[corndog]

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I did 6 slabs of ribs, cooked to perfection, got tons of compliments, personally though, I thought they were way too smoky, I used a couple big chunks of mesquite wood, and personally I dont think I like the mesquite, any other wood suggestions for ribs?

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Try fruit woods. Apple and cherry are both great with pork and poultry. Otherwise you can use hickory (strong) cut with oak (mild).

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What he said. I cook pretty much everything on Mesquite. Not because I like it the best, but because I am cheap and have an endless supply of free mesquite. If you are stuck with mesquite make sure you are using pieces with a low bark-to-wood ratio. Too much bark will cause the smoke to have a little acidic taste to it and can even coat the meat with gunk. Generally, if your smoke is a very thick white color you are getting too much bark. You prefer the smoke to be transparent as possible.

If you find your food is getting too smoky feel free to wrap it up in foil at some point during the cooking. I usually do this with ribs when I'm cooking on mesquite.

On brisket with mesquite I'll usually wrap it up in foil after 5 or 6 hours. Since I usually cook a brisket 12-15 hours, and since when it is wrapped it is only taking heat, I have even been known to occasionally (gasp) finish it up in the oven for the last 7 or 8 hours at 200-215F (don't go above the boiling point). It is a cheap way out and I'm too ashamed to tell any of my BBQ snob friends, but if you don't have a fancy temperature regulation system you can save yourself a lot of work. It is great if you need to have the food ready for something early like a football tailgate but still want to get some sleep at night. It is also a good way for brisket "rookies" to get the hang of it, since brisket is easy to mess up until you learn the finer points of temperature and smoke regulation.

When cooking a brisket for a later meal, I never stick it in the oven. Nothing beats sitting outside from 5am to 6pm with a cold beer in hand and a smoker full of slow-cooking meat next to you.