The 15 Best Smoked Meats In America, A Very Unscientific Ranking

Wood-fire flavor and meat, that is what we are talking about today. This is a very unscientific ranking of the 15 best smoked meats in America, from brisket to pulled pork, and everything in between.

Not everyone is going to agree with the order of the best smoked meats as they are ranked below but people love to disagree so that was always inevitable. So much of wood-fire smoked BBQ is regional as well. That makes this a daunting task but someone had to do it!

Ranking The 15 Best Smoked Meats In America

This is not the first time we have done an unscientific food ranking here, I previously ranked the 25 best tasting fish in the world. And thought I’d follow that up today with the beset smoked meats!

Up first on our official rankings of the best smoked meats in America we have two meats that are fantastic but underserved. They deserve more love.

Because they aren’t as popular as some of the other best smoked meats on this list, they are seen less on menus or at butchers, and harder to track down. This cycle cannibalizes itself and ultimately, they just become harder to come by for a variety of reasons. But that doesn’t make them any less tasty!

Best Smoked Meats: 11. Lamb

First up on the list here is an uncommon smoked meat: BBQ smoked lamb. I almost never see it on a menu at a BBQ joint but when firing up the smoker with friends on the weekend lamb is always in the mix.

I’ve smoked lamb on the pellet smoker and on a spit over a fire. You can imbue it with incredible exotic spices. It really is treated differently than most BBQ meats. What BBQ meat in America would you serve with yogurt?!

The downside here is that despite being one of the most popular wood-fire meats across the pond, lamb tends to be hard to come by in America and thus expensive. It is also uncommon and thus intimidating for a lot of people.

Pros: One of the most delicious meats on earth, takes on the smoke flavor really well, pairs with dishes BBQ normally doesn’t, can be done in 3-4 hours

Cons: Some p

Best Smoked Meats: 10. Duck

Smoked duck! That sounds familiar, right? Why haven’t you smoked a duck at home on your smoker yet? I know you haven’t. Nobody does. When someone brings it up and says ‘we should smoke a duck’ they get stared at with bewilderment.

But there is, hands down, no better way to enjoy duck. Don’t hit me with with ‘roast’ because you are wrong. Smoking a duck is tricky. If you don’t get it right then you are going to wind up with a very dry bird and nobody wants that. But when executed properly a good smoked duck recipe will change people’s lives.

Pros: Delicious, depth of flavor, exotic and signifies experience and expertise.

Cons: Can dry out easily, recipes hard to come by, some people are weird about eating duck.

Best Smoked Meats: 9. Whole Smoked Chicken

At #9 on the Best Smoked Meats rankings we have ol’ reliable: whole smoked chicken. You can zhuzh this recipe up any number of ways. There are a million poultry rubs that will do the job.

The only way you are going to ruin a whole smoked chicken recipe is if you get sidetracked and overcook the bird. Nobody wants to eat dry chicken. But even in that instance you will likely still end up with a moist chicken breast and parts of the whole bird that can be lathered in BBQ sauce.

Pros: Great for beginners, offers up multiple cuts of meat, shares well with a large group, kids will typically love it.

Cons: Often need to smoke multiple chickens to feed a crowd, can dry out, is fairly ‘boring’ compared to other smoked meats.

Best Smoked Meats: 8. Baby Back Ribs

In my experience, baby back ribs are the most common BBQ ribs in the game. I see them 5x more often on a menu than beef ribs. They are smaller, but full of flavor. And regionally there is so much variety with baby back ribs that even if you don’t love the sauce (like the Alabama white bbq sauce, for instance) you will almost certainly find a region you are in love with.

The time frame on cooking them is favorable compared to some thick cuts of meat. Anywhere from 3-6 hours should be great, or less. Everyone knows the 2-2-1 method of 2 hours of smoking, 2 hours wrapped in foil, and 1 hour unwrapped. It is a trued and true method that delivers the goods. And if you marinate your ribs 24 hours in advance you can change people’s lives. They are phenomenal.

Pros: Easy to feed large groups, reliable cooking times, meat falls off the bone, BBQ meat that takes to a variety of sauces, foolproof smoking methods.

Cons: The meat-to-bone ratio isn’t ideal, can dry out really quickly if left on the smoker too long.

Best Smoked Meats: 7. Sausage (Beef and Pork)

The snap of a perfectly smoked sausage is unrivaled. I’m lumping Beef and Pork Sausage together here mostly out of convenience and also because I didn’t want to flip a coin to decide which one I like better… Hand on heart, that one is on me.

