Back in 1993, a little bit of Texas landed in Eden Prairie.
The Lone Star State came to Minnesota when native Al Killion brought his barbecue expertise to a new outpost of Baker’s Ribs, the small Texas chain where he learned the pitmaster’s trade. Since then, a loyal local clientele has come to love the Texan take on St. Louis-style pork ribs, beef brisket, pork butt, chicken, and turkey, all smoked to perfection by Al and his crew.
“I really didn’t have experience with barbecue till I met Joe Duncan,” says Al, whose first job wasn’t at a rib place, but at a Dairy Queen. “Joe was the founder of Baker’s, which he named after his father-in-law, who helped him get started. I met Joe just a few years after he opened his first restaurant, in Garland, Texas. I’d been working there for a year when Joe started thinking about franchising, which is what brought me up here.” The Eden Prairie restaurant remains the only Baker’s outside of Texas, where the home base in Garland is joined by branches in Mesquite, Dallas, and Greenville.
Al’s culinary inspiration came early. “My mom’s mom was an unbelievable cook – nothing fancy, just real food. It made a lasting impression,” he recalls. That year helping work the pits at the original Baker’s was a barbecue education, one that never ends. “I don’t know where I learned the most,” Al says. “I learned a lot in Texas, and I’ve learned here, from different angles.”
That lifetime of learning speaks to the fact that authentic barbecue is as much of an art as a science. It begins with the understanding that the characteristic barbecue flavor derives from just two ingredients, meat and smoke, along with an invisible third ingredient, time. Brisket and pork butt smoke all night; ribs take about three and a half hours.
The smoke, of course, comes from carefully selected wood, both green and dry, which has to burn at just the right temperature. “In Texas, we’d use hickory,” Al points out. “But hickory doesn’t grow up here, so we smoke with oak, which also gives the meat a good flavor.” Smoking starts with a slow fire of green wood, built in smokers that still go by the name of “pits,” even though they’re sophisticated equipment with automatic temperature and draft regulation, not the old-fashioned holes in the ground. When a hotter fire is required, Al adds dry wood.
There is one important auxiliary flavor beyond those basics of meat and smoke, and it’s one that’s probably caused as much argument and regional competition as any other aspect of barbecue – the sauce. Al believes that “something a lot of people can’t get out of their heads is that barbecue has to be covered in sauce. It should be used more sparingly – you should be able to taste the meat, not just the sauce.” Barbecue at Baker’s comes with its own special sauce, crafted of all natural ingredients and available to take home in bottles.
Baker’s side dishes are all made in house. These include baked beans with a rich smoky flavor, dilled potato and rotini salads, dirty rice, and Texas toast.
All that down-home cooking needs a red-check-tablecloth, down-home atmosphere, and Baker’s follows through – assuming one’s idea of “home” is a curio shop filled with every conceivable representation of the star of the barbecue show, the pig. Baker’s interior is a showplace of pig paraphernalia Al has collected over the years, ranging from old advertisements to merry little porkers in all sorts of outfits. “One of our latest additions,” Al proudly boasts, “is a cookie jar, in the shape of a pig wearing a top hat.” Another important part of Baker’s décor greets customers the minute they walk in: a vintage bathtub filled with ice and an impressive selection of sodas.
This is the time of year when Baker’s trade turns to holiday orders. For Thanksgiving, Al advises, customers planning to make a smoked turkey the centerpiece of their feast should place their orders by the Saturday before the holiday, though sooner is better. And Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be Turkey Day – “some people don’t like turkey – we do hams, too,” says Al. For Christmas – a holiday Baker’s devotees often celebrate with ribs and brisket – order by December 17th, ideally earlier.
Baker’s Ribs is located at 8019 Glen Lane, Eden Prairie. Visit BakersRibsMN.comto learn more, or call (952) 942-5337 to place your order for holiday turkey or ham.
Authentic barbecue is as much of an art as a science.
“I don’t know where I learned the most,” Al says. “I learned a lot in Texas, and I’ve learned here, from different angles.”