1. Arizona
   New Mexico
2. Hawaii
   Louisiana

One of the most iconic dishes of Hawaiian cuisine is the Kalua pig, which is cooked over hot coals buried underground in what would qualify as one of the most simple but effective barbecue ovens ever made.

1. Illinois
   Kentucky
2. Georgia
   Mississippi

Sometimes BBQ is only as good as its side dishes and a Mississippi Delta-style tamale is one of the best. Different than a Mexican tamale, these are made with cornmeal, they're boiled, and they're very spicy if they're made right.

1. Georgia
   Texas
2. North Carolina
   Nebraska

Beef is king in Texas BBQ and the beef brisket is probably the most iconic dish in all of Texas BBQ. Dry-rubbed and then smoked for hours according to an individual pitmaster's recipe, this dish rarely makes it to states where pork is the prime meat, but some other states have tried to master it.

1. Missouri
   Texas
2. Wyoming
   Alabama

Texas perfected brisket so there's no way they didn't make the best brisket sandwich as well. You can get these made without sauce or just drowned in whatever kind of sauce you prefer.

1. Virginia
   Wyoming
2. Arizona
   Louisiana

Virginia barbecue has been very much overshadowed by the stuff coming from other states, but it's believed that the tradition may have actually taken root in Virginia. President George Washington was apparently a fan.

1. Missouri
   Tennessee
2. Kentucky
   Texas

Nearly all barbecue ribs out in the world are pork ribs but in Texas, they go all-out with beef ribs. They're bigger and meatier than the pork ribs and they shouldn't be made with a rub or a sauce.

1. California
   New Mexico
2. Nevada
   Texas

California's cuisine is very eclectic but they do have some of their own BBQ, including Santa Maria-style. Proper Santa Maria-style involved grilling beef tri-tip over red oak with spices like pepper, garlic, and salt.

1. North Carolina
   Tennessee
2. Texas
   Kentucky

Whole hog barbecue is a tradition in the Carolinas but North Carolina specifically will do the whole hog, skin and all, in a whole hog tray for you. That means a mix of lighter meat, darker meat, and the crispy skin to give you a lot of texture.

1. Oklahoma
   Nebraska
2. Iowa
   Wyoming

Oklahoma doesn't have a huge BBQ scene compared to some of the other states but they sure know steak. Oklahoma City is famous for its steakhouses — not to mention cowboys and stockyards — and grills up some of the best steaks anywhere.

1. Georgia
   Texas
2. Alabama
   North Carolina

North Carolina barbecue is known for Lexington-syle barbecue, from the town of Lexington, which is very much defined by its sauce. It's a tomato and vinegar-based sauce that includes spices and brown sugar.

1. Tennessee
   Florida
2. South Carolina
   North Carolina

South Carolina went its own way with sauce, ignoring the tomato base that so many other states use, and opting instead for a yellow mustard-based sauce that's a little tangy and a little sweet thanks to the vinegar, sugar, and assorted spices that get tossed in as well.

1. Texas
   Missouri
2. North Carolina
   Alabama

The brown gravy sauce you can find in Texas isn't a super common one and it's generally only found in North Texas. It's made like a typical gravy — thickened pan drippings with spices. The difference here is that the drippings in question come from smoked meat so it has that inherent smokey flavor you want in your BBQ.

1. Tennessee
   North Carolina
2. Missouri
   Kentucky

Memphis, Tennessee does dry ribs, which are rubbed as opposed to sauced (though you can sauce them later, too, if you like). A typical rub will consist of salt, pepper, garlic, onion, celery seed, and probably something to give it a kick, like cayenne.

1. North Carolina
   Missouri
2. Texas
   Alabama

North Carolina is home to red slaw, sometimes called Lexington-style slaw. While your average coleslaw is white thanks to mayonnaise being the base of the sauce, red slaw doesn't use mayo. It does have ketchup in it though, which is where the name comes from.

1. Missouri
   Kentucky
2. Illinois
   Alabama

Kansas City, Missouri is home to some iconic baby back ribs and, arguably, is the city that made BBQ ribs famous. The key is the sauce that they use which is much sweeter than the sauce you'll find in other states.

1. Texas
   Missouri
2. Tennessee
   Georgia

Good pulled pork exists in a lot of places but Memphis, Tennessee is famous for it. Cooked low and slow until the meat just falls apart naturally and slathered in sauce, it makes a sandwich you won't soon forget.

1. Kansas
   Arkansas
2. Texas
   Alabama

Arkansas barbecue sauce is a bit zippier than some kinds, made with black pepper and vinegar as well as other spices. Some places will repurpose old ketchup bottles with this sauce and leave it on the table for you.

1. Texas
   Kentucky
2. Georgia
   North Carolina

Brunswick stew comes from Brunswick, Georgia and is so popular they have a festival for it. If you've never tried it, the stew is a tomato-based soup with corn and butter beans then piled full of smoked pork and chicken.

1. South Carolina
   Alabama
2. Tennessee
   Illinois

Most barbecue focused on pork will use a pork shoulder, but some next-level barbecue uses fresh ham like they do in South Carolina. The curing process for ham makes the flavor more complex than simple pork shoulder.

1. Hawaii
   Texas
2. Tennessee
   Alabama

Memphis, Tennessee barbecue is famous for two kinds of ribs: dry ribs, which are made with a dry rub and smoked, and wet ribs, which are, obviously, made with a sauce slathered all over them.

