# First time Cheese smoker with a couple of questions??



## war hammer (Jan 24, 2014)

Hey Everyone - Going to smoke cheese for the first time this weekend. I am in Michigan and the temps have been ridiculously cold around here lately. I have been reading a ton of posts about getting the smoker up to 80 deg and smoking at that temp. I have a Masterbuilt Sportsman Elite for the winter smoking and am afraid even on the lowest setting, I will be up around 100 deg. I have an AMNPS so this begs a couple questions.

1. Does it make a difference if I even have the smoker lit?

2. Can I just use the AMNPS or does the cheese need to be warmed up some to take in the smoke?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,


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## handymanstan (Jan 24, 2014)

Good morning Hammer,  You want to smoke the cheese between 50* and 70* or as close to that as you can get.  You can turn on the smoker for a little bit then turn it off to warm up the smoker.  The pellets burning will raise the temp some. At a colder temp the color wont be as pronounced but the flavor will be there.  Good luck and take pics.

Stan


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## war hammer (Jan 24, 2014)

Thanks Stan!! I am hoping because it is so cold I will get lucky!


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## dj mishima (Jan 24, 2014)

I never turn on the smoker(Mes30) when I cold smoke.  I just fire up the AMNPS.  At current MI temps, you can even smoke cream cheese and butter(I recommend highly.)

Oh, also, if you are using pellets, be sure to keep an eye on your food.  Pellets raise the temperature much more than the dust does...


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## cmayna (Jan 24, 2014)

I've smoke a fair amount of cheese during the past 6 months and have noticed that when using the AMNPS, the chamber temp increase by an average of 10 degrees.


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## war hammer (Jan 25, 2014)

Thanks DJ!! Will have to try both!

Cmayna - I will have to keep my eye on that!


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## guruatbol (Jan 25, 2014)

Cmayna got me started on cheese and I have the MES30 as well.  I don't turn it on either and I get temps of about 50-60* it will get as high as 80* if I close the vent a bit.

I open the top vent all the way and take out the chip loader.

Cmayna makes some awesome stuff, follow his advice and you will love what comes out of your smoker!  I highly recommend Butter as well.  i have not tried cream cheese yet.  Soon!

Mel


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## knuckle47 (Jan 27, 2014)

I had one batch slip up to 85 degrees.  The cheeses were good but one did have a very oily surface which dried nicely overnight.  The  Apple dust in the tray today jumped across the rows and had two rows burning.  I noticed The internal temp in the barrel up to 75 so, with so much free coolant around, I threw in a big handful and it  lowered it quickly with the door opened and never went above 55 the rest of the smoke session 












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__ knuckle47
__ Jan 27, 2014


















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__ knuckle47
__ Jan 27, 2014





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Today was the first day above 25 in a nearly a week


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