pattern that comes to mind, let me cogitate.\

altho, there is one truth, there are times I am just farking lazy, and then I eat out.

 

[boogiesnap]

when you guys can make a foi gras terrine as good as gordon ramsey, fresh pasta as good as lydia shire, pastry as good as the modern, pizza as good as santarpios, or a steak as good as bobby flay, call me please.

 

[Philly-QueMaster]

Olive Garden cooks all their food in a central factory then ships it out to each of their restaurants. I wouldn't call that home made. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[tom72]

I don't eat out a whole lot...partly because of not wanting to spend the money, and partly because I like to cook. I'm a very fussy eater, and when you're really fussy, the best way to get it the way you want it is to do it yourself. The only times I go out are:

1.)I'm just not up to cooking that night.

2.)It's something I make, but I don't make it as well as the restaurant does.

3.)Seafood...I don't like most fish, but I do like shrimp, clams, and calamari. I've never really prepared seafood, let alone understanding the buying process to get the "good stuff". If I want seafood, I go out for it.

Aside from that, I generally make it myself.

 

[code3rrt]

Well, I cook because I really enjoy cooking. I was in the food industry for 17 years, from dishwasher to chef to GM. I certainly enjoyed the "chefing" the most. For me it is a hobby, almost therapeutic for me now. Most of what I make is from scratch, never really gave it that much thought as Kapn has obviously. That is one big big reason I am just loving this site. Ive messed around for years with grilling, I think I do pretty good on that end. Have done spareribs on the rotisserie for years, pretty good product usually, at least the fam has always loved them, but with what I've picked up here, from all you fine folks, I now make them much better.
And now you all have given me a bunch of new avenues to play with. I've never done Brisket or pork butts on the Q, I've done hundreds in the restaurants, braised and roasted and such. I don't have a smoker, just a nice Weber performer. From what I have picked up here, I'll eventually get around to "playing" with those, and figure out how to do a good pulled pork and brisket on the Weber, as you all say "it can be done on the kettle".

As to eating out, thae wife and I enjoy that experience only on rare occassions......why? For us it is usually for the pampering and to be waited on. When we do go out, it is usually to a nicer place, a little higher end, just for the experience.

Great idea for a thread Kapn, be great to follow for a while.

 

[Gore]

Funny, I eat out a lot, but only when I'm traveling. People always ask me about restaurants in our area where we've been living over 15 years, and I've only eaten at a handful. I know the restaurants in dozens of cities better than I know the ones here. There is no food as good as what my wife makes. I go mainly with 1 and 2 above, sometimes 3, 4 doesn't matter as I always do the clean-up. 5 also comes into play.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

Nice write up. I think that regarding my family is we are simply creatures of habit.

 

[boogiesnap]

Funny, I eat out a lot, but only when I'm traveling. People always ask me about restaurants in our area where we've been living over 15 years, and I've only eaten at a handful. I know the restaurants in dozens of cities better than I know the ones here. There is no food as good as what my wife makes. I go mainly with 1 and 2 above, sometimes 3, 4 doesn't matter as I always do the clean-up. 5 also comes into play.

does she read your posts? :becky:

 

[Baysidebob]

Wife loves to cook. I'm the pots-'n-pans man regarding cleanup. We go out for Ethiopian, Sushi and Indian because it's too much trouble at home but we're closing in on Indian. Chain restaraunts are fast-food junk with waiters. Chain pizzarias are too much salt. Wife cooks inside, I cook outside. If I'm woking on the Q she prepares and lines up the ingredients. Having learned what is allowed in "ground beef" I grind our own. Many of our days are hunt-and-gather for the dinner meal. Very primitive. The only difference between us and some guys in Borneo with blow-guns is that we have a debit card that never misses. It's become a life-style for us and probably won't fit many.

