In Kansas City, where barbecue is a way of life, it is understood that smoke has mystical properties. Smoke has the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. It can transform the least desirable cuts of meat into the most delectable. It can even transform a neighborhood corner gas station into one of the most popular restaurants on the planet. THIS IS THE STORY of Jeff and Joy Stehne
y and their company, Oklahoma Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. In many ways, it is a quite ordinary story. People start successful businesses every day, after all. But Jeff and Joy’s company, born of smoke in Kansas City, is anything but ordinary. In 1990, Jeff and Joy attended a barbecue contest for the first time, at the invitation of a friend. “We had a great time,” Jeff says. “I loved everything about it. The smell of it. The camaraderie. The competition. The passion. And, of course, the food. I was hooked. I knew then and there this was something I had to do.” The Stehneys soon bought a competition-style smoker and, together with a few friends, formed a barbecue team. They called it Slaughterhouse Five.