Our Best Smoked Recipes

April 11, 2013
Smoking meat and fish infuses must-have summer flavor like nothing else. Try these smoked recipes for dinner tonight.
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Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs

Photo: Coral Von Zumwalt
Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs Recipe

These maple-glazed ribs with a subtle touch of ginger are a mainstay at Odys + Penelope restaurant in Los Angeles. At home, chef-owner Quinn Hatfield smokes them using either a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker or a Pit Barrel Cooker. For versions of the recipe to cook on regular grills instead of smokers, go to Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs on a Gas Grill, and Ginger Rosemary Smoked Pork Ribs on a Charcoal Grill.

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Smoked Salmon, Barbecue University-Style

Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Lindsey Lower
Smoked Salmon, Barbecue University-Style Recipe
This whisky-scented smoked salmon combines the virtues of hot smoking and cedar planking. The dry brine in a sugar-salt mixture seasons the fish wonderfully. Cedar planks are available at grill stores and cookware shops. For gas grilling, place drained, soaked wood chips in a disposable aluminum pan directly on the burner of your grill.

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Oven-Smoked Chuck-Eye with Horseradish Cream

Photo: Maren Caruso; Styling: Robyn Valarik
Oven-Smoked Chuck-Eye with Horseradish Cream Recipe
The chuck-eye roast, aka the chuck-eye roll, is from the beef shoulder, facing the rib-eye roast. It has many layers of fat and sinew that need to be broken down slowly with heat. Tracy Smaciarz, a second-generation butcher who owns and runs Heritage Meats in Rochester, Washington, cold-smokes this cut, then grills it over indirect heat for hours. You can achieve a similar effect by braising the roast in a covered pan with wood chips and onions, allowing it to bathe in a steam bath of onion and smoke until it's juicy. Make sure your wood chips are fresh--they fade with age.
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Smoked Mojo Leg Quarters

Photo: Alison Miksch; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Smoked Mojo Leg Quarters Recipe
Use applewood chips to get the most out of this smoked dish.

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Applewood-Smoked Chicken with Dijon Rub

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
Applewood-Smoked Chicken with Dijon Rub Recipe
Our savory smoked chicken is equally delicious served cold or at room temperature, so you can cook it well in advance of your get-together. If you have leftovers, shred the meat and stir into leftover Kamut salad--instant lunch.

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Applewood-smoked Spareribs with Paprika Chili Spice Rub

Photo: Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Applewood-smoked Spareribs with Paprika Chili Spice Rub Recipe
Right before the end of cooking, chef Tyler Florence likes to sprinkle his ribs with more rub—"like Cheetos dust," he says.
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Texas-Style Smoked Brisket

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
Texas-Style Smoked Brisket Recipe
Try barbecue Texas style, which is the beef brisket -- if there is any sauce, it is a thin, spicy pan sauce made from the meat drippings. Look for a flat-cut brisket, which will be a fairly even thickness, and leave the fat layer on for the best results.

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Smoked Lemon-Chipotle Chickens

Photo: Ralph Anderson; Styling: Buffy Hargett
Smoked Lemon-Chipotle Chickens Recipe
On a chilly day, the chicken will take longer to cook–up to 45 minutes more. Don't skip the step of tying the chicken with string; the more compact the chicken, the better the smoking results will be, according to Kevin.

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Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross
Santa Maria Smoked Tri-Tip Recipe
Flavorful tri-tip steak is a cut of beef also known as bottom sirloin or sirloin tip. Compared to other styles of barbecue, this recipe for smoked tri-tip comes together quickly, making it ideal for a weeknight dinner.
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Bourbon Smoked Chicken

Photo: Levi Brown; Styling: Tiziana Agnello
Bourbon Smoked Chicken Recipe
After Steven Raichlen sent us this recipe in 2011, we declared it the most beautiful and best-tasting chicken we’d ever had. To reinforce the whiskey flavor in the brine and basting butter, Steve says to use Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel chips for smoking--widely available in grill and gourmet shops. This smoked chicken recipe is so wonderfully moist and flavorful, it doesn't need added embellishment.