 

[Subzerogriller]

I love to cook, as well. When we go out, it's mainly for a couple of reasons: 1) we're feeling lazy, 2) we're in a hurry (with the young'n, between swimming/soccer/baseball/etc, some days there just isn't time to cook), or 3) Sometimes we just enjoy the atmosphere and the thought of "spoiling ourselves" a bit.

If we make something prepackaged, it is for one reason and one reason only: My wife is cooking. I love to cook, and I almost NEVER make anything prepackaged, but my wife would much rather just spend 10 minutes mixing two packets together and adding a protein while the veggies steam in the microwave (IN THE BAG, OMG!!!).

 

[TravelingJ]

Funny, I eat out a lot, but only when I'm traveling. People always ask me about restaurants in our area where we've been living over 15 years, and I've only eaten at a handful. I know the restaurants in dozens of cities better than I know the ones here. There is no food as good as what my wife makes. I go mainly with 1 and 2 above, sometimes 3, 4 doesn't matter as I always do the clean-up. 5 also comes into play.

Our travel schedule is what pushed us to buy a RV, so we could eat out less. The first 3 months my girlfriend worked with me, we were in a hotel the entire time. The bartenders next door new us VERY well, but it doesn't take long before NONE of the restaurants sound worth going out to. I love your line about not knowing what is in your own town. We do love to eat out at new places where we can really 'taste the area' and it's sad how many times we ask for a good place to eat, and the locals can only tell us "well, we have an Applebees, and Red Lobster, and Olive Garden...."

Yelp, Urbanspoon, and the like help a little, but it's easy for those systems to be abused to the point where they aren't really helpful. We still ask at local RV parks and see what we can find, and typically only eat at the bar when we do go out-because the best part is MEETING the locals.

That said, this is our second RV, and while we had a few things that were 'must have' features while shopping, the kitchen was the one we wouldn't budge on. I might only have a 5 cu ft fridge in here, but that pushes fresher food. I agree with the logic of 'good enough' with some store made foods. I can cobble together a pretty solid spaghetti sauce by doctoring up a jar-and the effort vs work vs flavor attained makes it the preferred method over making our sauces from scratch.

 

[rcbaughn]

One of the things that I always buy at restaurants, and probably always will, is asian food. I've tried buying all the ingredients from my local Asian Market (which is absolutely huge) and my results have never turned out with that same level of ubiquitous Asian flavors, whether is be Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, etc.

Fried rice or noodles is probably the hardest thing to try to replicate and I have never ever ever been able to make a product that wasn't sticky and gummy.

That said, I don't have a problem buying meals at restaurants so long as the ingredients they use are fresh and of good quality. I wouldn't think about buying a meal from a place that has sketchy ingredient resources or chefs.

And prepared foods, like already made wings in the bag, and chicken fingers, are pretty nice to have in the freezer for those times when I don't want to spend the $20 on an Asian meal. Especially true when I need to save the money by eating at home, but don't feel like preparing a large mise en place. That is fairly rare though, because I love putting together a smoker or grill and chopping up onions, garlic, and other veggies. Probably the best part of cooking at home though is learning and getting better at butchering cuts. I always try to buy cuts that will need a lot of prep before they are cooked just so I can get better at knife skills and meat prep.

 

[Gnaws on Pigs]

when you guys can make a foi gras terrine as good as gordon ramsey, fresh pasta as good as lydia shire, pastry as good as the modern, pizza as good as santarpios, or a steak as good as bobby flay, call me please.

I don't even want goose guts. Have no craving for them. Bobby pretty much cooks a steak just like the rest of us- throws it over the coals for a couple minutes per side. He'll be the first to tell you that simpler is better and less is more with steaks and burgers. I agree. The more crap you put on/in a steak or burger, the worse it is. As for the pasta and pizza, never ate any of those you mention, but I made a pizza last night that was plenty good enough for me, and I'm not picky with pasta. It all tastes pretty much the same. I think a lot of this top chef stuff is in the mind more than the taste buds. Never saw a chef out there that I wouldn't just as soon have my grandma's cooking that I grew up on.