Dining A La King: King's BBQ elevates chicken to new heights
The lowly chicken never gets very far off the ground. Even the ones that take flight stay in the air for just seconds.
As with many animals, a lot of chickens become lunch or dinner for humans. Let’s not argue whether that’s a good fate for them, but focus on how in the right hands, with a bit of smoke, the bird can be elevated to great heights.
Merv and Marty King, along with their children and a new full-time employee, are grilling chicken halves; hundreds or thousands of them on a weekend. Much of the time, they sell them to someone wholesale and the group sells them to the public as a fundraiser. The offerings now also include ribs, pulled pork and potatoes.
A new website is helping grow business enough to afford a full-time employee. Former teacher Corey Greider is helping the family that found its way from Pennsylvania and construction to Indiana and cooking.
In 2000, the Kings (no known relation to the writer) moved from Lancaster County, Pa., to northern Indiana. Merv was doing construction on Yoder’s Dutch Country Store in Shipshewana. When he was done with the construction work, building owner Bob Yoder hired the couple to operate King’s Country Cafe in the building at the edge of the Shipshewana Flea Market.
A friend who made Meadow Creek grills and smokers in Pennsylvania brought one for him to use for chicken at the cafe. That spring and summer of 2001, there was a long line for the Kings’ food and soon they were cooking for church fundraisers.
They got business from word of mouth. “We never did advertising for it,” said Merv.
They eventually left behind the cafe and a pretzel kiosk in what is now known as The Red Barn, but Kevin Lambright hired Merv to oversee all the food in the flea market and they kept cooking grilled foods for the crowds as well. He left that role, but kept cooking on weekends for fundraisers. All the while, Merv kept doing construction and in 2014 formed King & Sons Construction as well as doing King’s BBQ on the weekends.
This is a family business that has grown over the nearly 20 years of operation. Their children grew up along with it and still help. “My family, my wife, my kids, they all played a role in this business,” said Merv. They’ve also come to know and appreciate their customers, ranging from Amish groups doing “chicken drives” to those at Elephant Bar in Goshen on First Friday.
This year, Merv got a 28-foot trailer and added a Meadow Creek cooker, a Big Ben rotisserie cooker from Wellspring Bar-B-Que in Shipshewana, and a Wellspring TriFlame smoker. That added capacity and some growing pains as processes changed and they learned how to utilize the new equipment. They’re even busier now with events nearly every weekend in Elkhart, LaGrange or St. Joseph counties.
The potatoes go on the rotisserie to be smoked and then are basted with a butter rub and sea salt in the last five minutes. “I think we finally nailed it,” Merv said.
A new process for the ribs developed. The ribs are dry rubbed and smoked for four hours. “I don’t do a quick rib,” he said. Marty added, “That’s because he wakes up at 4:30 to get out on the site.”
The chicken halves are large and remain juicy and tender after the 60 to 75 minutes they’re over charcoal. They’re dry-rubbed, but there is no liquid as there is with Nelson’s, the massive local chicken operation that is on dozens of street corners and events on weekends.
The smell of chicken cooking over smoke is among the most inviting possible. “It just pulls you in,” said Marty. And then the Kings deliver on flavor.
The Kings didn’t grow up eating Nelson’s as many of us have. They’re a tiny operator by comparison, but here’s the thing: I’ll take King’s BBQ chicken over Nelson’s any day. The tender yet firm meat with a crispy skin is my favorite grilled chicken you can buy in this part of the world.
The ribs are good. The sauces could have a bit more spark. But that chicken is stellar.
You can find it via their Facebook page or kings-bbq.com. You may have to wait behind me in line.
I’m hungry. Let’s eat.
