Six Things You’ll Find In Any Typical Oklahoma Home

When it comes to an average Oklahoma kitchen, you'd be hard-pressed not to find a well-used and probably super-old piece of cast iron lying around. It's just such a universally great piece of cookware that never wears out. I've inherited mine from family members, and I'll tell you what, cast iron is a better non-stick surface than anything you can buy at the store these days.

If you don't have any cast iron, here's a super helpful tip about acquiring some... Don't buy new cast iron. The quality stuff is crazy expensive, the cheap stuff is terrible, and you can usually find great old cast iron in second-hand stores on the cheap.

Beer is a weird thing in the bible belt. I heard stories growing up about my devout Baptist grandfather who enjoyed having a beer when cooking with his boys and whatnot. Even when they went out to dinner, he would keep a menu at the table to hide his beer behind just in case someone he knew walked in. I thought it was just a funny trait of one old man... but it's not.

As I've spent so much time in Oklahoma getting to know so many different people, I've found this trait is pretty common. Beer in the fridge at home, no beer in public. I know some people who will go to the next town over just to buy their beer as if having a cold one once in a while is shameful.

When it comes to BBQ, there's a very thin line of acceptance among the Okies. BBQ isn't supposed to be sweet, sticky, or fall-off-the-bone tender.

All the same, it's not supposed to be sour, dry, or chewy either. The perfect BBQ lies somewhere in between all the "famous" BBQ styles out there.

Meat isn't supposed to be sugary, it's all about that smoke in Oklahoma, and the secret ingredient to great BBQ is in the sauce.

While I've known a few Okies that prefer KC Masterpiece, that's as taboo as ordering a well-done steak. Almost every Oklahomans house has a bottle of Head Country BBQ Sauce in it, and I'd bet 20-to-1 it's the hickory smoke flavor. An Oklahoma original, still cooked and bottled in Northern Oklahoma, it's honestly the best a BBQ can get.

If the last few years of panic-buying and ammo hoarding haven't clued you in, Oklahomans love their guns.

Why? Because as a citizen of these United States, you can. And they're a lot of fun, but mostly the freedoms thing.

You'd probably be shocked to see how many homes in the Sooner State have at least one of each... Rifle, shotgun, and a pistol.

Granted, being anti-gun or just not owning a firearm may be growing less uncommon in the state, but the majority for sure is Oklahoma loves guns.

I've heard people talking for the last fifteen years about how pickup trucks have become so popular across the US, but I can't remember a time when trucks weren't popular.

My entire life, there's always been at least one truck in nearly every driveway in every place I've lived across Oklahoma.

Of course, they're geared more now towards the soft-handed man these days, with their heated leather seats and plush interiors, touchscreen connected everything and automatic transmissions. They qualify as "trucks" in the academic sense of the word.

While trucks are out of place in any driveway, seeing them haul anything anywhere is a rarity. It is still nice to see a battle-scarred working truck from time to time though.

I cannot tell you how many times we kids stumbled across a whole tin full of cookies only to find needles and thread jam-packed under the tight-fitting lid.

Both grandmas had them. Mom has one. I'll even admit that my sisters and I all have one... but only because I thought it'd make for a hilarious Christmas gift one year. I literally tossed the cookies and put sewing kits in them.

I'd wager that a vast majority of Oklahoma households have the same sewing kit.