Where there’s smoke, there’s oak.
That smoke is coming from the slow-burning oak logs at Baker’s Ribs: Eden Prairie’s temple of Texas barbecue, where pork ribs and shoulder, beef brisket, beer can chicken, buffalo wings, and holiday hams and turkeys are gently smoked to perfection.
For over 30 years, Baker’s Al Killion has been an ambassador for the barbecue style of his native state. “In Texas barbecue,” says Al, “all the cooking is done over smoke, and our sauce is tomato-based. Kansas City grills its meats after smoking. And in the Carolinas, the sauce is made with mustard and vinegar.”
Those simple differences have been fodder for endless debate among barbecue lovers, and each style has its passionate followers. For sheer, sublime simplicity, though, it’s hard to argue with the Lone Star approach.
Oak is just about the only way barbecue in our part of the world departs from Texas tradition. Farther south, hickory is the wood of choice. But hickory isn’t all that common this far north, and smoldering oak logs do a fine job of imparting that all-important smoky essence to the meats slow-cooking in Baker’s barbecue pits.
Don’t think “pit” in terms of a hole in the ground, with meat resting on grates over a slow fire. The old-fashioned term now applies to sophisticated smokers that look like big fridges, with self-contained racks and fireboxes. After a blaze last year that forced Baker’s four-month closure, Al installed three new pits that have been doing a terrific job – he’d made sure of that, by heading back home to Texas and putting the pits through their paces in the manufacturer’s test kitchen.
“We can smoke three different meats at once now,” says Al, “and ribs that used to take four hours now take three and a half. Plus, we can use one pit to hold finished meats.” The pits employ a temperature monitoring system, and fans that can blow air onto the logs for a hotter fire as needed and distribute heat more evenly among each pit’s ten shelves. The result? A more consistent temperature, and a mere five-degree spread – and no difference in the finished product – between the top and bottom shelves.
Technology aside, though, there’s still an art to Texas barbecue, to arriving at a soul-satisfying creation whose complex flavors arise from just two ingredients: meat and smoke. The process starts with green split oak, set to smolder over yesterday’s coals, followed by a round green log and dry split wood as needed. The only thing to add is time … and, at the table, that piquant tomato-based Texas sauce. Baker’s bottles its own blend, made with all natural ingredients.
A rack or half-rack of meaty St. Louis-style pork ribs, a sliced or chopped brisket plate or sandwich, chicken smoked over a beer can, or buffalo wings – accompanied by house-made side dishes including rotini pasta salad, smoky baked beans, dilled potato salad, dirty rice, and Texas toast – those are all the draw a barbecue fan needs to follow the aroma to Baker’s Glen Lane location. But there’s also atmosphere aplenty, in what amounts to a museum of Americana.
Grab a small-batch artisan soda out of a bathtub filled with ice; go back in time with the vintage advertising signs covering the walls, and marvel at the sheer pigliness of the collectibles that stand, hang, and otherwise crowd every available space (except for your table with the red-checked cloth, awaiting the real thing). Porkers abound, in paint, plastic, and pottery. One recent addition is a little English-made bank, a ceramic piggy in a tux – “a dapper pig,” says Al.
Although Al has been giving some thought to adding beef ribs to his offerings, Baker’s is a place where change comes slowly, if at all. “I like my menu the way it is,” says Al, and his clientele agrees. But two recent innovations are sure to please the faithful. This year, holiday turkey orders will be filled with free-range birds raised right here in the Upper Midwest. And it’s now possible to order online, with everything on the menu, including sides and sauce, just a click away on the website. The exceptions are those holiday season whole turkeys and hams, which Al prefers to discuss with customers when they place their orders. Al advises calling in early November for Thanksgiving, and no later than the first week of December for Christmas.
But don’t wait for the holidays. Ribs, brisket and more are smoking in the pits right now.
Visit BakersRibsMN.com to order online. Visit 8019 Glen Lane, Eden Prairie 11am to 8pm Tuesday through Saturday to dine in. Call (952) 942-5337 to speak with a preeminent authority on Texas-style Q.