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curing mesquite

11K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  energinerbuzzy 
#1 ·
don't you cut limbs into the smallest peace you can,soak it in water for a few days then let it dry out ?

thanks
 
#4 ·
I usually get branches etc... we have knocked off or trees we doze over at the ranch about a year or so after they are dead and dried. the best wood to me is old mesquite fence posts that are rock hard! That "heart" wood as we refer to it will burn forever and stays hot. I have a huge stack from some old pens that were torn down and we cut it up into chunks for cookin with,
 
#5 ·
I used to know a fellow from Kingsville that told me that you don't have to cut and haul all that wood with you at all. All you need to do is get you big coffee cans full of the mesquite beans. He said get the fire going good and hot with another wood, and then just toss in a handfull of the beans every now and then. The green ones last longer in the fire and put out the same flavor in the meat. Never tried it, but seemed to make sense to me.
 
#8 ·
I've never heard of Curing wood. Like one poster said above. Every year a bunch of Mesquites fall down or what not and we just get the tractor and drag the entire tree to a location we have. Then after a year or more we just cut them down.

And yes, dried out old mesquite fence post are awesome!! and yes they burn hot.
 
#9 ·
Some of the best bar-b-queing wood is mesquite (and believe it or not) huisache wood that seems like it almost almost petrified. It burns long and hot. And as far as huisache, when it is aged, cut and burning, you cannot tell the difference in the way it looks, burns or smells.
 
#12 ·
wood stands for curing

Let the wood sit outside for a year, preferably covered. Some people like green mesquite better (ie. Goode Co.). You can soak smaller pieces for an hour or so then throw on fire to produce smoke. If you have enough wood then no need to soak in water. I often use a milder wood, like water oak, for the heat then put on pecan, mesquite or pecan for smoking.

Hurricane Ike actually helped out in that department. The Heights had numerous pecan trees down. So much that I had to build two 7 foot wood stands to hold it all. One stand is for curing, the other is older wood for smoking now.
 
#13 ·
we also have a big stack of old mesquite posts(some are probably 70 years old). green mesquite is probably why some folks say mesquite is too strong. we only use dry(at least one year old) and my buddy McBee hates huisache. says it's too strong. I have no use for pecan. it burns too fast, makes next to no coals, doesnt split and cut pecan will rot totally away in three years. dry live oak is very good, but is hell to split and cut.
 
#14 ·
Humidity has alot to do with drying out wood. The higher the humidity the longer it's gonna take. It's kind of a look, cook and see deal. Green mesquite is a no no in my book. Over here in S.La. we have alot of oak, pecan and hickory and I like all three. For me mesquite comes in for beef and thats where it shines.
 
#17 ·
Yep.
and I have a separate old junk pit that I keep a fire going in to use.
I keep it at the same temp and the main pit and just pull out what I need and replace the wood in the old pit. It keeps the excessive smoke down and burns the bark off.
Plus I wind up with coals that are already burning the same as the main cooking pit. That cuts down on the having to play with the pit to get the temp right again.
That picture looks about perfect for what a pit should look like smoking any cut of meat!
 
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