Kansas City-Style BBQ is arguably the best (don’t shoot it’s my opinion) regional form of American BBQ on the map. While some Carolinians may despise it for its ‘long way from home’ style of smoking, it’s a legend in its own right. There are separate articles on all the other styles from Carolina to Texas to Memphis, and just a general rundown if you want the condensed version.
History
Kansas City BBQ starts with Henry Perry, in my eyes, and in the eyes of most pitmasters, one of the founding fathers of barbecue as we know it today. Henry was born in Memphis where he learned the fine art of pit smoking. He worked on steamboats on the Mississippi River where he refined his skills then eventually settled down in Kansas City, Missouri.
There in 1908, at the garment district in downtown Kansas, he started serving smoked ribs on pages of newspaper and sold them for 25 cents a slab from a little alley stand. He was not just known for his mouth-watering BBQ, but for his generosity too.
Charlie Bryant who worked for Perry learned the skill attentively and eventually got his brother, Author Bryant, involved in the business. After Perry passed away in 1940 at age 66, Charlie took over the restaurant, who then left it to his brother Auther in 1946.
Arthur renamed the restaurant to Arthur Bryant’s but still kept the aesthetic very much the same with fluorescent lights, five-gallon jars of sauce, and of course, the unique BBQ smell. Arthur Bryant is still a legend in the BBQ world today, and the renowned restaurant is still in operation today.
The Meat
Kansas City BBQ is known best for its wide variety of meats served and burnt ends. It’s known for serving everything from pork (pretty much anyway), beef brisket and ribs, chicken, turkey, lamb, and sausage. Fish and other seafood are even used in some dishes.
Burnt ends are the fatty pieces on the end of the point of the brisket (the fattier side of the whole cut) that are by classic standards a little overcooked. For the fatty point, however, it leaves a great texture and charred flavour.
Rubs & Sauces
Kansas city-style barbecue uses both spice rubs and sauces but has much more emphasis on their sweet and spicy, tomato-based sauces. The sauce is an integral part of the style and more often than not, more than one variation is offered at a time. From spicy to tangier to sweeter varieties.
The spices used in rubs are very much the classic BBQ spices. Salt, of course, ground black or white pepper are common, as well as pepper products like paprika or cayenne pepper. Onion and garlic powder, sugar, celery salt, ground ginger, and dried mustard are also very common.
Sides & Desserts
Honestly, wherever you go the sides will be more or less the same. Those classic BBQ side dishes we all know like cornbread (or hushpuppies), fries, coleslaw, corn dishes, mac’n’cheese, pickles, etc. The recipe may vary in terms of spiciness, sweetness, and extras, but the core ingredients typically stay the same. Baked beans, bread rolls, pickles, and coleslaw is what I saw a lot of in that area, but it varies a lot.
When it comes to dessert, pie is seemingly king. Lemon pie, chess pie, sweet potato pie, and of course, the Kansas city mud pie. That’s not to say you can’t find your classic banana puddings or a nice cobbler.
Kansas City BBQ is a favourite of many I think because of the variation (that’s certainly why it’s one of mine). Of course these days, you’ll always have the naysayers that’ll pester you in thick southern drawl how “BBQ ain’t BBQ unless you’re usin’ pork”, but fuck em’. BBQ is BBQ as long as you got smoked meat cooked low and slow until perfect tenderness.
