With our collection of time-saving 1 hour smoker recipes, you can enjoy great smoky dishes without an all-day commitment. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pitmaster, these recipes are designed to save you time. After all there are times it just isn’t practical to be outside for hours smoking brisket or pork shoulder.

Time-Saving 1 Hour Smoker Recipes For Smoking in the Fast Lane

There are two main considerations for smoking meat within 1 hour – we need to increase the heat (beyond the usual low and slow cooking range of 225-250F or 107-121C) and we need to use small cuts of food.

Instead of going for hot and fast grilling at high heat or low and slow indirect smoking, we are going to aim for a sweet spot in the middle. This range (275-300F or 135-150C) will allow us to get some good smoked flavour into our food and also make sure the food is cooked in an hour or less.

Equipment For 1 Hour Smoker Recipes

• A Pellet Grill e.g. Z Grills, Pit Boss or Traeger (or an offset smoker, drum smoker or stick burner)
• Wood pellets or chunks (hickory and oak are good for a stronger smoke taste, apple and cherry for a milder smoke taste)
• An All Purpose BBQ Rub – we like Meat Church’s The Gospel Rub or see below for a homemade BBQ rub
• An Internal Temperature Meat Thermometer

Homemade All Purpose BBQ Rub

Combine the following ingredients in a bowl and mix until they are thoroughly combined.

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder 
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 4 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of finely ground salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of chilli powder (adjust this according to heat tolerance)

Quick Smoked Meats

Reverse Sear Ribeye Steak

A ribeye steak is a small enough individual steak to smoke in around an hour. Using the reverse sear method you can smoke it in your smoker to pick up flavour and then sear it directly on the grills (or in a pan) at a higher heat of at least 450F or 232C.

Our article below suggests smoking for an hour before searing at high heat for 2 minutes a side, but you can reduce that time to less than a hour (30-45 minutes) by increasing the heat in your smoker to 275F or 135C.

There’s also a delicious and easy recipe for a steak compound butter on there too.

Smoked Lamb Chop

A small piece of meat such as lamb chops doesn’t need long in the smoker at all, especially done at 275F or 135C.

Instructions

• Place your wood of choice in the hopper (hickory is good for lamb’s bold flavours but use apple or cherry if you like a milder smoke taste) and preheat your smoker to 275F or 135C
• Pat your chops dry and season liberally with BBQ seasonings on all sides
• Place the lamb chops inside your smoker over indirect heat and close the lid
• Smoke for 30-45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches or 140-149F or 60-65C for medium rare, 149-158F or 65-70C for medium and medium well done 158F or 70C
• Rest for 5-10 minutes to redistribute the natural meat juices throughout the meat

Smoked Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is great for quick smoking in the same way lamb chops are – it smokes quickly and easily in the smoker for maximum taste. You can serve it with a slight blush of pink in the middle (like a steak) with an internal temperature of 145F or 63C.

Simply get your smoker up to 275F or 135C, rub your pork with BBQ seasoning and smoke for around 45 minutes until the internal temperature is 145F (63C). Apple wood is the classic pairing with pork but hickory works well too.

Pork tenderloin can also be grilled at high heat in your smoker or charcoal barbecue – you can see this in our Instagram video below. It only takes 10-12

Method

• Put your wood of choice in the hopper (hickory works well for pork but use apple or cherry if you like a milder smoke taste) and preheat your smoker to 275F or 135C
• Pat your pork tenderloin dry and season liberally with BBQ seasonings on all sides
• Place the pork inside your smoker over indirect heat and close the lid
• Smoke your pork tenderloin until the internal temperature is at least 145F or 63C – usually 30-45 minutes
• Rest for 5-10 minutes to redistribute the juices throughout the meat

1 Hour Smoker Recipes – Sausage

You can smoke any kind of sausage in an hour or less, especially at 275F or 135C. Just make sure you don’t use sausages that are already smoked or your sausage will be oversmoked and unpleasant to eat.

With so many great options it’s no surprise that sausages are among the most popular and best meats for smoking.

Here are some of our favourite ideas for smoking sausage recipes.

