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Mesquite Cooking Wood & Firewood

When it comes to the best cooking wood for open flame grilling, you can't go wrong with our quality mesquite cooking wood. Mesquite firewood has a strong, bold flavor that is perfect for steak, and it carries a high heat rating with long-lasting coaling properties. That combination is why mesquite wood for smoking and grilling is the standard on Texas pits. You can also run mesquite BBQ wood in an offset smoker for good results on pork, chicken, and seafood.

If you are a steak lover, mesquite is what you need for steakhouse-quality outdoor cooking. Anywhere in the United States, and outside it, you can get the quality and joy of Texas barbeque delivered. ButlerWood cuts and ages all of its own mesquite in Central Texas from our in-house land clearing work. Contact us for details on shipping for both commercial and consumer use.

What Makes Mesquite Burn Different

Mesquite is the densest hardwood we sell. It ignites fast, runs hot, and drops into a bed of coals that holds heat long after the flame dies down. Those long-lasting coaling properties are what a steakhouse wants on a busy Saturday and what makes mesquite a poor match for anyone who wants gentle smoke.

The earthy flavor is bold with a mineral edge that no other wood copies. Most of what we cut is honey mesquite, the species that covers South and Central Texas, with some velvet mesquite mixed in from the western part of the range. Both burn the same way and give the same smoky flavor. The trees grow slowly and twist as they go, so mesquite in its raw form yields fewer straight pieces than oak does. That is why consistent splits are harder to produce and why our sizing matters.

Grilling Over Mesquite

Mesquite was built for direct heat. On a charcoal grill, let a few splits burn down to coals before anything touches the grill grate. Rushing that step is the single most common mistake, because raw mesquite smoke straight off the flame turns bitter fast.

Beef is the obvious pairing. A juicy steak over mesquite coals picks up a crust and a flavor you cannot get from a gas grill alone. Lamb chops handle the intensity just as well. Vegetables do better than most people expect, since a quick sear over an open flame gives peppers, onions, and corn a smoke flavor without the long exposure that overwhelms delicate food.

Gas grill owners can still cook over mesquite. Set a foil pouch of mesquite wood chips or a smoker box under the grate on one burner, run it low, and give it fifteen minutes to start producing smoke before the meat goes on. A gas grill will not build a coal bed the way a charcoal grill does, but the meat will pick up real flavor instead of bottled seasoning. We also carry mesquite lump charcoal if you want mesquite flavor on a kamado or kettle without managing a wood fire.

Smoking with Mesquite Without Overdoing It

Mesquite in an offset smoker rewards restraint. The wood is strong enough that a full firebox of it will push brisket past bold and into harshness. Most pitmasters run mesquite as a portion of the fire rather than all of it, adding a split every forty-five minutes or so and keeping post oak underneath as the base.

For a long brisket cook, two or three mesquite splits across ten hours is plenty. For chicken, pork ribs, or turkey, cut that back further, since poultry takes on smoke faster than beef does. If you want a lighter touch than a split gives, mesquite chunks or wood chips let you dose the fire in smaller amounts. The tool that gets you consistent results is a thermometer, not a heavier hand with the wood. A whole turkey over a mostly oak fire with one mesquite split picks up Texas flavor without going bitter.

Storing Your Mesquite

Keep splits off the ground in a dry area with air moving through the stack. Our wood ships aged and heat treated, but wood left sitting in rain will pull moisture back up, and the moisture content will climb until it smokes dirty. A pallet, a rack, and a cover over the top with open sides are all it takes. A moisture meter is a cheap tool if you want to check a split before it goes on the fire. Stored right, mesquite holds for years.

Order Mesquite BBQ Wood from ButlerWood

We clear the land, cut the wood, age it, treat it, and haul it on our own trucks. Our competitors buy their wood from producers like us and mark it up. Backyard cooks take the 1.5 cu. ft. box. Steakhouses and BBQ restaurants buy by the pallet and the truckload, and bulk and wholesale pricing improves with volume. Figure your burn rate and reorder before the rack runs dry, because mesquite moves fastest of anything we cut once grilling season hits.

NOTE: 1/8 Cords will ship in 8x 2Cu.ft Boxes.