About BBQing and or Grilling in NM, choice of wood? (Mesilla: houses, live in)

[Hunter Wold]

Just wondering if anyone in NM uses either, green or seasoned Juniper for their BBQ/Grill? Not sure if there is any Mesquite which is a very hot wood but works good for some applications.

I really don't like to use charcoal and sometimes add some Juniper to the charcoal to slow down or add smoke to the fire.

Looking for a slow type fire to BBQ brisket, ribs etc.

Thanks,

HW

[NMHacker]

I use hickory and apple. Usually apple since my apple tree died I cut it up and use that.

[Zoidberg]

Piñon will often end up making your meat get too hot too quick, charring the edges before it gets done all the way through. Also kinda bland. Haven't tried Juniper but as most of the people I know are allergic to its pollen.. I'd also think it'd get the meat creosotey.

My favorite is old whiskey barrels, and afterward a tie between apple and cherry, then hickory, then mesquite (which is still good).

[BrianH]

I use mesquite and I have a dead apple tree I chop up too.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Juniper is good but sort of hot burning. I have it in shrub form in patches out back, typically near my yuccas. Of course out here at the outer Left margin of the US our wood of choice is the native Coast Live Oak. Not too much oak country in NM though,correct?

[ABQConvict]

Oaks in New Mexico are mainly of the scrub variety, mostly gambel oak. Much of it is at higher elevations, though so mostly on public land. I have seen oaks in west facing canyons of the San Mateo mountains that have grown to the proportions of actual trees, though.

If you live in New Mexico and have significant access to oak on your own land, you are in a lucky minority. :-)

[cosmicrowbar]

I'd never use juniper, pinon, or any other pitch or piney-type wood for grilling meat. Why would you want your meat to have that resiney taste? Greeks found a use for it in wine (Retsina) but I'd never want that on a nice steak or pork chop.
Oak, hickory, pecan or any fruit woods are great. I use a gas grill and throw some pecan -always available in the Mesilla Valley- or mesquite chips on top of the burners for some smoke flavor. If I was using wood I'd use Mesquite charcoal and probably flavor that a bit with some Mesquite wood chunks or chips soaked in water so they smolder rather than just burn up.
Many of the great steakhouses in the Southwest use Mesquite charcoal or wood precisely because of the intense heat and flavor.
Mesquite burns hot, as it should. The heat caramelizes the surface of the meat, giving you a well developed flavor, color and a nice crispy bite. The meat underneath will be more juicy if you use high heat to sear the outside.
If you need a lower fire, like for smoking or slow-cooked barbecue, just use less wood or charcoal, or keep the meat at a little distance from the glowing coals or shield it from direct heat with some sheet metal or a double fold of heavy duty aluminum foil.