# Alright, you shamed me into it....



## SonnyE (Feb 12, 2019)

Geeze, smoken cheese.
OK, so we had this block of Tillamook Cheese the wife got for me to shred some up, small block some up, and of course if you _ask_ me to cut the cheese, there is a toll on the act.
So I got the ends of the block (my choice), and I cubed up one of them for bite size smoked chunks.
And we have some boxes of Philly Cream Cheese that are just bugging the peedoodly out of her because they are here. So I'm cold smoking it as well as some Cheddar.
And awaaaaayyy we gooo.......


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## GATOR240 (Feb 12, 2019)

Looks good Sonny. Never thought of smoking straight cream cheese - sounds good. Let us know how it turns out. Is that a ghost looking into the window of the smoker??


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## ravenclan (Feb 12, 2019)

SonnyE said:


> And we have some boxes of Philly Cream Cheese



SonnyE,

Smoked cream cheese!!!! I need to do this for the Cheese Ball we make at Christmas!!


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 12, 2019)

Looks great man. Let me know how those small blocks turn out. I bought a 5 pound bag of them on clearance and vac sealed it waiting for my next cheese smoke. They are smaller than that though trying to think the best way to do it. Maybe a couple foil pans with holes poked in it?


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 12, 2019)

Ha and the cheese bug has bitten yet another victim. Looking great SonnyE.

Warren


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## SonnyE (Feb 12, 2019)

GATOR240 said:


> Looks good Sonny. Never thought of smoking straight cream cheese - sounds good. Let us know how it turns out. Is that a ghost looking into the window of the smoker??


That's the ghost of Bar-B-Ques Past, aka: Grumpy, Dirty Old Man, and the names go downhill from there...



ravenclan said:


> SonnyE,
> 
> Smoked cream cheese!!!! I need to do this for the Cheese Ball we make at Christmas!!



I saw it here on SMF. And what could possibly be better than Smoked Salmon Dip/Spread, unless you use Smoked Cream Cheese? 



SmokinVOLfan said:


> Looks great man. Let me know how those small blocks turn out. I bought a 5 pound bag of them on clearance and vac sealed it waiting for my next cheese smoke. They are smaller than that though trying to think the best way to do it. Maybe a couple foil pans with holes poked in it?



My thought on the bite-sized blocks is samples as it goes along. Taste a mini cube and remove when the profile tastes close.
And just between you and me, I filled up my little curing fridge with a 30 pack yesterday, and have two slabs of smoked belly aging in it, so some smoked cheese mellowing out in there today and tonight will help scent the 12 ounce mini-kegs.
The only thing better than a cold beer, is a cold beer with a bacon scented can. 

Oh and, I use my little mats all the time. Love those things! Got them off Ebray for the MES 30, trimmed to fit. So they are a smidgen small in the MES 40, but still work great.
I also use them when I feel like smokin my nuts.


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## TomKnollRFV (Feb 12, 2019)

A rare glimpse at a wild SonnyE in his natural enviroment..

I bet that cream cheese will be great in dishes like pepper and cheese stuffed chicken breasts on the grill!


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## SonnyE (Feb 12, 2019)

TomKnollRFV said:


> A rare glimpse at a wild SonnyE in his natural enviroment..
> 
> I bet that cream cheese will be great in dishes like pepper and cheese stuffed chicken breasts on the grill!



I think it will be fun trying it. Someone here on SMF planted the seed.
My wife, who thinks things must be discarded *at* the Sell By Date is fussing about my refrigerator stores.


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## gary s (Feb 12, 2019)

Looks Good

Gary


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## TomKnollRFV (Feb 12, 2019)

Oh wait Sonny you live in one of them coastal states..gonna have to do some smoked salmon or what not ..and use the smoked cream cheese to make a dip/spread


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## SecondHandSmoker (Feb 12, 2019)

SonnyE said:


> I filled up my little curing fridge with a 30 pack yesterday



Sounds like you better get busy and make some room in that little curing fridge.


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## gmc2003 (Feb 12, 2019)

SonnyE said:


> And awaaaaayyy we gooo.......



Sonny you should have gone to the store and bought some Gouda to go with that pile of cheese. Then it would have been awaaaaaayyyy we Gouda.....

Nice looking start waiting for the finish.

Point for sure.
Chris.

Also, I really don't think you can be shamed into anything. Your to set in your ways.


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## GaryHibbert (Feb 12, 2019)

Looking good Sonny.  I. Really like the idea of those bitesized snackers.  Be a whole lot handier to just grab a few out of the fridge rather than cutting a couple of slices.
POINT
Gary


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## fivetricks (Feb 12, 2019)

I never thought of doing cubes. Do share how those turn out at different time intervals.


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## one eyed jack (Feb 12, 2019)

Cream cheese is my favorite smoked cheese.  It is the first priority when temps get low enough to load the smoker.

It surprised me, the first time I smoked it, but the cream cheese is less prone to melting than some of the harder cheeses.  Now butter is a different story.

Here is a shot of a combo smoke I did recently.  Some cream cheese, cured Salmon, Gouda, and butter.


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## Preacher Man (Feb 12, 2019)

Is that an ice rink I see in the reflection?


