Cooking a few whole goats. What woods do you think I should use?

[JB BANNISTER]

I have always used oak and hickory. What do yiu think about fruit woods?

I am also doing a few lambs so your ideas woulds be great.

[JB BANNISTER]

I will be cooking 1-3 like the picture below and at least one goat and lamb on a GAS pig cooker with a smoke box. I can get by using blocks of wood for the gas cooker. Btw that is a cow roasting in the background but we are doing them with differant fires this year.

[Gio]

Seasonings you might think about using: lots of garlic, thyme, bay leaves, Greek oregano, hot paprika, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar.

[acgold7]

You could go Mediterranean and go with Olive or Grape prunings, if you can find some.

[Uncle Bob]

JB my standard answer to this question is; Except for Hickory, Mesquite, and maybe Black Walnut.. 95% + of the population can't taste the difference anyway. ~~ Unless you're a "Smoke-A-Phile" or something ~~~ So use what ya got. ~~ Me I would use Oak & Hickory or maybe Oak and Pecan...Heavy on the Oak (80%)...and light on the Hickory (20%) Ya might use a little more Pecan than Hickory if you use that combo ~~ Fruit woods? Cherry!!

Have Fun!

[hawkeyeui93]

Bob: I've never used Black Walnut. What is it like? I got two large trees on a rental property and I think I am going to remove one ... Worth saving the wood?

[Veggo]

Black walnut is extremely valuable to woodworkers and artists. Burning it is burning money.

[hawkeyeui93]

That was my initial thought about it, but my rental property is in Northern Iowa and the tree is not quite the century-plus growth most artisans covet [at least in this area] ....

[Veggo]

Patience.

[Uncle Bob]

I heard it through the grape vine...it's bad/bitter/strong/ ~~ YMMV

Fun!

[Veggo]

Can you source mesquite in S.C. ?

[JB BANNISTER]

I can get chuncks.

[Veggo]

About what I figured. You would need a half cord. Go with your local hardwoods. Cabrito over mesquite has been on my profile for 5+ years now.

[Uncle Bob]

JB...You burn a 1/2 Cord of that stink weed (mesquite) that smells like (I imagine) the devils ass crack, your neighbors will run you out of town ~~ Hell, they may even get up a petition and have you run out of South Carolina! Hahahahaha!

Fun!!

[Veggo]

Uncle Bob, it sounds like you can't get mesquite, either...:)

[Uncle Bob]

Thank goodness!! Nor do I want any!! The "weed" is not indigenous to my South, so running up behind the house to cut a truck load is out of the question. ~~ Here Oak, Hickory, Cherry, Pecan, etc. rule! ~~ I have cooked with it however..twice! After that, I gave the rest of it to an enemy! Hahahaha! ~~

[porker]

FWIW, according to Mexico Mike, Mexican cabrito restaurants use mesquite.
http://mexicomike.com/food/food_intro...

[hawkeyeui93]

Mesquite seems like the one used mostly when I lived in West Texas. I would be temped to try cherry if you can access it ....

[chefj]

We cooked with Apple and Almond wood at one of the restaurants I worked at and they were great.
Are you looking for ideas on seasoning or roasting?

[JB BANNISTER]

I am looking seasoning ideas BIGTIME! Any ideas would be great.

[chefj]

Jerk or Caribbean style Curry come to mind. Also Indian flavors like you would do for Tandoori marinades on Lamb or South Indian Mutton (goat is often called mutton in India)dishes.