Smoking cheese
 

Recommendations?

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Yeah, use a pipe and don't just roll it in a cigar wrapper so you don't get the molten stuff all over you! :D

Re: Smoking cheese
 

This has @T.G. written all over it.

I have not tried but others who do have used a Tupperware formed block of ice on top of the cheese to try to keep the melt to a minimum.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

You spelled "weed" wrong...... :D

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Look at a device called the A-Maze-N smoker. Great for cold smoking, under 90-100° F. Try to keep the temps as low as possible. Put trays of ice cubes in the smoker to bring temps down.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

I could swear it was Peter, may he RIP, who when herfing described his cheese method as two cookers connected via dryer duct. Kept the heat away and let him smoke cheese and fish with ease. I remember this because I thought it was the most ingenious Red Green thing Red Green didn't think of

Re: Smoking cheese
 

I use a similar method when I cold smoke with my Bradley smoker. Unhook the smoke generator, place a box over it, with a flexible dryer hose to the main chamber.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

I have one of their smoke tubes, thought about using that in the old Weber. Around here the sun will keep the cooker between 90 & 100*, and I thought about using the pellet tube to add smoke.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Thanks for the input so far!

To clarify, what types of cheeses, etc have y'all been successful smoking? I have enough smokers and "toys" that I can get cold smoke temperatures (even in my Lang), but I wasn't sure about the actual cheeses and any prep or techniques you use to give it flavor.

Thanks again to all!

Re: Smoking cheese
 

T.G. would be a great resource if you reach out to him.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

It all sounds so gouda. :D

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Surprisingly that’s something I haven’t smoked. Naturally cheddar, Gouda, provolone. I wonder how a hunk of Parmesan would do. Hmm...

Re: Smoking cheese
 

It's pretty wonderful.

But it, and any dry, hard, aged cheese has some caveats.

The more aged it is, the longer it will need to be left in a vacuum bag in the refrigerator after smoking to allow the smoke flavors to a) mellow and not overtake the cheese b) migrate through the cheese as to not just be a surface coating. Harder cheeses, the smoke doesn't absorb as well during the process, it just builds up on the surface.

I did some 36 month aged stuff once. It took well over a year in a vac bag in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld.

Smaller / thinner wedges/chunks will shorten that time, but you don't want to go too thin or you'll end up with too much surface area vs the core and it's easy to oversmoke and then you're right back to having to leave it in the refrigerator forever to mellow.



Steve, I'll post something this weekend on what I've learned that works for me. Too many work projects to wrap up today to get into a long post.

To quickly answer your question on what types, you can pretty much smoke any cheese except fromunda. Things like block size/weight, smoking time, and storage time before consuming can vary depending on the type of cheese though.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Thanks Adam! Work is really crazy for me all of a sudden as well, so I understand!

I thought I remembered you and Peter discussing cheese smoking a while back, but a quick search didn't find the old thread and I didn't take time yet to do an exhaustive search. I look forward to hearing about your lessons learned though!
Have a great weekend!

Steve

:dr:dr

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Anything smoked by this man :banger Adam puts up a great sampler of cheeses during the troop auctions. I think one may be coming up soon.

The hardest cheese I've smoked is the colby seems to take a little bit longer to smoke or sit vacuumed up, I usually smoke it with other cheese too.

I like to smoke cheese I enjoy eating.

Pepper Jack, montery jack, low moisture mozzarella, habanero or jalapeno jack when I can find it, cheddar. I think if I can buy it in a block I'll try it.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Too close to the pole? -(P

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Nah all of it is already smoked from around these here parts partner-(P

Re: Smoking cheese
 

:lr :xxx :noon

Re: Smoking cheese
 

I save cold smoking for the winter.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Yea, the more I thought about it, the more I came to this conclusion. I thought about using one of the little pellet tubes and putting it in the weber , but my grill reads a steady 110-130 just sitting outside turned off. I think I would have a melted, gooey mess! :r

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Not if you wake up early. :D

When I run batches in the summer, I will pre-cut the bocks the night before and I'll go out there at 5am to load the smoker and start the run. I'll be done by 9 - 9:30 before it heats up. My house faces almost due east, so the sun will just be barely peeking over the top into the yard by then.

Some of the softer cheeses do tend to deform a bit more, but usually it's not too bad.

Plus I put everything on stainless cookie cooling racks, which have a small grid pattern, so it doesn't sink too far. If you get an ugly one, you just keep it for yourself, or shred it.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

How about this in the winter?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E683PI6/?tag=fff0101-20

Re: Smoking cheese
 

We are having a brief cool spell to start off the "new season" so we decided to try our hand at smoking some cheese last night. Sharp Cheddar, Pepper Jack, and Mozzarella, about 3 hours in the smoke and now vacuum sealed and in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Should be interesting...

[IMG]http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...921_201139.jpg[/IMG]

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...921_213324.jpg

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...921_225131.jpg

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...921_225532.jpg

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...921_230503.jpg

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Looks great! What temp did use to smoke them?

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Not really sure Michael. It was ~77*F outside last night, an I used a pellet smoke tube from Amazin' Products to generate the smoke. I have a thermometer that I use in the smoker, but it starts at 150*, and I have a refrigerator thermometer that goes to 80 degrees. It was above 80* in the kettle, but the cheese didn't melt so it couldn't have gotten much above 85-90 I'm guessing. Definitely an experiment at this point! :D

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Steve, looks good.

If you want more smoke out of it, try taking the foil out from under the cheese, arrange the cheese grate so it doesn't allow contact to the weber grate, and move the smoke canister down to the coal grate. You'll get a better flow of smoke across the cheese with the top vent opposite the canister. Might not even need to crack it since most grills leak.

I run about 4 hours per batch (10-12lbs), flipping the cheese over and reloading the pellet maze half way. I also found that 5oz +/- blocks are kind of the magic size on my setup. 8oz and there is too much distance to the core where the smoke doesn't penetrate. Too thin and they get over smoked in a hurry, although I often intentionally use this tactic for smoked cheese dishes (ie: mac & cheese, sauces, etc). Since you are shredding and probably melting all of it, the oversmoked cheese can be mixed in with unsmoked cheese to achieve the smokiness level you want for the final product.

Heavier smoke typically also means the cheese needs to sit longer in the vacuum bags to mellow a bit. A few weeks to a few months usually before I open the bags.

Still owe you some photos, but haven't been able to use my setup for two months now because of the high temps and now the fires. Up until a few days ago, I could just leave a block of cheese outside and it would smoke itself just sitting there.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Do you make your own Mozzarella? I do and well dried it is good smoking cheese.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Thanks Adam. I wasn't sure if it would get too hot out there last night, so I put the foil in to limit the mess. Next time I will definitely leave it out. I also thought about putting the smoke tube below, but figured this would be a goo first try to see if the set up worked. Going to pick up some gouda and other cheeses in a couple of days and rework the set up.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Have any old racks with a grid pattern? That helps a bit when it gets warm. I've never had a cheese outright melt, but I have had some sink 1/4" into the grate and end up looking like a high traction shoe sole.

Re: Smoking cheese
 

While the cheese "ages" in the vacuum bags in the fridge, do they need to be turned over?

Re: Smoking cheese
 

Nah.

But watch for beetles. And remember, it's always plume... ;)

Re: Smoking cheese
 

:lr :lr