A Guide to Kansas City BBQ

Published on July 19th, 2024

 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KANSAS CITY BBQ & WHY IT’S SO FAMOUS

When you think of BBQ, chances are you’re thinking of Kansas City BBQ. Who can resist sinking their teeth into a rack of fall-off-the-bone ribs dripping with thick and sweet barbecue sauce or popping crispy, crunchy burnt ends in between bites of BBQ sides? We have Kansas City, Missouri, to thank you for some of our favorite BBQ bites.

Kansas City is famous for its saucy barbecue, crunchy burnt ends, and dry-rub pork ribs. We can’t get enough of this beautiful BBQ. Here’s a guide to Kansas City BBQ and what makes it so special.

What is Kansas City Style BBQ?

Kansas City style BBQ is slow-smoked meats slathered in a sweet and tangy, crimson-colored barbecue sauce. Whether you like brisket, chicken, pork, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings, ribs, sausage, or fish, KC BBQ is a finger lickin’ good time. 

What is Famous About Kansas City BBQ?

What makes Kansas City BBQ famous is the city’s sweet and thick barbecue sauce and, arguably, the most popular BBQ dish, burnt ends. Burnt ends are juicy and crispy cubes of BBQ meat.

Read more: What Are Burnt Ends?

What is Different About Kansas City BBQ?

What is different about Kansas City BBQ is the variety of slow smoked meats prepared with dry rubs and finished with a thick, dark red, tomato- and molasses-based sauce. Most Kansas City BBQ is made low and slow over wood.

Read More: A Guide to Texas BBQ

Kansas City Style BBQ Meat

Unlike other American regional BBQ styles that focus on one or two meats, Kansas City-style BBQ incorporates all the meats you know and love. Kansas City-style BBQ meat includes brisket, burnt ends, chicken wings, lamb, pork, ribs, sausage, and even fish like salmon.

Burnt Ends

Burnt ends are crispy, tasty morsels of meat. The BBQ restaurant that turned these meat scraps into nuggets of BBQ gold was Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue. 

The famed BBQ joint used to be offered for free at the counter of Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue. As BBQ lovers stood in line, they could sample the charred brisket tips. Calvin Trillin wrote an article in Playboy magazine about these beautiful burnt ends in the 1970s and the rest is delicious history.

Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce

Kansas City-style BBQ sauce is the thickest of the regional BBQ sauces — so thick it doesn’t absorb into the meat when it’s cooking. KC BBQ sauce is made with ketchup and molasses or brown sugar plus additional ingredients.

Each pitmasters makes their own version of this famous sauce, incorporating additional ingredients like black pepper, lemon juice, mustard, red pepper, vinegar, and/or Worcestershire. Jack Stack BBQ‘s legendary KC Original BBQ Sauce is made with brown sugar, cayenne pepper, garlic, molasses, onion, tomato paste, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.

Kansas City BBQ sauce is mopped on the meat as it’s cooked or is brushed on immediately after cooking. The sauce is smoky, sweet, and a deep red color. It has a sweet and smoky flavor and is so delicious, you will have to slather it on everything.

Types of Wood and Smokers

Most Kansas City pitmasters like those at Jack Stack BBQ and Meat Mitch use hickory wood in their smokers. Hickory wood is versatile and pairs with beef and pork. 

Jack Stack BBQ uses hickory to make its signature Kansas City beef, pork, and burnt ends and Meat Mitch slow smokes their award-winning brisket over it. Arthur Bryant Barbecue uses a mix of hickory and oak to smoke their ribs, which are basted in a tangy vinegar sauce.

Heat and Timing Process

Kansas City BBQ is typically cooked “low and slow.” The meat is roasted on low heat for many hours in the smoker, but some KC pitmasters opt for higher heat and faster cooking times. No matter how long it takes, we can hardly wait to mop our favorite smoked meats in sticky, sweet KC barbecue sauce and enjoy a meat feast.

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