When I made bacon last month, I had extra room in the smoker and I thought I could fill it by doing some cheese at the same time. It was cold enough and I had room. However, I wanted to smoke the bacon with hickory. I had used mostly apple and cherry for smoking up to now. Then I decided what the heck. I bought stronger flavoured cheese, old cheddar, extra old cheddar, pepper jack and monterey jack and fired it in the smoker with the bacon.
I used the AMNPS with hickory pellets on the pellet smoker with the door propped open an inch. It was October and cooler but I put a tray of ice in just to make sure. It was likely overkill, the temperature never got over 62 F.
I smoked it for three hours. Then I cut it into blocks, wrapped the blocks in plastic wrap and put them in a resealable bag. I put them in the fridge.
I let them age for four weeks and gave them a try.
The Verdict
This was even better than I expected. The strong hickory flavour didn't overpower the sharp cheddar tastes and made it quite complex. I don't know that I'd use hickory on havarti or mozzarella but I will continue to use it on stronger flavoured cheeses. Dang, now I will have to do two batches of cheese at a time. What will I do with the extra cheese?
Disco
I used the AMNPS with hickory pellets on the pellet smoker with the door propped open an inch. It was October and cooler but I put a tray of ice in just to make sure. It was likely overkill, the temperature never got over 62 F.
I smoked it for three hours. Then I cut it into blocks, wrapped the blocks in plastic wrap and put them in a resealable bag. I put them in the fridge.
I let them age for four weeks and gave them a try.
The Verdict
This was even better than I expected. The strong hickory flavour didn't overpower the sharp cheddar tastes and made it quite complex. I don't know that I'd use hickory on havarti or mozzarella but I will continue to use it on stronger flavoured cheeses. Dang, now I will have to do two batches of cheese at a time. What will I do with the extra cheese?
Disco