Mesquite

[Mo-Dave]

I have two racks of ribs on my reworked over and over bds. They are dialed in at about 235 and cooking right along. Only difference this time is I am using mesquite. I have used it years ago and remember liking it but since its not normally available in my neck of the woods I mostly stick to hickory, oak. apple and pecan, hickory being the most used.

I don't read many post talking about mesquite wood and I know there are some Texans around hear. Anyone care to share there pros and cons on misquite.

Also made some ABTs stuffed with cream cheese and a pineapple chunk of course wrapped in bacon half are covered in a brown sugar and Grey poupon mustard mixture, saw that on Paula Deans show and thought Id try it. I will let you know the results on both the mesquite and the abs later.
Dave

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Mesquite is pretty strong flavored to start with so go light on it if you don't like a strong smoke. I find that it makes the bark on the meat a bit black probably due to oils in the wood/bark.

They use mesquite for everything including ribs at Cooper's in Llano, Texas, but they have the luxury of burning it down to coals before they put it in the pits. I think that this gets rid of the oils and keeps it from getting blackened. Wish I had enough mesquite available to try that myself.

I like mesquite the best for beef, but my favorite bbq joint growing up used it on ribs which were really good.

[River City Smokehouse]

You know the deal Dave......NO PICS?

[Mo-Dave]

Originally Posted by River City Smokehouse

You know the deal Dave......NO PICS?

Are you done playing around with fire today????????
Dave

[River City Smokehouse]

I was. The entire brush pile is history. I can finally drive around to my garage now.
I'm tired and sore now. I'm going to rest.

[ON THE FARM]

Like HSLS said its good on beef, pork not so much (can get real bitter).

[Mo-Dave]

Originally Posted by ON THE FARM

Like HSLS said its good on beef, pork not so much (can get real bitter).

Well they have only been on for an hour so should I finish them in foil to avoid the bitterness?
Dave

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

I don't know how much mesquite you put in there, but I don't think you need to foil them early. Just don't add any more mesquite. After an hour all the oils are gone anyway so no problem with making the ribs bitter from this point on.

[Monty]

1) Make sure you don't EVER EVER EVER EVER use green mequite wood, it will ruin your smoker permanantly, it will impart a bitter nasty taste on anything you cook in that cooker, and you can NEVER get it out.

2) it is probably the strongest of the smoking woods. It is NOT recommended to do long smokes with it, rather use a chunk or so in the beggining and a chunk or so at the end. and fill the middle with oak or hickory.

3) not that good with poultry.

4) make sure whatever mesquite you put in the firebox is good and seasoned AND dried!

5) like me, whenever possible use Mesquite Lump Charcoal, but it's easy to find here, along with the mesquite wood.

6) it's hard as a rock and will dull your chainsaw in short order. It grows prolific down here and the thorns are sharp and hurt!

7) on the lighter side, mesquite bean jelly is absolutely delicious!

It burns hotter than just about any other wood, or lump charcoal, so be aware of that fact.

Even many of the BBQ places here in Texas that say "Mesquite BBQ" Don't usually do a whole long smoke with just the wood, but use a lot of mesquite charcoal and "some" wood.

[Jaberwabee]

I use it for beef sometimes, but tonight I ruined some wings, when I thought I put cherry in, but it was mesquite. I didn't even look at the wood, just grabbed 3 chunks and placed in the UDS. I have my wood in different buckets for each type, and it turns out my puppy boxer strung the mesquite all over the yard and it rained and my wife picked it up and threw it in the cherry bucket. Chicken done with wet mesquite, is disgusting.

[Smokey Al Gold]

Growing up in south texas we use mesquite for everything and I mean EVERYTHING. Chicken, ribs, beef and everything in between. It does have a strong flavor (which I love) but make sure and burn it down to coals first otherwise I've seen some friends que go bad quickly because food was just too overpowered by the smoke. But to me it's great and everywhere here in south texas that's all everyone uses gotta love it! Good luck.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Originally Posted by Smokey Al Gold

...make sure and burn it down to coals first otherwise I've seen some friends que go bad quickly because food was just too overpowered by the smoke.

To that end, here is a picture of Cooper's Burn "Pit" where they burn the mesquite logs down to coals before using them in the pits in Llano, Texas. You can see the mesquite pile on the left.

[Pitbull]

Mesquite is all I use and I occasionally mix with Oak. If used correctly Mesquite has a light smokey flavor as opposed to Hickory which I think has a heaver smoke flavor. You need to make sure you preheat you logs so they burst into flame as soon as you put them on the fire and turns to coals quickly. Do not make a heavy smoke. A heavy smoke will make things bitter. You want a light blue whispy smoke. It's great on beef and pork and OK on chicken and turkey. I did both this weekend and they came out great. I smoke ribs for about 2-2.5 hours then wrap. I do beef and pork 4-5 hours and then wrap. Oh, and I love the color it imparts to pork too. The only thing is I haven't ever been able to come up with a good homemade BBQ sauce to compliment the meat. I have a good one for Hickory, but the Mesquite one eludes me.

Check out the link for the end product on all.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/member.php?u=6104

[Mo-Dave]

Well the ribs turned out good not bitter at all. The wood I used was very seasoned but it was not burnt down to coals first. I use lump as my base and did a simple old school seasoning, just salt, pepper and garlic. I have not tasted them today and that is when I can really get the flavor of smoked meats best.

The ABTs man I don't know what to say I ate one and it was great very milled so I grabbed 3 more and man o man it set me on fire. They were the hottest I have ever had, so hot I could not taste anything for 45 minutes. At one point I had to go to the restroom and thought I was going to have to stop myself and get a drink out of the sink it was so bad. I probably will cut the others up in small amounts and add them to something else.
Dave