Smoking with mesquite wood

[Randy_Allen_Fan]

I watch a lot of BBQ shows on Food Network and such and I have always heard that you should never smoke anything for a long period of time with Mesquite wood. The idea being that since Mesquite is such a strong flavor, anything needing to be smoked for a long time (briskets and such) would become bitter because of the smoke.

Is that logic limited to just outside of Texas or is that logic used in Texas as well? My favorite BBQ place in Abilene (Joe Allen's) smokes everything including their briskets over mesquite. I have smoked dozens of briskets for upwards of 14 hours or more and done so with mesquite wood and people have always raved about the flavor. Is that just a Texas thing or what?

Anybody else smoke large pieces of meat with mesquite? BTW, I have also used hickory, but I prefer mesquite.

 

[Luke Duke]

I'm not too picky on what kind of wood I use. Oak, pecan or mesquite work for me.

 

[hornian]

I use almost exclusively mesquite, to rave reviews.

 

[Doug E. Fresh]

When I smoke with mesquite, I tend to throw in a bit of Oak as well. It softens the bitterness of the Mesquite.

 

[UTEE]

Mesquite always seems to burn a bit hotter and shorter than oak or pecan or apple, so for the sake of convenience I don't use it very often. But, as far as flavor goes, I like it just fine, so I certainly wouldn't worry about that.

Like Doug E. Fresh, I'll sometimes mix mesquite in with oak or pecan, in order to control the heat and burning duration a bit better.

 

[3_yard-out]

It's a lot easier to oversmoke something with mesquite, and it does burn hotter. But you can still cut it with some oak, like someone else said, or just be careful and use it by itself. A lot depends on how much you like the strong mesquite flavor.

 

[bularry]

mesquite can leave an icky resin with a weird flavor, but if you can burn the mesquite for a bit outside of your box and then add the coals, you get a better, more milder flavor, IMO.

 

[alden]

I've heard that Cooper's BBQ in Llano does something like pre-burn the mesquite and use the coals for smoking.

I'm fairly new at this smoking thing (for this board at least), so I've never tried big chunks of meat with mesquite. You've got me curious now though.

 

[Arnold Layne]

I don't think it's a big problem. Growing up in South Texas, I'm guessing I'm pretty desensitized to the "bitterness" in mesquite. I use it about 15% of the time because I have easy access to Oak. I usually get Mesquite only when I go back home, which is rarely.