KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 10, 2007
Opening "Gates" To K.C. Barbecue
Ollie Gates, Of Famed Gates Bar-B-Q, Shares Recipes, Tips On The Early Show
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Play CBS Video Video Kansas City's King Of Barbeque Harry Smith learns how to barbeque like pit master Brian Channel of Kansas City's acclaimed Gates Bar-B-Q restaurant.
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Ollie Gates, from left, Harry Smith and Brian Channel on The Early Show Friday. (CBS/The Early Show)
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Kansas City is a capital of barbecue, and Food & Wine magazine says there's no one better at it there than Ollie Gates.
His father founded Gates Bar-B-Q (www.gatesbbq.com) in 1946. He now has six area restaurants, and Gates Bar-B-Q is a huge presence in the region.
Ollie Gates and his pit master, Brian Channel, strutted their stuff on The Early Show Friday when the "Summer in the City" tour stopped by their hometown.
Gates shared secrets of cooking pork spare ribs. He showed how to prepare the ribs for cooking, discussing the differences between a dry base (a rub) and a wet base (such as a sauce).
He had a wealth of other dishes on display, as well.
Gates has made the family sauces and rubs available commercially.
He told co-anchor Harry Smith that while Carolina loves its barbecued pork and Texas loves its barbecued beef, Kansas City doesn't play favorites, though a tomato-based, sweet, sticky sauce is its trademark.
Gates admitted that what he did on the show Friday wasn't really barbeque, because true barbequing takes hours and hours and hours. Instead, he was grilling, bringing barbeque flavors to viewers in a form they could easily recreate in their own backyards.
Gates explained that you would never sprinkle a dry base on meat and baste it with sauce: It would simply be overkill. His dry base consists of sugar, salt, paprika and red pepper. Simply sprinkle it on meat and allow it to sit for several minutes, so it begins to liquefy and really be absorbed by the ribs. If you choose the dry method, you can serve the ribs with sauce at the table, using the sauce as a topping.
Why choose one over the other? The dry base requires much less attention once you put the meat on the grill. However, if you go with the wet base, you have to pay close attention, because the sauce tends to burn. You have to frequently turn the meat and continue to baste it with sauce.
Gates believes most home cooks prefer the wet method, because it involves more "love"!
A few facts about K.C. barbecue from the Kansas City Barbeque Society (www.kcbs.us/default.php), the world's largest organization of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts:
RECIPE
Editor's note: This is a MODIFIED recipe; the original is still a family secret!
Gates' Rib Seasoning
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 c sugar
1/2 c salt
2 T paprika
2 T red pepper
Method:
In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients. Store in a tightly sealed jar.
For the ribs:
Prepare grill and preheat until temperature reaches 230 - 250. Hickory chips and oak wood are the woods of choice; they add flavor to the smoke. Direct fire is recommended, so if using a standard charcoal grill, arrange wood chips accordingly.
The product by which most people judge Gates Bar-B-Q is its pork spare rib, Gates says. The cooking procedure:
When cooking spare ribs, if they have been frozen, be sure they are completely thawed. Trim the end skin off the skirt until all excess fat is removed. Trim off the back, upper portion, until the rib is properly contoured. Score the skirt between the bones. That ensures the tenderness of the rib. Sprinkle the pork spare ribs with your rib seasoning, making sure both sides are covered evenly. Shake off any excess. Let stand in seasoning until it starts to liquefy, approximately 15 minutes. There is no need to baste the pork spare ribs; this seasoning does it all for you.
When cooking the ribs, place them on a cleaned grate over the open fire with skirt down. Keep water near to control fire. Leave ribs over fire until they start to brown. Turn over and move the pork spare rib to a low temperature area on the grate, browning evenly on both sides. Ribs are done when they are beautifully browned on both sides and will lay easily with no resistance over a cooking fork. Now you are ready to eat!
Note: Sauce can be used as a topping, served alongside the ribs at the table.
Food & Wine magazine is a partner in The Early Show's "Summer in the City" tour. For more on what to do in the cities on the tour, go to this page in Food & Wine. To recommend a chef in your city, and vote on Food & Wine's top picks, click here.
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baste them as needed.
If you use a wet sauce, wait until the ribs are fully cooked before applying it. This way the high sugar content will not burn, especially when grilling; the higher heat burns the sugar in the sauce.
Gates is hiding his secret by saying "Gates explained that you would never sprinkle a dry base on meat and baste it with sauce: It would simply be overkill." A mild rub (without so much red pepper) gives the meat an extra dimension with a tomato based wet sauce. Just make sure the wet and dry compliment each other. A Carolina style (vinegar based) wet sauce is kind of like a dry rub in liquid form; apply it frequently.
Final Note: Exceptional dry rub recipes are usually always a cloesly guarded family secret; because when is good, it is mighty good!