# 1st cheese smoke questions!



## chef boyarista (Jan 24, 2016)

Hey everyone, I went out and bought some cheese to smoke on this wonderful cloudy day. Over here in the bay it's been cold and rainy for a solid week so I was hoping to cold smoke my first cheeses. I read through a bunch of old threads and built up some knowledge of how I'm gonna do it but I was wondering should I set up my MES 30 differently than when I'm doing a hot smoke? I have the AMNPS set up with a row and a half of apple and cherry pellets and have some gallon ziplocks that are half full and frozen so I can swap them out as needed on a lower rack (no empty jugs in the house) for temp control. I was thinking that I'll just take the chips tray out and leave the loader out about an inch with my vent wide open. The temp here is 45* so the outside air shouldn't be too warm as it goes in, plus there's a good breeze as always in my neck of the woods. I have some pepper jack, sharp cheddar, fresh mozzarella, mozzarella sticks, gouda, and swiss that's going in for a few hours until it gets some nice color and then resting until game day in Feb. Any flaws that anyone can see? Or do I nust have the first time jitters? I'll get you some Q View once everything gets started.


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 24, 2016)

Just don't turn the MES on. Use a separate therm to monitor temp. There should be no issues if you keep the temp well below 90°F...JJ


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 24, 2016)

Suggest you try one block of cheese and smoke it for one hour. Try it and see what you think. Smoke to a desired taste then note the color. If you smoke it for too long it will be bitter. You can make adjustments afterwards with another block. No need to rush.

T


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## chef boyarista (Jan 24, 2016)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Just don't turn the MES on. Use a separate therm to monitor temp. There should be no issues if you keep the temp well below 90°F...JJ



I'm not gonna be turning the unit on at all. I have a probe I'm gonna rest over the AMNPS between two blocks of cheese since that's gonna be where the heat is coming from. But thanks for the heads up on the temp, I don't want it to start running haha



Mr T 59874 said:


> Suggest you try one block of cheese and smoke it for one hour. Try it and see what you think. Smoke to a desired taste then note the color. If you smoke it for too long it will be bitter. You can make adjustments afterwards with another block. No need to rush.
> 
> T



Can't say I thought of that! I'll use the cheddar as the control. It was the cheapest after all


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 24, 2016)

Chef Boyarista said:


> Can't say I thought of that! I'll use the cheddar as the control. It was the cheapest after all


Perfect. Pull it if the smoker temp reaches 75°. You can always add more smoke later if desired.

T


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## chef boyarista (Jan 24, 2016)

Done! I had to adjust the amnps so that the lit end was away from the side wall of the smoker. I think the heat was going straight past my ice packs and waeming everything up. Once I switched it up, the temp around the cheese dropped 10*. We'll chalk that up to a lesson learned. Now it's gonna sit uncovered in the fridge overnight and then get wrapped up tomorrow, except for the mozzarella, that won't survive until tomorrow.













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__ chef boyarista
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