I probably lean toward beef sausage but pork sausage is phenomenal. There’s no going wrong here. My primary issue with sausage on the BBQ meat rankings though is simply a matter of practicality: real estate on my plate.

Smoked sausage is higher in calories than brisket or pulled pork and has less protein and significantly higher fat. That means, of course, the fat adds a LOT of extra flavor but when I’m eating so much meat I get the sweats later I at least want maximum protein intake with that and I choose my plate fixins accordingly.

Pros: They are easy to smoke, can find sausage just about anywhere, do not take long to smoke, lots of varieties to choose from, full of flavor.

Cons: The macros aren’t ideal, can overcook them and lose flavor, lack uniformity often in flavor profile.

Best Smoked Meats: 6. Burnt Ends

Pound for pound, it is hard to find a smoked meat with better flavor than Burnt Ends. It felt a little odd putting Burnt Ends as a standalone dish here when they are simply just a cut of brisket but at the end of the day, all BBQ meat is just a small portion of a larger animal so I justified it in my head for that reason.

Burnt ends are pretty caloric, high in protein and fat, and low in carbs. The macros are solid but they end up getting a decadent treatment most BBQ meats don’t which quickly adds a lot of calories to a small serving. So it easy to fill up fast on these. Fortunately, there are never a ton of burnt ends to go around because everyone snatches them up quickly so overeating is never an issue with these.

Pros: Some of the best flavor in the barbecue world, can cook them concurrently to a brisket, fun snack or side in addition to other meats being smoked.

Cons: Small portions, big flavors can fill you up, can distract you from the ultimate prize which is the brisket.

Best Smoked Meats: 5. Turkey

A perfectly executed smoked turkey, which I pull off just about every year on Thanksgiving, is enough to get the family talking for years to come. I’ve found smoked turkey to be a dish where, if you do it too well, then people ask for it every time and you are no longer allowed to deviate from the process or experiment.

Smoked turkey can dry out if not done right. But I like to get the Tony Chachere Creole Style Injectable Butter and inject the turkey throughout, ensuring there’s extra butter underneath the skin to keep the meat moist. It also helps firm up and crisp the skin in all of the right places.

With smoked turkey, I encourage it year-round. There is no reason it should only be done at Thanksgiving. In fact, a smoked turkey in August sounds pretty good right about now.

Pros: The large bird goes a long way and feeds a lot of people, a variety of light and dark meats and wings for all different flavor profiles, hard to mess up as long as you are checking the temperature with a probe or instant thermometer.

Cons: Nobody wants to eat dry turkey. It must be watched and cared for throughout the smoking process to ensure the smoked turkey doesn’t get too dry.

Best Smoked Meats: 4. Chicken Wings

Alright folks, we’re getting to the heaviest hitters now. At #4 on the Best Smoked Meats rankings are chicken wings.

Grilled wings (and fried) are great but smoked wings are just on a whole different planet. I have been making my smoked wings for years using the McCormick Grill Mates Brown Sugar Bourbon seasoning. Everyone tells me they’re the best around…

I came to believe this until I was at Mission BBQ in Columbia, South Carolina the night before going to The Masters this year and their smoked wings… They changed my life. I might’ve cried happy tears. They were perfect in every way. Wings are so small, but offer up an opportunity to experiment with flavors in a way that just cannot be topped.

Pros: Easy to smoke for a large group of people, can be rubbed/seasoned with a ton of different spice mixes for a variety of flavors, readily available around the country, can be eaten year-round and are not seasonal.

Cons: With such a small amount of meat they can be over cooked pretty easily. It is also time consuming cutting 36 wings with the flat + drum into 72 separate wings for the smoker, if you are breaking them apart.

Best Smoked Meats: 3. Beef Ribs

Larger, better, more flavorful. That is what sets smoked beef ribs apart from baby back ribs.

They absorb more smoke as the meat curls back from the ends and caramelizes at the edge. You get marbling flavors that won’t be found in pork ribs. And with larger ribs, the portions are bigger. There is no worry about filling up with smoked beef ribs, it is a certainty as long as the pitmaster makes enough.

Juicy. They’re so much juicier than baby back ribs. Really, they shouldn’t even be compared.

Pros: Marbling flavor, packed with juicy meat, large portions, everyone loves them, can be eaten with or without bbq sauce, the bark on smoked beef ribs can change your life.

Cons: More expensive and harder to find than pork ribs, done right they can take 6-8 hours which is time consuming.

