Smokin Ribs on the way

Hey bill,
I live on STX and smoke meats frequently. Ribs, brisket, pork shoulders, chicken, sausage........... Yum! I don't know of any oak, hickory, or mesquite supplies here other than the small bags of chunks or chips from the stores. One of my favorite woods to smoke/BBQ with is Pecan and that is impossible to find here. What I did is rigged my smoker pit with a gas burner. I start the meat on charcoal and wood chunks to infuse the smoky flavor then fire up the gas burner on a low flicker. 180 - 200 degrees F .The burner is in the fire box so the meat stays away from the flame. I generally leave it on for several hrs or even overnight for brisket or shoulders. Works great and keeps a constant temp. The small propane bottle from a BBQ pit lasts a long time when you just have it seeping out.
I'm always asked, "how do you get your meats to come out so juicy and tender?" The answer. Trim, season, smoke, slowcook, let it rest, then cut against the grain. My ribs I like to baste with apple juice. Sweet and spicy.

Thanks for the info, I noticed alot of papaya on island, have tried to infuse flavor from this wood?

Papaya salsa maybe but papaya trees are full of water almost soft like a banana tree. Wood no good.

LOL, I went into the garden store last weekend looking for an axe to cut down my Papaya trees and was laughed at. Sky is correct about the characteristics of the wood, I cut mine down with a little hand saw, took about 1 minute to get one down the wood is so soft.

The leaf's are apparantly good as meat tenderizer. Actually, Papaya leaf/skin/parts is what Adolph's makes their meat tenderizer out of. It contains an enzyme that breaks down the meat.

Sean

Mahogany is a really hard wood and plentiful on the island... can it be used for cooking meats?

it's illegal to cut down mahogany trees so unless it is a dead tree or fallen naturally, you would not be able to use the wood for barbecue or anything else.

Mahogany? never tried
papaya leaves in Adolph's? Interesting.
A good marinade will do all the tenderizing you need.

Mahogany would be like smoking with teak or oak. Not really the epitome of smoked meats. Papaya is more of a bush or shrub than a tree. Once you see one, you will understand. Now Mango tree wood would be more of a match for apple or other fruit woods. Mango is a real tree and not just a bush like papaya. I don't know of anything local that would be an equivalent of Alder, as a mainstay for smoking meats. When you get here, check with the guys who do the pig roast events to see what kinds of local woods they prefer for an even heat and flavoring.

The Hawaiians wrap their pig in banana leaves before they bury and roast, suppose the same could be done with Mango or Papaya and then slow smoke. Thanks for the idea.

Bill... the puertoricans make an awesome slow cooked pork, which many of them roast in a pit very similar in process to the hawaiin way.. but of course with the delicious criollo spices. They often wrap it in banana leaves to keep it protected and moist. very yummy. Lots of banana leaves readily available here for that purpose.

as for the mahogany, I know nothing of smoking type woods but I do have a lot of mahogany trees which must be trimmed regularly and the wood is very hard. It is illegal to cut them down but it is not illegal, and actually healthy for the tree, for them to be regularly pruned and shaped. As Alexandra pointed out,... mahogany is not unlike teak. So , if that is not suitable for smokin then I really think appropriate woods would have to be imported. Mango trees would not be a likely source of wood here, most of us like mango's too much to cut down the tree. 🙂

In Puerto Rico we would create our own charcoal from all kinds of woods and it was sold on the side of the roads all over the island. I believe that kind of charcoal is available here as well... just have to look in the right communities.

No matter... I'd love to have a steady source of good slow cooked smoked ribs. Last weekend there was a fun rib cookoff on island and a lot of really great smoked and bbq'd ribs were had by all for the benefit of Krewe de Croix! Yumm. Good luck on your venture.

SkysTheLimit, you are right on about marinading meats the night before with fruit juices, I also like to add fruit wood (apple, plum, peach) to the fire box a few hours before the finish, it smooths the edge off the hard wood smoking. Thanks everyone for the info.

I was told that sea grape trees is a very good wood for smoking meats with. Someone else told me that this what is used for mesquite wood. Give it a try.

Coconut husk and the dried stem of the palm frond add a delightful taste. Not many BTU's but nice smokey taste. Dried sea grape make good coals or dried mangrove branches. I use coconut husk fibers to start all my fires. Plenty coconut around, and the smoke helps keep the bugs away.

Coconut husk fibers also make a great addition to potting mixes or garden beds.
Cheers

I wonder about the Coconut shells after you pull out the Coconut meat, cook with charcoal and use the shells to get the smoke. If you don't try it, I will when I get there someday. I have hauled my Hickory from Tennessee to New Mexico when I am home on vacation, I think it will be a real hard to find Coconut shells here in the desert. Do you want to send me some? I'LL pay shipping.

The shells are nice, burn fast, but the fiberous husk surrounding the nut is where the tinder and the smoke comes from. AZ has its own unique flavours!!! Come South for coconut flavour!! We have smoked whole hog to shoulders, and Christmas turkey not to mention other local fare.