First time smoked cheddar FAIL!!

[K9BIGDOG]

Tried to smoke some cheddar today. Took a 2lb block of sharp NY cheddar and cut it in half. Put wine barrel pellets in the adjustable Amazen tube and got it going with a torch. I put the cheese on the upper warming rack of my Camp Chef and placed the tube down below and off to the far left of the smoker. Figured I'd smoke it for 2 hours. I checked it periodically for the first 45 minutes or so, then I just let it smoke away for the rest of the 2 hours. Opened up the smoker after the two hours and the cheese was melted. Only thing I can figure is that back half of the smoker was in the sunlight and it was hot today. I guess next time I'll place it on the main racks and keep it towards the front of the cooker. On the plus side, the pellets from Wine Country BBQ smell great and really put out some great smoke. Going to try again later this week with another block of cheddar and some pepper jack. Maybe I'll wait until later in the day when the sun is on the other side of the house, too.

 

[TNJAKE]

You're gonna want to keep your smoker under 90° max. The lower than that the better. I big bowl of ice in the smoker will help. I only smoke cheese in the winter

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Cheese smoking season ended a couple of months ago here in TN. It’s certainly a cold weather hobby.

 

[pops6927]

Also, get some Amazen Q- Matz from www.amazenproducts.com to put your cheese on to keep it or them off the grates!

 

[bregent]

I don't smoke cheese above 80F - that's the temp inside the smoker, not ambient air temp. Put a thermometer inside if you are not sure. The smoke tube can raise the temp inside by 10 degrees.

 

[pineywoods]

Ever consider building a small smoke house to do cold smokes? Doesn't have to be big. I see a lot of people saying no cheese smokes in the summer however I smoke cheese in FL whenever we need more of it. I actually place a sprinkler on the top of the smokehouse and presto heat problem solved.

 

[gmc2003]

When I smoke cheese in the summer. I'll put two or three 2 L soda bottles in the smoker. I'll fill them up with water the night before and freeze them overnight.

Chris

 

[Lonzinomaker]

A Little Chief or Big Chief Smoker makes a pretty good cold smoker. I drilled a 2 in hole centered in the bottom of the chief and put a 2 1/4 in rubber step down pipe connector in the hole. Connector fits snugly and is even across the bottom. Then I put Chief on top of my electric smoker over the exhaust fitting.
I can smoke some wood in the big smoker and the Little Chief only gets 10 deg over ambient when sitting on top of the big smoker. Gets a nice smoke on the cheese without melting.