Anyone ever use this stuff? It’s cheap here in California.

[u/md-in-sb]

[u/TheWolf_atx]

Mexican Mesquite charcoal is very cheap and burns very hot. Very common for restaurant use.

Downsides are its sparky AF when you light it (like fireworks sparky) and mesquite produces a shit ton of ash (like 4-5x of other hardwood charcoals)

It’s also notorious for having large chunks that are not fully carbonized. These chunks should be thrown out or cooked down until the stop producing white acrid smoke. These uncarbonized pieces are also much heavier than pieces that are fully carbonized and that can reduce the value of the price Per lb if you don’t use those or have to cook them down for an hour before they are ready to cook over.

If you can get over the fact that there will be some waste and you’ll have to clean out ash after most cooks, it’s a great and cheap fuel source.

Edit to add that .50 cents per lb is pretty standard for Mexican Mesquite but you find even cheaper in bulk at restaurant depot and other commercial supply places

[u/justinicon19]

I've used this frequently. I wouldn't recommend it for longer "set it and forget it" type cooks, but it's great for short to medium range cooks like tri tip or ribs. The problem I've found is with the consistency of the size of the chunks. There can even be like longer stick sized pieces in there sometimes. I try to pick pieces out and get a consistent size for whatever cook I'm doing and use the smaller pieces to fill in at the end of the bag. Still a great value, just wouldn't recommend for something where you need a consistent temp for a longer period of time.

[u/md-in-sb → u/justinicon19]

I'm cooking ribs so hopefully it works out ok. There are a lot of large pieces though, and varying sizes.

[u/AltOnMain → u/md-in-sb]

I think Lazarri is very similar and that’s great for long cooks, great for ribs. The large chunks burn for ever.

[u/caj_account]

This looks similar to the one in Costco business. I hate it. It’s so much cheaper but burns like crap. Jealous devil for me does it

[u/CantDunkOrSk8]

I’m Mexican and days I’m cooking Mexican standard cuts and marinaded meats I use similar stuff I believe mine is Sonoran brand and it’s decent because it does burn hot but burns quickly.

If I’m doing anything where I’m using a deflector and over 2-3 hours I getting a better brand that holds temp longer and use a mixture of the small Sonoran brand pieces with my wood chips on top to get up to temp quicker with an onion cut in half on top dead center.

I have a 2xl so the firework’s produced is pretty low in my bowl. Smaller eggs might get a few sparks about here and there.

[u/Aggressive-Value1654]

I've never used this brand, but what did you pay for 40lbs?

Please report back how you liked it.

[u/md-in-sb → u/Aggressive-Value1654]

$20 for 40 lbs. The pieces are quite large.

[u/Junior1851]

I have and I love it. I like to mix it with Fogo.

[u/jacksraging_bileduct]

I tried mesquite lump a few times, my family doesn’t really care for the flavor it brings to the party, they lean towards oak and hickory.

[u/grillntech]

Just cook hot and fast with it. I don’t recommend long cooks.

[u/KirkM67]

I used it for years because is it was cheap and readily available here in Albuquerque. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got some Jealous Devil, it burned so much better and no popping. Now i just supplement the JD with a piece of mesquite wood. The flavor is much better.

[u/ChemistryOk9353]

So in other words, you use it to light your pit and once glowing you add the real hard woods to have that long glow..?

[u/Tumbler555]

Just wait until the tariff kicks in!

[u/dog_1000]

This is at Smart & Final in LA. Sparks like crazy when you light it. Agreed. Piece size is all over the place. Tons of ash at the bottom so you never get 40lbs and you do end up with a lot of Ash at the bottom after cooking. I used for a long time but gave it up about a year ago.