1. Kentucky
   Texas
2. Oklahoma
   Colorado

Head to Monroe County, Kentucky and they'll thinly slice some pork shoulder for you and cook it right over some hickory coals. The end result looks like a thick-cut ham or a thin-cut steak.

1. Alabama
   Kentucky
2. Tennessee
   South Carolina

Like chicken, turkey has been pretty well mastered by the pitmasters of Alabama. You can get a killer turkey sandwich there served with chow chow, which is a kind of pickled relish that could be made from any number of veggies.

1. Tennessee
   South Carolina
2. Texas
   Alabama

Robert Gibson, owner of Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q in Decatur, Alabama is credited with inventing Alabama's white bbq sauce. Using mayo as a base, the sauce includes vinegar, salt, pepper, other spices and sometimes horseradish for an extra kick.

1. Kentucky
   Texas
2. Alabama
   Missouri

A good smoked pork shoulder should be in any BBQ pit's wheelhouse but the way it's handled after that can vary greatly by region. Chopped pork shoulder served on a bun with dill pickle is something you won't find many places outside of Alabama.

1. Texas
   New Mexico
2. Oklahoma
   Tennessee

Texas may be most famous for its brisket and beef ribs but it does a good job with sausage as well. Adding a bit of Mexican flair with some jalapeno makes for some spicy and salty beef sausages that are a staple at many restaurants.

1. West Vriginia
   Tennessee
2. Kentucky
   Texas

Kentucky does mutton on the barbecue, which is mature sheep as opposed to lamb which is usually younger. It's known for a decent fat content and a gamier taste than beef or pork. In Kentucky, it's also served with black dip, a Worcestershire-based sauce.

1. Missouri
   Louisiana
2. Alabama
   Texas

Sausage may not get as much love as pork or brisket in BBQ, but in Texas, they do put in some effort to make it memorable. Hot gut sausage is made of a rough-chopped and spiced beef held in a pork casing and generally smoked to perfection.

1. South Carolina
   Florida
2. Georgia
   Kentucky

Hash made from smoked, barbecue sausage or other meats and served over rice is a solid menu item in South Carolina. Some places make a hash that's chiefly French fries or some other weird ingredient but a good South Carolina hash is just that pure, smokey sausage meat, or maybe a few dozen other meats with some onions and spices ground down almost into a stew and served on rice

1. Georgia
   New York
2. Missouri
   Texas

St Louis, Missouri is the place to go for some smoked salami which is exactly what it sounds like. It's one of the lesser-known items you'll find on any menu but those who have tried it have seemed to like it.

1. Missouri
   Alabama
2. Texas
   North Carolina

Even though the rest of the world knows it as sauce and they know what you mean when you ask for sauce, there's a good chance someone at a North Carolina BBQ place will suggest you want more dip when you ask. And, weirdly enough, you're not expected to dip anything in this tomato and vinegar mix. You pour it on because it's a sauce.

1. Arkansas
   Kentucky
2. Florida
   North Carolina

The skin of the pig is often discarded in a lot of BBQ cooking but they let it crisp up in North Carolina and will serve it on the side of a lot of mix plates if you want it. Some people call them cracklins.

1. Colorado
   Michigan
2. Illinois
   New York

Chicago, Illinois is home to a number of BBQ places that specialize in rib tips. As the name suggests, these are just the tips of the ribs, full of cartilage, but they make a tasty, smokey snack if they're done right. Arguably Illinois' biggest contribution to the BBQ scene.

1. Texas
   Alabama
2. Arizona
   South Carolina

Southern Texas is a place to find barbacoa — a cow's head smoked in agave leaves. The meat is cooked slowly until it can just be shaved off and makes for an excellent barbacoa taco.

1. Alabama
   Arkansas
2. Kentucky
   Louisiana

Kentucky is famous for its burgoo, a kind of stew that can be made with just about any meat imaginable including chicken, pork, beef, turkey or more traditional and exotic items like squirrel and possum. It's a staple side dish for any Kentucky BBQ.

1. South Carolina
   Alabama
2. Kentucky
   Texas

Texas barbecue includes any number of famous sides, like baked beans or coleslaw, but there's also the very unique Texas side of onion rings served with a sweet and sticky apricot sauce.

1. Missouri
   Georgia
2. South Carolina
   Tennessee

You can get a pork steak if you head to St. Louis, Missouri, assuming you want the best kind you can get. A slice of pork shoulder cut about 2 inches thick and slow-cooked for a few hours until it's almost falling apart.

1. Kentucky
   North Carolina
2. Alabama
   Missouri

Alabama's most famous BBQ contribution is the white chicken, a quarter chicken served with white BBQ sauce. Most sauces have a red or brown hue based on their core ingredients but this sauce is all white thanks to the fact it uses mayo as a base mixed with vinegar and other ingredients.

1. Tennessee
   Kentucky
2. Alabama
   Arkansas

In parts of Kentucky when you order meat off the pit they know you mean you want it sliced right then and there off the shoulder, still hot from the fire, and served with a side of sauce. It's as close as you can get to table-side service with a massive cut of BBQ meat.

1. Georgia
   Texas
2. Mississippi
   Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is famous for its burnt ends: those little cuts of meat taken from the point of a smoked brisket and cubed. They're smoked black on the outside, hence the "burnt" part of the name, and smokey and flavorful inside. Other places make them but Kansas City perfected them.

1. Kentucky
   North Carolina
2. Arkansas
   Tennessee

Outside brown may not sound appetizing but it's the name they'll use in North Carolina to describe the darkest, crispiest pieces of meat on the outside of whatever was cooking. It's good for adding texture and some intense smokey flavor.