Mesquite ruined my meat

[jirodriguez]

The mesquite lump will give you a light mesquite flavor. You might want to try it just by itself the first time out - maybe on some chicken. Then if you decide you want more flavor start with a very small amount of chips/wood.

I have a Char-griller and I find if I put 2 fist sized chunks of wood directly onto the hot coals every 60-70 minutes, for the first 3 hours I get a good flavor. By placing it directly on the coals I allow it to combust fully and after 30 sec. to 1 minute of heavy smoke it settles down to a nice thin blue. I have done turky, chicken, and pork shoulder this way with great success.

 

[grillin_all_day]

I've only used mesquite once and that was with a couple of fatty's that I smoked. I took the chunks I had and cut them down into smaller pieces and everything turned out pretty good. I'm a noob when it comes to mesquite, but I will definately be using it again in small proportions.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Sounds like evryone covered all the bases. Being in the southwest, i have cooked with mesquite about 98.85% of the time. I use lump unless cooking undrground or camping. Definately need to start off with a good hot fire. I Load up my sfb with lump and then toss in a half chimney of red hot coals, leave the smoker lid open until the smoke settles and go from there. Allways add lit coals to burning coals or the sparks and nast white stuff will be all over the food...

 

[graybeard]

After reading where you said the vent was half open I would keep it fully open and keep that smoke flowing!
beard

 

[dirtybird570]

I'm from Texas and thats the wood of choice..... If the mesquite is not seasoned it will ruin your meat for sure... never use green mesquite. You can also cut the bark off to reduce the so-called bitterness. I usally start my firebox with oak and throw the mesquite in after the oak has turned to coals.... I smoke the meat about 3 hours and then wrap it in foil and finish it out with oak .. Oak is cheaper than mesquite down here.....

 

[phil brown]

I figured the Texans would weigh in on this one. Every Texan I know loves mesquite, especially on beef.

I suspect that a lot of the people who say they don't like mesquite really just don't like creosote. Mesquite will put out more creosote than any other kind of wood I know. We're talking about the kind that will coat the inside of your smoker in sticky black tar. My advice would be to cut the bark off and let it sit on the shelf for a couple months - regardless of what the guy who sold it to you says about when it was cut.

Mesquite does have a very strong flavor, and some people just don't like it period. Thankfully, God made us all different kinds of wood to smoke with!

 

[rdknb]

I used misquite on chickhen with good luck and on red meats. Seems to work better on that for me. As was said, if all else fails go to chili