Tried to smoke a brisket using mesquite charcoal from my neighbor's garage sale

Last Thursday I was feeling cheap and grabbed a half-used bag of mesquite charcoal from a garage sale down the street for $5. I thought I was being smart saving money, but dang that stuff burned so hot it turned my brisket into a hockey puck in under 3 hours. I had been monitoring temps with my old ThermoPro and it read 250 until I looked closer and realized the smoker itself was pushing 400 because the charcoal was basically rocket fuel. My backyard smelled like a chemical fire and the neighbors actually came over to see if I was okay. I ended up scraping the tar off the grates and throwing the whole brisket in a slow cooker with some butter and broth just to salvage dinner. Has anyone else had a weird fuel source disaster ruin a cook?

2 comments

2 Comments

sageallen1d ago

Did you ever see that old Smokey and the Bandit where they talk about mesquite being too hot?

lee6271d ago

Yeah but isn't mesquite actually great if you know how to handle it? I've cooked with it for years and the trick is letting it burn down to coals first before throwing your meat on. The smoke flavor is way more subtle that way instead of that bitter acrid taste you get from flaming mesquite. Plus the heat it throws off is perfect for searing steaks without drying them out.