Mesquite vs hickory for brisket, I finally picked one

I ran a 12 hour brisket smoke last Saturday and had two chunks of wood left, mesquite and hickory. I went with mesquite for the last 3 hours since I heard it gives a stronger kick, but honestly it came out a bit too sharp for my taste. The bark was great and crunchy, but the smoke flavor overpowered the beef itself. Next time I'll stick with hickory all the way through or maybe mix them at the start instead. Anyone else find mesquite works better on something like ribs rather than a full packer?

2 comments

2 Comments

lopez.quinn2d ago

Sometimes the strongest option just drowns out everything else around it.

jamesf411d ago

drowns out everything else" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, @lopez.quinn. You mean like when I put on noise canceling headphones at work and suddenly my boss is just a mouth moving in the distance? Honestly, that's the strongest option for my sanity. But then I miss the part where they said we get free pizza Friday, so now I'm just sitting here hungry and confused. Strong doesn't always mean you hear what matters most.