Mesquite ..................

[smokeasaurus]

I run a small hot mesquite fire in my off-sets. I have tried only mesquite this way and i have observed hardly any flavor from it...only heat. This is because the fire is burning clean and hot. I add fruit wood for smoke/flavor.

Electric Smokers smolder wood in a oxygen starved environment. Woods like mesquite and black walnut do not lend themselves to this type of smoker due to the harsh smoke they produce......I usually use a pc of hickory or oak and one pc of fruit, this will calm down the hickory/oak. Burn rate and the type of smoker will affect the tastes certain woods impart to your protiens.....imho.........

[DivotMaker]

Interesting take on mesquite, Scott!  This is just another example of why wood smoke flavor is very subjective, just like any other spice.  I use mesquite a lot, on beef, and love it.  I almost always use it with a mix of hickory. 

[SuperDave]

Might be the wood but every time I use Mesquite on beef the meat tastes like it was soaked in kerosene. 

[prudentsmoker]

I too have seen numerous posts calling mesquite "heavy", there was even on on Jeff's blog titled Mesquite ruined my meat. On a side note- both Franklin and Joe's Kansas City, which to the uninitiated may be the two highest rated BBQ places in the US, use oak.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Might be the wood but every time I use Mesquite on beef the meat tastes like it was soaked in kerosene.

LOL , .....................Soaked in Kerosene .

[DivotMaker]

Lots of kerosene, er.. mesquite in west Texas and New Mexico; that's where I was introduced to it many moons ago.  I love the unique flavor of it, but easy to oversmoke, if not careful.

[smokeasaurus]

We have a steakhouse down the mountain a ways that grills big thick rib-eyes over burning mesquite logs. I was a little apprehensive about the flavor when seeing the grill....however the mesquite was roaring clean with hardly any smoke and the steaks had a mellow flavor to em.  When Mesquite gets smokey though.....a little really goes a long ways.............

The moral of this rambling is wood flavor profiles are usually different when burning hot and clean vs smoldering/smoking........... just sayin   

[elkins20]

I run a small hot mesquite fire in my off-sets. I have tried only mesquite this way and i have observed hardly any flavor from it...only heat. This is because the fire is burning clean and hot. I add fruit wood for smoke/flavor.

Electric Smokers smolder wood in a oxygen starved environment. Woods like mesquite and black walnut do not lend themselves to this type of smoker due to the harsh smoke they produce......I usually use a pc of hickory or oak and one pc of fruit, this will calm down the hickory/oak. Burn rate and the type of smoker will affect the tastes certain woods impart to your protiens.....imho.........

Hey Scott, I use oak/maple mix and love the flavor. Also learned from a Dinners-Drive-in and Dives show that Gates BBQ restaurant in K.C. uses oak/maple for all their smokes.

[smokeasaurus]

Oak and maple sounds like a killer combo......and what makes it better I got plenty of both 

[elkins20]

Oak and maple sounds like a killer combo......and what makes it better I got plenty of both 

I think if you try it you will like it. I use it pretty much on all my smokes especially on brisket and pork butts. On Ribs is hickory and cherry, with either 1 or 2 kingsford briquets pending on my mood.