Did you ever wonder what to smoke with mesquite wood? If the answer is yes you are at the right place! I will explain the flavor profile of mesquite and give you ideas for smoking food with it while also providing tips & tricks on how to use mesquite to its full potential!
in general rules, duck, lamb, brisket, elk, deer, wild boar, moose, rabbit, wild turkey, hare, beef, bison, and some cuts of pork can be smoked with mesquite wood! As you can see a lot of the meats are wild game since Mesquite is generally better for smoking dark meats since it got a strong, bold, and earthy flavor and will not overpower the flavor of these types of meat, while it still enhances the flavor of most wild game. As such wild boar would make the perfect candidate for that type of wood, included also deer & elk as prime candidates to test the power of this wood. You can always try it with vegetables and quick-cooking types of food to just give it a slight edge but do worry about the amount of smoke since you don’t want to overpower all flavor! You should go look for some recipes for Texas style brisket or some Tex-Mex barbacoa!
You can find some recipe on the net about beef jerky, ham sausage, turkey thigh, smoked almond butter trout, cold smoked porks ribs, and delicious smoked brisket ( i do recommend trying the brisket with mesquite the flavor is just too good to be true), pork shoulder (smoked with a little bit of mesquite and some others wood like hickory or apple wood) some smoked fajita wraps ( i would take it slowly with this one as chicken is not the best vessel for this wood), beef ribs (with a little bit of hickory), smoked pizza, Canadian bacon, bacon sausage, tri-tip, smoked parmesan pork chops, smoked filet mignon. All in all, Mesquite is not wood for a beginner but it does give such a tasty flavor when used well. I even saw some people having a lot of success while cold smoking some cheese but it needs to be fast with low emission of smoke experience to get the best result you need to think about mixing some hickory in the lot to give a less intense flavor.
Mesquite wood burns hot and fast which gives a lot of smoke giving the food you smoke a really strong flavor whenever you use it. It is also used on cuts of beef particularly brisket for a texas style flavor. Mesquite wood gives a definite flavor to anything that is smoked with it. If you are a beginner in smoking you should start with an easier wood to smoke with since you don’t want to overpower anything by smoking it too much with mesquite. It’s a wood mainly used in the Texas region of the United State reproducing the bold flavor of this state. Mesquite is the most prolific type of wood in texas and the most popular to use in southern bbq!
As I said mesquite is bold, continue to read as to why it should not be used with the type of food below. In addition, I give some tips & tricks proven to be used by pitmasters!
12 things to smoke with mesquite wood!
- Duck is an original choice to smoke with mesquite its flavor would be enhanced by this type of woods.
- Wild Boar are nice candidate for the strong flavor profile of mesquite.
- Lamb while being strong in flavor pairs really well with mesquite woods.
- Smoked rabbit would be an interesting choice once smoked would taste a lot like chicken but with gaminess.
- Deer is prime meat for smoking with mesquite,a lot of the flavor is only enhanced by the smoke.
- Elk a lot like deer would benefit greatly from being smoked with mesquite wood.
- Moose is another candidate to get the smoked treatment mesquite is best used with dark meats.
- Bison would be a nice alternative to fattier beef and still be as good for mesquite smoking.
- Beef is a nice candidate too since bison is one it would result only in a fattier smoked meat.
- Pork some of the cuts are good but some of them would be great such as ham or ribs.
- Shrimp since those cook pretty fast is an interesting choice too,remember to keep the smoke to a minimum still.
- Wild turkey is a nice alternative for chicken and pairs pretty well with a lot of the flavor of mesquite.
- Vegetables is a good choice since you want a lot of flavor from the smoke and mesquite does smoke a lot keep in mind to do fast cook.
Should i smoke poultry with mesquite?
Poultry should not be used with mesquite, since the wood completely overpowers the flavor of the chicken giving a bad experience as it will surely taste bitter in the end. Poultry goes so much better with lighter-flavored wood such as cherry, maple, apple, pecan, and oak. You can still find a recipe online using mesquite with chicken but I would not recommend it as my experience using it was not successful! You can always try to mix it with a sweeter, milder-tasting wood and pray that it’s not too much for the poultry to get bitter.
Should i smoke seafood with mesquite?
Fish and other types of seafood don’t pair well with mesquite again! Mesquite is too strong for all the delicate flavor profiles of fish and seafood. You can still try it for sure but just like the chicken, it would surely leave a bitter aftertaste wasting all the flavor of the fish or seafood. I highly recommend mixing it with other types of wood if you wanna try to smoke some fish or seafood! You can still do it if you are thorough, be sure to soak and keep an eye on your smoker at all times! As I said it can be done but need to be very careful with it as always! You could always test with little to no mesquite with another type of wood just to be sure of the smoking process
Should i smoke pork with mesquite?
there is some type of pork that can be smoked with mesquite but pork shoulder isn’t one of them. this cut of meat will be overpowered again by the bolder flavor of the mesquite wood. I wouldn’t consider mesquite to be of good use with pulled pork either, leaving it bitter and less than tasty. However, this wood can serve to smoke big and large cuts of pork like ribs or even ham to give it an excellent flavor that you couldn’t get with other wood!
Tips & Tricks to using mesquite wood!
Because mesquite produce so much smoke, lots of pitmasters decide to mix it with other wood types for long and slow bbq. Wood with less flavor such as hickory, oak, or even pecan are good options to keep the cooking process going without overpowering all the food that you are smoking! Also, you need to check the temperature during the slow cooking process which will diminish the production of smoke. The best way to smoke with mesquite is at a really low temperature to produce less smoke! So you just need to make the initial burn of the wood until they become coal and at that moment continue to smoke with only the clear smoke, this should lessen the heavy flavor and give it a nice milder flavor in the long run, after some time remembers to switch to a milder flavored wood if you do long bbq sessions.