O/T Is this man pulling my leg ?

Dozer Guy · Jan 19, 2009

I had a guy tell me one time " Instead of cutting down mesquite trees and burning them , just chip them up , bag up the chips , take branches , limbs , and even partial trees , take them up north and sell them to our northern states , they dont have mesquite trees up there for bar-b-que .... Is this guy just yanking my chain ??? Is there a need up there for mesquites ??? I think he is , but I had to just find out ....
Texas has been home forever ... Thanks in advance ... Larry

john *.?-!.* cub owner · Jan 19, 2009

He was only partly pulling your leg. No they don't grow up north, yes we do like to add mesquite chips to charcoal when barbecuing. The chips need to be about the size of your thumb (bigger than most shredders make), and come form the larger limbs and trunks. Thne dried well and bagged, then a way to ship and distribute. Of course a single tree makes enough chips for several hundred barbecues.

kyplowboy · Jan 19, 2009

Yes it's true. Wal Mart here sells mesquite chips in about a two gallon bag for a few bucks.

I have uese them a few times to toss on some charcoal and it gives food the mesquite flavor.

Feel kinda dumb buy'n them, but it taste a little difernt than hickory.

If you want to cook with some green hickory we could start trade'n fire wood, but I am sure there is some law aginst it.

Dave

GeneMO · Jan 19, 2009

Yes they do claim Mesquite is the best, however I go down in the woods and cut green hickory about 2" in diameter, cut them up in little blocks, then take them up to the shop, split them in little pieces, and for some reason I like them better than what I buy.

Gene

PS wanna buy some hickory?

Dozer Guy · Jan 19, 2009

Might be something here..
What about OAK? Is it plentiful where you are?

Gun guru · Jan 20, 2009

I see in stores small 1 quart size bags of mesquite/hickory chips sell for $5 each.
You could make a few grand on the idea.

hay · Jan 20, 2009

for me, the mesquite makes BBQ taste like creosote smells. nasty taste. i can't figger out what everyone raves about it for. i would much rather BBQ with oak, hickory or pecan wood. i think mesquite is so popular because there is so much of it in texas and a market has been found to get rid of it and make a fortune in the process. who knows, mebbe the next 'miracle' BBQ wood will be pine?

Dieselrider · Jan 20, 2009

I prefer a piece or two of apple tree wood on any BBQ even briquettes. It really brings out a good flavor.

buickanddeere · Jan 20, 2009

Is mesquite just another name for a thorn tree?
If you want some there are lots around here along every stream bank and newly re-grown plot of open ground. It has to be at least as hard as iron wood to saw.
Hard on tires too. I gave up and foamed the front tires on one tractor.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 20, 2009

pine they impregnate with arsenic for a longer lasting product.Used for fence posts.If it has a blueish/green tinge the only safe disposal is to bury it.Steak with a slight wisp of arsenic.. aaah!

John B. · Jan 20, 2009

I was always told that your fruit wood(s) are the best for BBQ.

We always used apple wood in the smoke house to smoke the meat on butchering day. We had some big orchards and just trimmed a tree to get some nice size pieces for the fire. Then put them into a 5 gal bucket and kept the bucket covered almost all the way so the wood would just smolder.

The summer sausage always tasted the same, and my classmates at school raved over it. I would trade them my sandwhich for something they had that I hardly ever had for lunch.

I look back and consider it was plea bargainning. They would plea for my sandwhich and I wouold bargain with them. Ha! Ha!

kyhayman · Jan 20, 2009

I never even knew what a mesquite was until I was grown. We dont have them and Walmart sells the chips at a premium. I dont really care for the taste, but I do buy a bag every so often to change up the taste.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 20, 2009

Mesquite is a thorned brush tree in the southwestern states and thrives on poorer undisturbred soils. Some burn mesquite in fire place or stove and it's a bad idea you got to clean chimney real often to keep the buildup out. Many only put the mesquite in for a bit to flavor it and take it out or replace it with something else once the smoking is done. It needs to be burned with something else for less smoke or can get the meat too smokey and rank.

T_Bone · Jan 20, 2009

Hi Larry,

There's 6 different type of mesquite trees in my area alone and only one will yield the best tasting meat you've ever had.

Which one? HeII I don't know. My neighbor taught me how to pick the correct one 25yrs ago and I just use that one. The leafs are slightly different than the other 5 types.

T_Bone

tg in VA · Jan 20, 2009

We have a local farmer who makes hickory chips and he uses the enitre tree, leaves and all. Sells then in 50# bags by the truck load.

big fred · Jan 20, 2009

Just curious and probably unrelated, but do you have the same kind of problems with bark beetles in Texas that they do in California? The Pinyon pine forests in the southern California desert are being decimated by those pests, and there's an active abatement program going on where you have to chip or burn all debris from pine trees. Wondering how far that problem extends, I've heard that they are having similar problems in Colorado.

Southern Ray · Jan 20, 2009

Green mesquite wood will make the meat taste bad. Only use wood that was cut at least a year ago, and let it burn down to just coals before you put the meat on. Better yet, have a fire burning close by and shovel fresh coals into the pit.
I never cared for that liquid smoke, or raw wood chips that make smoke.

paul · Jan 20, 2009

Folks like old dead apple trees up here.

Don't know what a mesquite is, hear you southern fellas mention them from time to time.

--->Paul

noncompos · Jan 20, 2009

Chopped lots of mesquite for firewood (Deming, NM area) but don"t recall anyone mentioning soot/creosote/whatever accumulation problems, altho that was a long time ago.
Was highly valued then, boom times for putting in new places, anyone who"d grubbed out mesquite had no trouble selling it, nice hot burning but murder to have to chop!

KIP in MX · Jan 20, 2009

I still remember back in the 60´s watching two D-8s dragging a giant chain between them ripping out mesquite on ranches in NM, then dozing into piles. Most piles were burned after a few years, but we used to go cut up big trailer loads and use in a deep pits dug into the ground to BBQ. Start the fire late one night, start grilling beef the next day, using an old Air Force landing mat as a grill. If we had a pecan tree cut up, that was used with or instead of mesquite. Cooked a quarter to half beef and invited all the neighbors over.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 21, 2009

Mesquite charcoal sells for big bucks in Maine.I like natural charcoal.Briqets are full of coal dust and starch.I keep a 5 gal. bucket near my table saw and save all hard wood scraps for my barbeque.Dead limbs from wild apple trees work fine.You dont need charcoal for out door cooking.

O/T Is this man pulling my leg ?

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