First try at Cheese (now with cheese-view?)

[nubyte]

I got my a-maze-n-smoker today, and decided i would give it a go on this nice chillier day.  I got myself some sharp chedder, pepper jack, Colby jack, and Colby cheeses.

I figure i'll  fire up the smoker with cherry dust, and do half of the cheeses for 2 hours, and then the other half for 4 considering we've never had it before.  I've read tons of advice, and will keep posted as to how it turns out, first things first, wrappers come off, correct :D

The major downside is that my wife has the camera for most of the day, so the q-view will not happen, i might get it back in time to do a shot of the completed cheeses.  We also do not have a food saver yet, but i figured i can wrap it good enough on my own to last the 2 week torture wait, but any suggestions on how to store it without a food saver are more then welcome.

 

[jjwdiver]

Before I got the food saver I just used freezer strength zip lock brand and squeezed as much air out as I could.  Good luck today - I got 3 bricks of cheddar and a brick of Motz on right now in the Weber Kettle.

John

 

[venture]

Use a good plastic wrap like Stretch Tite available at Costco.  I hate Saran, it doesn't seal nearly as well.  Wrap and seal each piece very tightly.  Then into a ziploc freezer bag, and get all the air out you can.  The old soda straw trick works pretty well.

Your cheese packed this way will stay fresh in the fridge longer than you would expect. I wrap mine tightly in Stretch Tite even when using the food saver.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[meateater]

Sounds like a plan. 

 

[nubyte]

Stole a small taste of the Pepper Jack, tasted like a dirty ashtray as somebody once described, so i'm happy with the results, that means i did something right!

 

[jjwdiver]

try it tomorrow and it will taste right, then again in a couple weeks and it will be amazing!!!

 

[nubyte]

Sadly this was the only picture i was able to take once my camera showed up.  the A-maze-n-smoker worked perfect, very easy to use, and provided constant and perfect smoke.

 

[meateater]

I can see the smoke on there just fine, looks great. 

 

[jjwdiver]

It's all about how YOU like it. If there is not enough smoke taste, do it longer next time. Too much, change it up.  There is no one who can tell you what you like but you (too many you's in that sentence).  I tend to cut up my stuff smaller, but the way I use it the smaller chunks work better.  Key is to let it mellow and see what it does to the taste.  Enjoy - it looked real good to me!

 

[eman]

We have found that buying the 8 oz blocks and cutting them in half before smoking shortens the smoking time and gives us just the right amount of cheese for  cheese ,crackers and vino for 2.

 Also if we have a get together i can pull out multiple variaties for evryone to sample.

 

[SmokinAl]

The cheese looks great, and as everybody has said the waiting is the hard part.

I put mine in the back of the fridge out of sight and just forget about it.

The longer it sits the better it gets.

 

[ricky]

Well i am about to give my first cheese a go. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

[tjohnson]

Great Color!!

You better start another batch, so you have some in reserve.

Todd

 

[sunman76]

look good so how was it?

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks real nice from here!!!

Now everybody say "CHEESE!"

Thanks for showing,

Bear

 

[nubyte]

Great Color!!

You better start another batch, so you have some in reserve.

Todd

Those were only the last 3, we did 8 pieces all together, pulled half at 2 hours, the other half after 4 so we can see what we like more, but i foresee more cheese in my future

 

[mballi3011]

It looks good from here.

 

[billyj571]

looks awesome how was it ?