Home to more than 100 barbecue restaurants and the world’s largest barbecue competition, Kansas City now adds a barbecue museum to its menu.
If you’ve ever wondered about the secret uses of rubs, sauces, and cooking techniques that result in succulent meats, the Museum of BBQ, a lighthearted diversion in the Crown Center Shops mall, aims to inspire you to become the pitmaster of your own back yard.
After entering its portal—which could be said to resemble an oversized Southern Pride smoker door—visitors learn about the types of wood used; the differences between grilling, barbecuing, and smoking; and why salt is the most essential ingredient. They can pick up a phone to steal pitmaster secrets about everything from magic rubs to the importance of letting cooked meats rest. They can even copy Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson’s personal recipe for sauce and go home with a Kansas City dry-rub recipe for authentic ribs.
Not fazed by local rivalries, the museum also compares the differences of America’s four major barbecue empires—the Carolinas, Memphis, Kansas City, and Texas—to learn how history, culture, and style led to such differences as mustard-based sauces in South Carolina, burnt ends in Kansas City, and beef-centric cooking in Texas. That BBQ 101 will be useful if you ever need to order brisket correctly in the Lone Star State.
Although its written displays are geared toward adults, the museum has some hands-on activities for children, including a “smoke” ring toss, smelling stations in a “Rub room” for spices, a pit for photos filled with 8,000 “baked beans,” and a big cow-shaped puzzle of the major butcher cuts like spareribs and bacon. (Kids are often amused that pork butt doesn’t go where they think it might.)
The Museum of BBQ, which proclaims itself the world’s first of its kind, also has a retail store selling sauces, rubs, snacks, and paraphernalia, but for a real smoked meal, visitors will have to forage elsewhere.
A comment board at the Museum of BBQ allows visitors to recommend their own favorite barbecue joints, which can help narrow down the more than 100 choices available in town, but you can see the Frommer’s photo gallery of our favorites right here.
Museum of BBQ is at 2450 Grand Blvd, Suite 231, Kansas City, and opening hours are 10am–6pm Mon–Sat and noon to 5pm Sun. Admission is $10.