• Bratwurst
• Frankfurters
• Andouille Sausage
• Italian Sausage
• Kielbasa (Polish Sausage)
• Cumberland Sausage
• Boerewors (South African Sausage)
• Spanish Chorizo
• Mexican Chorizo

You might enjoy our article below on smoking sausage.

1 Hour Smoked Fish & Seafood Recipes

Fish cooks much more quickly than meat so it perfect for a quick and easy smoker recipe. If you increase the heat in your smoker from the usual 225F to 275F then you will have your fish cooked in no time – even as little as 30 minutes.

Make sure you use fish fillets rather than the whole fish to make sure you definitely get the fish smoked in an hour or less. A big fish such as salmon could take 2+ hours to smoke at this temperature so make sure to use salmon fillets.

Alder wood is a classic pairing for fish and seafood, but cherry or apple wood can be great options too for delicate fish and seafood.

Here are some of our favourite smoked fish and seafood ideas:

• Smoked Salmon Fillets
• Smoked Rainbow Trout
• Smoked Cod Fillet
• Smoked Lobster Tails
• Smoked Scallops in the shell
• Smoked Oysters
• Prawn Kebabs (Kabobs)

Try this great 1 hour smoker recipe for oysters.

We have a relevant article on smoking salmon on the pellet grill if you would like to try it out. Bear in mind that this article suggests smoking at 225F or 107C, but if you raise the temperature in your smoker to 275F or 135C you will be done in less than an hour.

Quick Smoker Recipes Chicken

Chicken is one of the best meats to smoke because it takes on smoke flavour easily and is inexpensive but produces great results.

Small cuts of chicken such as wings, thighs and breasts are particularly quick to smoke and suited to 1 hour smoker recipes. Again if you increase the temperature in your smoker to 275F or 135C you can easily but efficiently smoke these chicken cuts within an hour or less.

Easy Smoked Chicken Thighs

Try this great BBQ homemade rub for chicken thighs – you probably have most if not all these ingredients in your store cupboard.

• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons onion powder

Make sure your smoker is in the range of 275-300F or 135-149C and you’ll have these chicken thighs perfectly smoked within an hour.

Quick Smoked Chicken Wings 1 Hour Smoker Recipe

If you smoke chicken wings at 275-300F or 135-149C you will have awesome smoky chicken in well under an hour. Some people like to deep fry their chicken wings after smoking, but this is optional. If you want to have extra crispy skin on your wings it might be worth finishing them off at high heat for a few minutes in your oven or pellet grills.

After you have crisped them up nicely you can serve them with a delicious tangy barbecue sauce on the side. Buffalo Hot Sauce is a real winner here – tangy, sweet and buttery with a little bit of heat.

Try the link if you would like a quick recipe for Buffalo Hot Sauce boneless chicken wings.

For more you could try our smoked chicken recipes article.

1 Hour Smoker Recipes FAQ’s

What is the Quickest Thing to Cook on a Smoker?

The quickest things to cook on a smoker will be smaller cuts of meat, such as chicken wings breasts or thighs as well as sausages, burgers and small steaks such as ribeye or sirloin. Fish fillets are also very quick things to cook on a smoker also.

It stands to reason that the higher the temperature you cook at in your smoker the quicker your food will cook.

What is the Best Meat to Smoke in a Short Time?

The best meat to smoke in a short time will be will be a small cut of meat such as chicken breasts, thighs or wings, but also sausages, bacon, burgers, steaks, pork or lamb chops and the like. Fish is also great for smoking in a short time, as is any kind of shellfish.

What is the quickest meat to smoke in a smoker?

What to Put on the Smoker this Weekend?

f you are thinking about what to smoke this weekend you need to consider how many mouths you have to feed, and how much time you have to invest. If you have plenty of guests and have enough time to spare it’s always worth smoking brisket, pork shoulder or ribs. If you want a reasonably quick smoke, consider whole chickens, chicken wings, thighs or breasts or sausages such as Bratwurst and Andouille Sausage. Steaks, lamb chops and pork chops are quick to smoke too.

Try our quick smoker recipes for beginners article for more on this topic. Or our easy smoker recipes article.

If you would like some more options that take a little longer to smoke try our 2 hour smoker recipes, or our 3 hour smoker recipes articles.

If you have more time again to devote to smoking you have a few more options which you can read about in our 5 hour smoker recipes article.