Smoking away in South Florida

[pacoinkeys]

Hey everybody, I have a couple of different grills I smoke on, nothing super fancy.  A Brinkman dual chamber gas/charcoal and a Weber.  I have a good group of friends down here in Homestead too that are always trading off/competing for best grub so we tend to eat well.  Most of us are either botanists or biologists of some type and I've noticed that we seem to have kinds of wood that we use a lot that most people either don't get very often or haven't heard of.  For example, the S. FL standard for smoking fish is buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), and we use it with different meats as well although I don't like it with red meat as much.  The flavor is kind of like mesquite,  It's been a staple down here for hundreds of years and I imagine all over the Caribbean as well.  We also use pimento (allspice), different citrus and guava along with others.  I started using the pimento after going to Jamaica and loving the jerk down there, it gives a great somewhat spicy flavor.  I joined because I'm really into smoking meats, and I'm constantly coming across this site when I search for smoking suggestions, but I'm also curious if there might be a market out there for any of these different woods that we get but don't seem to be in broad circulation.  What do you guys think?

I'm heading up to NC soon and thought I might take some wood up with me just for kicks and see how it blends with some of the more traditional woods (that we don't get down here).  Anyway, looking forward to good advice and good recipes.  Nice to be here.  

Steve 

 

[noboundaries]

Welcome Steve!  Glad you joined SMF after getting steered this way several times. 

I'm not a traditionalist who locks into the regional types of Q.  I tend to fix what I like, what I have on hand, and I like to experiment.  I'd love to try the woods you described.  Very cool! 

Looking forward to seeing you around the forum!

Ray

 

[gary s]

Hey Steve, hello and welcome to the site. I like trying different woods and blending them, Throw some of that in with the hickory and oak  ?? you never know.  I have a friend in the Dallas area who does competitions and likes to use hickory and oak with just a little mesquite thrown in,

Gary S