# First smoked cheeses



## mr dirt (Sep 19, 2013)

*First Smoked Cheese*​      Having always smoked with a hot smoker there have always been smoked items that were a bit of a mystery to me.  How the heck do they smoke cheese?  I had heard of cold smoking but never really gave it much though as to how or much into doing.  After having a nice chat with Mr. T, I felt like cold smoking was much simpler and easy to attempt than I had previously though.  Cold smoking has opened new doors for me and the smoker has been going strong everyday since the arrival of my AMZPS.

      Since I don't have a refrigerated cold smoker the warmer ambient temperatures in this area have been well above what I would have preferred for cheese smoking, so the wait has been on for cooler temps.  This week was the ticket.  Temps have steadily dropped from high to middle 60's to middle to low 50's a night.  Now I could smoke in my target range of <68 F to +60 F.  I would have liked things to be even cooler, but in this case I had to let mother nature handle that part.

*My selection of cheeses included:*

Tillamook - Med. Cheddar

Tillamook - Pepper Jack

Tillamook - Med. Vintage White Cheddar

Tillamook - Extra Sharp Vintage White

      These will be a gift for my brother and his fiancee at their wedding.  I introduced my brother to hot smoking several years ago.  I'm sure he'll be impressed with the cheese.  Tillamook is always a top selection for those of use who live in the Northwest.  They have nothing but the finest quality products offered.  So far in this project this is the first round of cheeses.

      The cheese was smoked in my Char-Griller SFB combined with an AMZPS filled with 1 row of AMZ hickory pellets.  After about an hour or so I didn't feel that the smoke density was great enough so I added another row.  I was near the smoker anyhow, but having a Maverick wireless thermo was really handy.  The cooler ambient temperatures allowed the smoker to maintain between 63 F and 66 F for the bulk of the smoking.  This seemed to work very well as the texture of the cheese did not change.  Here are the results after 3 hours in the SBF.
As you can see these are resting so their temperature can normalize before vacuum packaging.  This should also help any excess moisture on the surface dry.​ ​View media item 256040​ ​ ​*Sampler pack for myself*​ ​












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__ mr dirt
__ Sep 19, 2013





View media item 256041​ ​ ​*Pepper Jack*​*View media item 256038* ​ ​ ​ ​*Vintage Med. White Cheddar*​ ​












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__ mr dirt
__ Sep 19, 2013





​ ​ ​*Vintage Extra Sharp White Cheddar*​ ​












0919130056c.jpg



__ mr dirt
__ Sep 19, 2013





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## kathrynn (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks like you got smoke on that cheese!  Its so good and its hard to wait and let things mellow.  Remember the longer you wait to taste test....the better it will be.

If you can get some Dublinger Irish Cheese....do some of that too.  It's a White Sharp cheddar and is the Bomb!

Kat


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## smokinhusker (Sep 19, 2013)

Oh that looks good and you are going to be one happy cheese eater!


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## mr t 59874 (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks really good George,  It appears that our chat over lunch paid off. As you, I prefer the Tillamook cheeses also. We are having guest for elk burgers this evening.  Will be serving along side the burgers some 4 year old smoked Pepper Jack.

With the cooler weather approaching, we will all be doing more cheeses. Maybe the next time I'm down you can show me your setup.

Tom


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## cmayna (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks good from here.


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## mr dirt (Sep 19, 2013)

Mr T 59874 said:


> Looks really good George,  It appears that our chat over lunch paid off. As you, I prefer the Tillamook cheeses also. We are having guest for elk burgers this evening.  Will be serving along side the burgers some 4 year old smoked Pepper Jack.
> 
> With the cooler weather approaching, we will all be doing more cheeses. Maybe the next time I'm down you can show me your setup.
> 
> Tom


Elk burgers sound yummy.  Tom, I would be glad to show you my setup, though I might have built a new vertical smoker by then....who knows though I get very busy at times.


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## mr t 59874 (Sep 19, 2013)

Mr dirt said:


> Elk burgers sound yummy.  Tom, I would be glad to show you my setup, though I might have built a new vertical smoker by then....who knows though I get very busy at times.


Yes you are correct, cold smoking will present a whole new world of smoking.  As you already have a AMNPS, the next time I come down I will bring a Smoke Daddy and a Smoking Gun and demonstrate the advantages of each.  You may want to incorporate the Smoke Daddy into your vertical.  You should be able to get plenty of ideas and help here on the forum with your build.

Tom


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## hagisan (Sep 19, 2013)

Nice looking cheese!


> Its so good and its hard to wait and let things mellow...


I concur.


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## rdknb (Sep 19, 2013)

Looks very good, well done


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## driedstick (Sep 19, 2013)

That looks really good, nice job. Now try your hand at smoked butter to put on that a baked spud with some smoked pepper jack shredded   
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






      oh ya.


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## mr t 59874 (Sep 19, 2013)

driedstick said:


> Now try your hand at smoked butter to put on that a baked spud with some smoked pepper jack shredded
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Very good idea driedstick, hard to beat and saves from smoking the whole spud..  The next time I see George, I will demonstrate to him how to make smoked butter from scratch.

Smoked Butter - From Scratch Q/view - Updated 9/03/2013

Tom


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## sqwib (Sep 19, 2013)

Very Nice!


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## mr dirt (Sep 19, 2013)

I have way too many hobbies.....

Tom, I would really like to the see that smoke gun in action....if I don't already have one by then


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## mr dirt (Sep 19, 2013)

Hagisan said:


> Nice looking cheese!
> 
> Quote:
> 
> ...


Yes, the waiting game....I will need to start another batch very soon.


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