Advice on smoking cheese

[smokincanadian]

So I was going to do the ice method, but it seems everyone has turned onto q-mats, their website shows a supplier here in the great white north but they list frogmats not q-matz.

anyhow, from a bit of tired reading I see you can smoke upto 150 without a melt.

any tips, pointers, times, woods etc? would I put water in the water tray still?

Using an electric smokemaster for this one

I'm starting with some mozzarella and some medium cheddar

tomorrow I think I am going to speed off to the 'worlds largest bbq store' conveniently located about 30 minutes from me to grab a mat to start my cheese smoking.

input is appreciated as always! 

 

[bamafan]

I try and not get above 100 in My MES. Kinda tough here in Florida!  About 3 hours is what works for me. Vacuum pack and wait at least 2 weeks, the longer the better

 

[chef jimmyj]

Where did you read you can smoke Cheese at 150°F!?! Anything other than Hard Cheese like Parm and Romano, will begin to sweat and soften at 90°F and will begin to melt at 100°F. Mozz being a fresh un-aged cheese does not stand heat well and the dryer Medium Cheddar will only do slightly better. The cooler the temps the better off you are. I can't find info on your smoker but assume it needs to generate a good amount of heat to get your Chips/Chunks smoking. Frozen 1 L bottles of water covering most of the bottom shelf will help but your best bet would be an AMNPS Pellet Smoke Generator from the same company that makes the Q-MATZ. This generator works with Hot or Cold smokes and with Pellets will only raise the smoker temp about 25°F over ambient, less if you use Dust. Here is the web site... http://www.amazenproducts.com   and you will see the Canadian Dealers of the products on the left side of the page as you scroll down. FYI...Frogmats are similar just A LOT more expensive and Q-MATZ can be ordered to desired length and cut to size. It would be worth the wait to get the AMNPS and Q-MATZ...JJ

 

[smokincanadian]

I saw something in a thread last night, not sure if I am misunderstanding then. 

Originally Posted by S2K9K  

Keep the ice in a glass with your favorite beverage!

I tried ice once and it just created too much humidity and caused the cheese to sweat like crazy and it didn't really keep the temp down much. Nepas told me to quit using it and I do what he says!

I now use Q-Matz and can go up to 150* without any droop!

This was a forced melt at 150*, Q-Matz on the left, just on the rack on the right:

With the pellet smoke generator, how do you get it to 'smoke'? With the reviews I am reading on the site, one person lit theirs with a torch. Do you just leave it near the element, or? 

 

[cmayna]

I alao cant imagine doing cheese at 150. Then again, i do butter at the same time I do cheese which is at 80 or less.

There are tons of posts here on how to use the AMNPS. Simply stated light one end, get it going and then blow out the flame.



Tapayakin' from my iphone

 

[smokincanadian]

So I visited a BBQ specialty store, got a frog mat and an a-maze-n tube (some pellets as well)

I was talking about smoking cheeses with one of the associates, and his recommendation was to just light the pellets in the tube, dont turn on the smoker and just leave it in there for 3 hours.

Anyone try that? Ir is he bonkers.

 

 

[jkc64]

 
So I visited a BBQ specialty store, got a frog mat and an a-maze-n tube (some pellets as well)

I was talking about smoking cheeses with one of the associates, and his recommendation was to just light the pellets in the tube, dont turn on the smoker and just leave it in there for 3 hours.

Anyone try that? Ir is he bonkers.

 

That is how I do it. I don't even plug the smoker in. I use either the masterbuilt cold smoker kit or pellet smoker and try not to get above 90

 

[smokincanadian]

How hot will the tube burn?

Will I need the frozen water bottles, or do you not add them?

 

 

[mr t 59874]

In order to provide a little insurance and piece of mind, why not make a dry run?   Make your changes while keeping good notes on the temperatures and let us know your results.  If keeping the temps below 80° doesn't work for you, there are some things we can do to make a inexpensive cold smoker for you.

Tom

 

[bear55]

Must keep temps below 100 at most.  80 is much better