revkab
is one Smokin' Farker
I posted this in answer to another thread that asked about a commercially available Kansas City style sauce, but thought it was interesting enough to post as a thread here. I sometimes wonder a bit when I watch BBQ Pitmasters, where they get some of their ideas. I based my comments on my experience growing up in Kansas City, eating BBQ all over the place. Perhaps the competition BBQ circuit is vastly different than what the average man on the street in KC is used to?
Watched BBQ Pitmasters last night, and the theme of the show I watched was "Kansas City style." Interestingly, one of the theme meats was Prime Rib, which, growing up on Kansas City BBQ, I've never seen on any BBQ menu. As well, I was amazed that there was such a heavy emphasis on sticky-sweet, molasses based sauces.
The Kansas City style BBQ I've eaten for forever was primarily Pork ribs, Brisket, Chicken, a little BBQ sausage, and a few others, but mainly the big three.
The sauces I've come to associate with Kansas City style were tomato-based, a little sweet, but only a little (Sweet Baby Ray's is WAY over the top in terms of sweetness), seldom molasses based, frequently with a touch of celery seed or celery salt (Pitmasters did get this right), and often with a subtle spicyness.
This is why I've come to rely on Zarda's sauce, which is quintessential KC style, but others are good too. All in all, BBQ Pitmasters showed good BBQ in this session, but not necessarily accurate in terms of KC BBQ.
All that said, forget the ultra-sweet, unless you prefer it that way. Go for a good Kansas City based sauce that allows the flavor to come through without having something like pancake syrup. And feel free to "kick it up a notch," to borrow a phrase from a non-BBQ chef.
Also, most of the commercial BBQ joints probably do very little in terms of fancy rubs, other than maybe a little SPG. Perhaps some on the competition circuit place a lot of emphasis on the sweet, molasses sauces and the heavy rubs, but that's not really what you'll find in most BBQ joints.
Watched BBQ Pitmasters last night, and the theme of the show I watched was "Kansas City style." Interestingly, one of the theme meats was Prime Rib, which, growing up on Kansas City BBQ, I've never seen on any BBQ menu. As well, I was amazed that there was such a heavy emphasis on sticky-sweet, molasses based sauces.
The Kansas City style BBQ I've eaten for forever was primarily Pork ribs, Brisket, Chicken, a little BBQ sausage, and a few others, but mainly the big three.
The sauces I've come to associate with Kansas City style were tomato-based, a little sweet, but only a little (Sweet Baby Ray's is WAY over the top in terms of sweetness), seldom molasses based, frequently with a touch of celery seed or celery salt (Pitmasters did get this right), and often with a subtle spicyness.
This is why I've come to rely on Zarda's sauce, which is quintessential KC style, but others are good too. All in all, BBQ Pitmasters showed good BBQ in this session, but not necessarily accurate in terms of KC BBQ.
All that said, forget the ultra-sweet, unless you prefer it that way. Go for a good Kansas City based sauce that allows the flavor to come through without having something like pancake syrup. And feel free to "kick it up a notch," to borrow a phrase from a non-BBQ chef.
Also, most of the commercial BBQ joints probably do very little in terms of fancy rubs, other than maybe a little SPG. Perhaps some on the competition circuit place a lot of emphasis on the sweet, molasses sauces and the heavy rubs, but that's not really what you'll find in most BBQ joints.
