Stronger Taste? Hickory or Mesquite

What I like and what you like may be two different things...that is why Smokin' has ALWAYS encouraged us to smoke something and take good notes about what we liked or wanted to change for the next smoke.

Big pieces of meat will handle bitter smoke better then chicken, so go ahead and experiement.

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
What I like and what you like may be two different things...that is why Smokin' has ALWAYS encouraged us to smoke something and take good notes about what we liked or wanted to change for the next smoke.

Big pieces of meat will handle bitter smoke better then chicken, so go ahead and experiement.

Not to mention what you wind up with even if it isn't what you were hoping for will still be better than 95% of the Que you buy elsewhere, not to mention give you an excuse to try again. Jer

Well. I would have told you Mesquite is stronger than Hickory (Andrew Jackson aside), but read this wood chart. Who ever put it together has a different opinion than me. Course, "I'm no expert." (Sorry Tom).

Thanks guys....

Pags - i have read through that chart as well, when i was trying to decide what woods i wanted to get from CS... It sounded like Mes was a stronger smoke, however in the past when i had left overs from a hickory smoke and placed them in a tuperware container, that container would have a strong smoke smell, even after repeated washes... When i smoked with the hickory and mes wood mixture, the left overs left the container with no smoke smell at all, and the meat even had less of a smoke taste.

I've been taking greate notes... i've got a 1 inch binder already filled after only 6 smokes... i'm OCD when it comes to taking notes... i even have pictures printed out and placed in the binder...

i'm just trying to decide now what to do tonight with my brisket.... i've done the last brisket with hickory and mes mixture... maybe all hickory smoke, OR all mes smoke...

what would you guys do in my position?

Great job with the notes. I've always had good luck with hickory, but Texans would argue the mesquite. Most would tell you mesquite is quite strong, so maybe it was just gentle wood on that last cook.

you maybe right pags, as i remember after the PB was finished (16 hours later) the hickory chunk was complete ash... The Mes chunk was half ash and the other half was bark that didn't ash up.