Mesquite lump charcoal + Kingsford cooking chuck steak

[Darrell_K]

This weekend I experimented a little with charcoal. I had some big pieces of mesquite charcoal that were too big for my little weber grill so I tried them in my 18.5" WSM. Here are some photos.

I watched the temp close and never let it get above 275. By the end of the cook about 6 hours later I couldn't get the temp over 235. I don't think the larger chunks would have done much more on this cook. I never did get sparks from the mesquite. Also it was weird. Once the meat temp hit 212 it stayed there for the last hour. I check the tenderness when the meat was around 200 but it wasn't tender enough.

As you can see we went the taco route with the meat. I used taco seasoning on the beef. It is super good!

 

[Jason Noble]

Interesting, I am surprised the bigger pieces of lump didn't light. Beef and tacos look great.

 

[Robert McGee]

Darrel;
Well, whatever you did, the product looks GREAT! I suggest that maybe you needed to use more briquettes with the lump. Then the larger pieces would have probably burned. I would have been surprised, too, like you, that the mesquite lump didn't burn well. Live and learn, huh?

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

 

[Darrell_K]

That's the key for me Robert! Live and learn. Next weekend doing 30 lbs of pork butt for Carnitas... Another first for me. I will stick with the Kingsford for a long cook like pork butts.

 

[ChuckO]

What did you think about the mesquite? (flavor wise) Nice cook, bet the tacos were out of this world

 

[Darrell_K]

Chuck there was very little smoke during the cook. I couldn't taste much over the seasoning. I've used mesquite wood chunks before and that did taste great with the brisket I did.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Looks great Darrell. That made some delicious looking tacos.