# First Cheese Smoke Q View with Salt and Peppers



## wntrlnd (Jul 6, 2011)

This is how I roll.

Got my A-maze-n smoker 8 or 9 months ago.

Got my Food Saver 7 months ago.

First time using both: today.

LOL @ myself.  I'm so lazy I make Homer Simpson look like Tony Robbins.  (actually, 9 months isn't half bad.  It took over three YEARS to get my smoker out of the box and built)

Well, that's just how it is around here.  Nevertheless, sometimes things do get done, and today I did my first cold smoked cheese.  Here's what it looked like:

First, let me back up to yesterday.  By the time I got ready, it was too hot to smoke.  So in the interest of science, I did a test burn on the A-maze-n smoker (for some of us, at least a small part of the fun of grilling and smoking is you get to play with fire).  While I had that beautiful thin blue going on, I was thinking, man, that's a waste of good smoke.  Then, I remembered reading Rich's recipe for salsa using arbol chilies, so I got some of those and put them in to soak up some smoke.  I also added some dried tomatoes and fresh garlic cloves. Figured it would be good to get some salt in there, too.








So, after my test burn I had an idea of how everything was going to go down today.  I got up early enough to complete the smoke before it heated up too much outside.  It was already 72 at 6:30 am, so there was no time to lose.

Here's today's starting lineup.  I pulled the brick of monterey jack at the last minute. 







Here's the view as it all goes in the smoker:







Here's the cheese a couple hours in.  I lit two ends of the A-maze-n smoker, but only one caught. 







Here's what it looked like coming off:  medium chedder on the left, sharp on the right.







The jacks, colby, muenster and string







Now all that's left is sealing it up.  Maybe I'll post sealed up pix later.  In the meantime, since only one side of the A-maze-n smoker lit, I've got all this smoke left.  So, instead of just putting it out and saving the magic dust, I decided to do some more research.  I put on some sweet hungarian paprika and some more kosher salt. 







I've read that you should vac-seal the cheddar for many weeks, but you can eat the jack sooner.  Can someone please tell me what's the optimal time for the jack and string cheese? 

Well, that's it for another one!  Hope you enjoyed the Q view!

Thanks for looking in!


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## venture (Jul 6, 2011)

I don't do jack.  (take that how you want.  LOL)  Cheddar needs about two weeks. String is mozz, so it is good to go on day one.  A good rule of thumb would be the harder the cheese, the longer rest it needs.

Good luck and good smoking.


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## SmokinAl (Jul 6, 2011)

Cheese looks great. Nice color to it!


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## Bearcarver (Jul 6, 2011)

I agree with Al---Cheese looks Perfect !!

Another Nice Job!!!

Bear


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## meateater (Jul 6, 2011)

It's hard but wait two weeks, it will be worth it.


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## tjohnson (Jul 6, 2011)

Very Nice Color

Waiting plain old sucks!

TJ


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## wntrlnd (Jul 6, 2011)

Thanks, *Venture! *  Two weeks?  No problem!  Nice to hear that the string is good to go right now.  I'll have some with a beer tonight.
 


Venture said:


> I don't do jack.  (take that how you want.  LOL)  Cheddar needs about two weeks. String is mozz, so it is good to go on day one.  A good rule of thumb would be the harder the cheese, the longer rest it needs.
> 
> Good luck and good smoking.


Thanks,* SmokinAl! *  I was very happy with the look of the final product.

 I can't believe how easy it is to cold smoke with the A-maze-n smoker.  (Yeah, I know some people will say you can use a soup can and a soldering iron.  Fergettaboudit!)


SmokinAl said:


> Cheese looks great. Nice color to it!


Thanks much, *Bearcarver!*  I appreciate the comment.


Bearcarver said:


> I agree with Al---Cheese looks Perfect !!
> 
> Another Nice Job!!!
> 
> Bear


Thanks,* meateater!*  I'm not even the least bit antsy.  I'm totally cool with waiting a couple weeks.  I'm certain it will be worth it!




meateater said:


> It's hard but wait two weeks, it will be worth it.


Thanks,* Todd!*   Count me as another satisfied customer.


TJohnson said:


> Very Nice Color
> 
> Waiting plain old sucks!
> 
> TJ


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## scarbelly (Jul 6, 2011)

Well I guess if you can wait that long to play with new toys then 2 weeks on the cheese should be a breeze LOL

Looks great


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