Cheese smoke

[k5yac]

CHEESE IS DONE... PICS BELOW!

I'm planning to smoke some cheese tomorrow since it is likely to get too hot in the coming weeks to pull it off. I stopped off last night and bought 5 half pound blocks (sharp cheddar, habanero, mozerella, colby jack, marble cheddar) and two balls of mozerella. Dang, cheese is expensive! Dropped over $30 on that stuff. Anyhow... it is supposed to be quite chilly here tomorrow morning, but then warm to 70 by mid day. Think I'll pull a few off the kegerator and do some ribs in the afternoon.

If you like cheese but have never smoked any yourself... give it a try. It is a fun/short smoke that doesn't use much fuel, and I have found that it is much tastier than that "smoked" cheese typically found in the store.

Anyhow, I just posted this to get the attention of anyone who might be interested in seeing how my cheese turns out. I'll post some pics here tomorrow, and a little more descriptive write up on the process. It's not too hard, but I can see how it wouldn't be possible down here in a few more weeks.

CHEESE IS DONE... PICS BELOW!

 

[domn8_ion]

Have fun with that. I'll be joining you from here. I have the same plan without the kegerator. I've got to use cans.

 

[walking dude]

just did 3 blocks of cheese yesterday...........

you can still smoke cheese in the summer time.......just have to know how to do it..........

 

[doctor phreak]

dude how did that go with the rain & snow...no pics of finished product???

 

[walking dude]

not bad, after i put the peice of plywood over the top.....in fact smoked some kosher salt after that......

naw.....no pics.......i have done so much cheese here, didn't think i would bore anymore of you fellars with it

 

[walking dude]

here you go doc

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ghlight=Cheese

alot of my other cheese smoke threads are lost somewhere........i heard Ron50 sold em...................

 

[k5yac]

Well, I finished my cheese. Pretty uneventful really... just folowed some of Jeff's advice. Now I see how I could possibly do this stuff in the heat of summer, with a little shade, but those 100+ days of August would be tough.

Here is the cheese out of the package, cut into 1/4 pound blocks.

And loaded on the lower rack, away from the firebox end.

Not much fuel required... just enough to keep my pecan chunk smoldering.

Kept the temps in the high 70s to mid 80s without much efort at all.

The finished product... from left to right: mozzarella balls, habernero, mozzarella, colby, sharp cheddar and marble cheddar.

 

[smokin' joe]

Well Done, looks all neat and tidy!!!

How about some more details? Length of smoke, average temps, wood type, etc...

Thanks.

 

[walking dude]

nice looking cheese dude............

you could also make a cardbox with a hot plate for creating the smoke.....and a small fan to push the smoke into the smoker

 

[k5yac]

More details...

Average temp: 82 (just guessing, but that is a great number - some will get that) honestly... low 80s on average. It was a cool morning.
Type of wood: Pecan
Charcoal: Ozark Oak Lump
Time: 1.5 hours

The color of the cheese isn't much darker than it was originally, but judging from my firs attempt, that is no indication of flavor as they were very good. I'm told that the flavor penetrates a bit more as they sit.

 

[smokin' joe]

Thx for the indepth play by play...again, nice job!!!

 

[walking dude]

thats about my target temp.......tho this winter temps never got above 60 in the smoker........but i had plenty of TBS.............

i have found with soft cheeses........1.5 hour is about right with ME.......too much more.........getts to smokey.......specially after it sits around.......you are correct in the K5..........like monteray jack, swiis, and mozz.
but with harder cheeses such as the cheddars, i have found 2-2.5 hours werks for ME.........ymmv

 

[cwb124]

What does the cheese taste like immediately after it is done? Is it any good? I'm trying to figure out my cold smoking cheese method, and did some sharp and gouda the other night but I am not sure if they are good. It wasn't really great to eat right afterwards, kind of harsh so I vacuum sealed it and am waiting a few days.

I have read several places that 1.5 hours is way too long, but I'm sure yours if good.

 

[walking dude]

not familar with smoking gouda.......but sharp.....i take to over 2 hours........tastes great right after words........you sure you didn't get some that tasted like tail pipe, like someone else here?

did you have TBS?
or white billowing smoke?

makes a diff on taste........white billowing.......and yes you can get that cold smoking.........is bad.......creosote......makes cheese taste bad........what did you use to smoke it with.......

 

[cwb124]

Ha...that tailpipe guy was me. What I use for cold smoking is something I bought off ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-BIG-KAHUNA-s...QQcmdZViewItem

Mine isn't the big kahuna size, it's a little smaller but pretty much exactly the same. I bought a brand new metal trash can and mounted that thing up as shown in the pictures on the ebay site.

Yes I had white billowing smoke both times and had major creosote build-up in the can and on my food tray the first time, but that's because I left the lid on and there was little ventilation. First time I used hickory and the second time I used alder.

This last time, I left the lid off but there was still billowing smoke. I'm sure you can't tell me how to remedy that on my device, but what causes the white smoke versus the right kind of smoke?

I really appreciate the help, I am trying to get some decent cheese done, and then when I get that perfected I am moving on to cold smoking salmon.

 

[walking dude]

green wood.............not enuff air circulation............are two possibilities

 

[cwb124]

I used pellets so they were dry. I am going to try using actual hickory wood chips and see how that goes.