Best Smoked Meats: 2. Pulled Pork Butt

I made a smoked pork butt two weeks ago and it was a reminder that pulled pork would be the G.O.A.T. of BBQ smoked meats if it wasn’t for that incredible cut that Texas is most famous for… But we’ll get there, for now let’s laud pulled pork butt for what it is: the best cut of pork in the came.

Pretty much everyone that enjoys BBQ loves pulled pork. It takes to an array of sauces. You can hit it with a North or South Carolina sauce, I prefer S.C., a Kansas City sauce, and throw it on a bun. Pulled pork can be eaten as a sandwich or standalone. You can pair it with every side under the sun and it is delicious. Just make sure you rub it 12-24 hours in advance and let it take on the BBQ rub!

Pros: A crowd pleaser, easy to cook in large portions, takes to a ton of different flavors of rubs and BBQ sauces, reheats well with sous vide or in the microwave, very filling, solid macros.

Cons: Can be time consuming, overcooked pulled pork is difficult to eat, under-cooked pulled pork is revolting, so getting the timing and temperature right each time is a dance and with the large pork butt cuts no two smokes are ever the same, so you have to just be prepared to lock in for a long period of time.

Best Smoked Meats: 1. Brisket

If time was never a factor, everyone would smoke brisket. It is the G.O.A.T. of BBQ smoked meats.

The fallback is, of course, that it can regularly take 12+ hours to smoke a brisket properly. ‘Low and slow’ is of the utmost importance with brisket and you cannot rush the process.

But at the end of that smoke and after allowing the brisket to rest you get rewarded with the most delicious smoked meat on earth. The bark is unmatched. A brisket’s smoke ring is like a badge of honor. The large fat content imbues the meat with so much flavor there is never a bad bite, whether it’s lean or marbled cuts. Smoking for 12+ hours gives brisket more smoke flavor than the competition.

I also use sous vide to heat up any leftover brisket after vacuum sealing it and tossing it in the deep freezer. When reheated through sous vide, it tastes like it just came off the smoker an hour ago even if it’s eaten 4 months later. It is one of the reasons I never mind spending all day smoking brisket, because I know I can eat it for months to come if there’s any leftovers.

Pros: Best flavor of any BBQ smoked meat, can feed huge families, reheats incredible, can do sweet/spicy/tangy BBQ sauces with every cut.

Cons: Takes all day and might force you to wake up before the sun to get the smoker going.

Best Smoked Meats: Best of the Rest — Steaks

Steak is my favorite meat, in general. I could spend all day discussing the different cuts of steak. It feels criminal to lump ‘steak’ in as one. Last weekend I had a 3.5lb Argentinian Beef Rump Cap (Picaña Steak) that I smoked and then let sit before slicing into 8 separate steaks and finishing on the smoker.

Ultimately, steaks are in the ‘best of the rest’ because they are quick smokes/cooks. The meat is thin and cooks quicker than the cuts above. It is more ‘grilled’ than ‘smoked’ and though I cook all of my steaks at home on the smoker I still don’t think of it as a traditionally smoked BBQ meat. Steak is steak.

Best Smoked Meats: Burgers

Like steak, burgers aren’t a traditional ‘smoked meat.’ Burger are burgers. Sure there are smashed burgers and steak burgers and the list goes on and on and on. But a burger with a little smoked flavor is phenomenal.

The blending of the meat obviously does not lend itself well to spending significant time on the smoker. They will dry out quickly. But throwing them on the smoker at high heat and getting a little wood-fire taste in there is worth it every time!

Best Smoked Meats: Uncommon Sausages

Smoked beef and pork sausages were included as one category above but there are so, so many more sausages out there that deserve our recognition and love. Jalapeño cheddar, Merguez, Wagyu beef, garlic sausage, spicy Italian, chicken and spinach sausage, I could go on all day like Bubba from Forrest Gump but I won’t.

My point here is that, when smoking sausage you can deviate from the two most popular links and get into some really, tasty meats like alligator, wild boar, venison, etc.

Best Smoked Meats: Smoked Ham

This one is tricky. It is in my top 5 favorite foods from the smoker. But you get the ham and it is already cooked. All you are doing is adding smoke flavor and a glaze on top.

Taking credit for smoked ham feels wrong, even if it is one of the best in the game.

Best Smoked Meats: Pork Belly

Last but certainly not least: pork belly. The marbling is divine. Each bite is packed full of juicy, smoky bacon flavor.

Pork belly, to me, is the best smoked meat appetizer in the game. But I feel the need to finish it on a cast iron pan to get that caramelized edge. However you do your smoked pork belly though is right.