The 50 Best Meats to Put on Your Grill, Ranked

Today is Labor Day.

For one reason or another — those reasons mostly seasonal, and coinciding with the loss of the good weather that occasions cooking outside for large groups of people — Labor Day has become the official day of worshiping one’s grill.

So today, as you fire up the coals or woodchips or Hank Hill-approved propane tanks, throw some meat on the burners and crack open a cold one, know that you are part of something bigger: a mass ritual of the most benign and delicious kind, carried out by a network of grill-loving men and women all over the country.

As for what you’ll be cooking? It’s up to you. But for our money, these are the 50 best meats to throw on your grill or in your smoker this weekend, ranked.

Ed. note: If you’re wondering what our criteria are, just know that they are extremely arbitrary, but were reached through much critical discussion and decades of collective experience.

50. Turkey burger

49. Chicken sausages

48. Leg of rabbit

47. Whole turkey

46. Goat leg

45. Clams

44. Oysters

43. Duck

42. Wild boar

42. Skirt steak

40. Crab

39. Beef tenderloin