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Smoked Potato Salad

Photo: Charles Masters; Styling: Alma Melendex
Smoked Potato Salad Recipe
This recipe will change everything you think you know about potato salad. In your grill, the potatoes cook in a covered aluminum pan next to another pan of mesquite wood chips. After they're smoked, the potatoes are topped with seasonings and herbs.

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Video: Using Wood Chips for Smoking Food

Video: Using Wood Chips for Smoking Food
Wood chips add a smoky flavor to the fire and your food. Let Jamie Purviance show you the way to use them.
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Smoked Salmon

Becky Luigart-Stayner; Jan Gautro
Smoked Salmon Recipe
This recipe gives you a moist smoked salmon - not the drier type (lox) that you purchase to serve on bagels with cream cheese. Start soaking the wood chips while the salmon brines.

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Smoked Pork Butt

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Prop Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Smoked Pork Butt Recipe
Our Test Kitchen took cues from the pros to bring pit-barbecue flavor to the backyard.

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Smoked Trout

James Carrier
Smoked Trout Recipe
For the most intense smoky flavor and deepest gold color, use a charcoal barbecue. To present smoked trout as an appetizer, serve on thin triangles of Westphalian-style pumpernickel bread with sour cream, chopped red onion, and lemon wedges. For a salad, combine chunks of smoked trout, hot or cold, with green salad mix and a vinaigrette dressing. As a main dish, serve trout hot with boiled small thin-skinned potatoes, melted butter, and lemon wedges. Chill smoked trout airtight up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.
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Smoked Paprika Pork Roast with Sticky Stout Barbecue Sauce

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett
Smoked Paprika Pork Roast with Sticky Stout Barbecue Sauce Recipe
We "dry-brined" the pork before grilling it. This method calls for rubbing a mixture on the pork and chilling it. This allows for salt to pull seasonings into the meat and improve juiciness and flavor. It's unusual, but you do chill uncovered to keep the rub "dry." (Otherwise, the rub dilutes in trapped moisture.)

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Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing

Photo: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr
Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing Recipe
Full of high flavors, Smoked Chicken Cobb Salad with Avocado Dressing will become your new favorite salad. Be sure to check out our innovative method for indoor smoking on your cooktop!

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Cajun-Spiced Smoked Shrimp with Rémoulade

Photo:Charles Masters; Styling: Alma Melendez
Cajun-Spiced Smoked Shrimp with Rémoulade Recipe
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Smoked Mullet

Smoked Mullet Recipe
Disposable turkey roasting pans from the supermarket are great for brining the fish. If you can't find mullet in your area, try mackerel, bluefish, amberjack, or even salmon--lower the smoking time for fillets rather than split fish.

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Smoked Strip Steaks

Becky Luigart-Stayner
Smoked Strip Steaks Recipe
Strip steaks offer a lot of surface area relative to their total size, which allows them to absorb a maximum amount of smoke. Serve thin slices of the steak over rice pilaf.

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Smoked Trout Salad with Apples and Pecans

Becky Luigart-Stayner
Smoked Trout Salad with Apples and Pecans Recipe
Rainbow trout is a tender fish with pink flesh and a mild flavor. Substitute any other white fish, or even salmon. You can use other fruit in place of the apples, if you prefer; pears or berries would work nicely.
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Smoked Pork Shoulder

Smoked Pork Shoulder Recipe
Serve hickory smoke-infused pork shoulder at your outdoor festivities throughout the summer. Serve the shredded pork on buns for sandwiches or use it to top salads and baked potatoes.

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Championship Pork Butt

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey
Championship Pork Butt Recipe
Injecting a Boston butt with marinade, coating it with rub, and slow-cooking on the grill will give you the juiciest pulled pork butt you've ever tasted.

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Sage and Thyme Smoked Turkey

Photo: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Randy Mon
Sage and Thyme Smoked Turkey Recipe
Brining and smoking turkey makes it juicy, moist, and fragrant, with a flavor that's infused with herbs and hints of applewood. This recipe uses a water smoker. A water smoker has a charcoal fire at the bottom topped with aromatic wood chunks, a pan of water, and racks for food.
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Video: How to Smoke Mesquite Skirt Steak

Video: How to Smoke Mesquite Skirt Steak
Jamie Purviance shows how to smoke quick-cooking mesquite skirt steak to perfection over a charcoal grill.
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