SmokinVOLfan said:


> They are smaller than that though trying to think the best way to do it. Maybe a couple foil pans with holes poked in it?



I use these from Cabela's


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## SonnyE (Feb 12, 2019)

SecondHandSmoker said:


> Sounds like you better get busy and make some room in that little curing fridge.


Oh, there's room. 22 on the top shelf, 2 high X 2 deep, and 8 on the door rack. Perfect.
But when I get a 36 keg box, well some of them have to be stored differently.



gmc2003 said:


> Sonny you should have gone to the store and bought some Gouda to go with that pile of cheese. Then it would have been awaaaaaayyyy we Gouda.....
> Nice looking start waiting for the finish.
> Point for sure.
> Chris.
> Also, I really don't think you can be shamed into anything. Your to set in your ways.



Awaaay we Gouda. 
Yep, I'm shameless.



GaryHibbert said:


> Looking good Sonny.  I. Really like the idea of those bitesized snackers.  Be a whole lot handier to just grab a few out of the fridge rather than cutting a couple of slices.
> POINT
> Gary



It was just one of those "What if...." brain farts. Little smokie nibblers. So I cut a couple of the chunk pieces into the cubes.



fivetricks said:


> I never thought of doing cubes. Do share how those turn out at different time intervals.



I kept sampling at hour intervals. Cold smoking, that take on the flavor very slowly, and didn't darken much.
But the flavor is there. Now they have to mellow a bit, so they are bagged and setting at room temp overnight.



one eyed jack said:


> Cream cheese is my favorite smoked cheese.  It is the first priority when temps get low enough to load the smoker.
> It surprised me, the first time I smoked it, but the cream cheese is less prone to melting than some of the harder cheeses.  Now butter is a different story.
> Here is a shot of a combo smoke I did recently.  Some cream cheese, cured Salmon, Gouda, and butter.



Looks good to me fivetricks. First time I've ever tried Cream Cheese, but hey, it's a cheese.



Preacher Man said:


> Is that an ice rink I see in the reflection?
> I use these from Cabela's



 Almost Preacher Man! Typical Southern California backyard. I use it as a finger bowl sometimes when BBQ'ing. 
Your Cabela's mats look nice, finished edges. I bought the one's I did so I could trim them to fit my MES 30, And because they are 1/4" mesh. Just happened they were black in color. So they look clean before, and after, a smoke.  I just trimmed 1 1/4" off the long end and they go wall to wall in the 30.


Here's the finished load after 6 hours:
Barely any color change, big flavor change. I'm liking this Mailbox thing all the time. And Dave's Sawdust. 















The yellow cheese is mellowing in bags overnight, but the cream cheese is mellowing open in the fridge.
The color change on all seems very slight to me, but the taste is definitely there. The Son said it is definitely smokey tasting.


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## SonnyE (Feb 12, 2019)

SecondHandSmoker said:


> Sounds like you better get busy and make some room in that little curing fridge.



It has plenty of room. The mini kegs add thermal balance.
So I feel obligated to maintain a balance in it with Bacon, Beer, Cheese, and Al's Pickles.
You know, the staples of any good Bar-B-Que area.


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## SmokinAl (Feb 13, 2019)

Gosh Sonny!
I never thought of smoking little cubes of cheese!
What a great idea!
Next cheese run I do will include cubes!
Thanks!
Al


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 13, 2019)

SonnyE Thanks for the like it is greatly appreciated.

Warren


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## SonnyE (Feb 13, 2019)

SmokinAl said:


> Gosh Sonny!
> I never thought of smoking little cubes of cheese!
> What a great idea!
> Next cheese run I do will include cubes!
> ...



It was another of my brain farts, Al. I think it turned out well enough to say try it.
I cold smoked this though. I set the Inkbird PID to 10° C (50° F) and the highest temp I saw during the 6 hours of smoking was 17.x ° C (62.6° F)
Next time shopping I want to get a bag of cubed cheese to smoke. Easier than me cutting them down from a block.
I can store them in my Curing fridge next to my Al's Pickles.
My Patio is becoming the snack capitol of the house.



HalfSmoked said:


> SonnyE Thanks for the like it is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Warren



It's some _SM_00_KY_ cheese today! Tastes good!


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## SecondHandSmoker (Feb 14, 2019)

SonnyE said:


> It has plenty of room. The mini kegs add thermal balance.
> So I feel obligated to maintain a balance in it with Bacon, Beer, Cheese, and Al's Pickles.
> You know, the staples of any good Bar-B-Que area.



Oh yes, that thermal mass keeps the inside of the fridge cold and it won't have to run as much.

The second fridge in the garage is always "well stocked".


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## SonnyE (Feb 14, 2019)

SecondHandSmoker said:


> Oh yes, that thermal mass keeps the inside of the fridge cold and it won't have to run as much.
> 
> The second fridge in the garage is always "well stocked".



Right. Because you never know when the world will end, but when it does, I want a beer to watch it.


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## idahopz (Feb 14, 2019)

Smoked cream cheese is good, and for those that like goat cheese, those logs you can get relatively inexpensively at Costco make great smoked cheese (especially in an omelet). As was suggested above, foil pans are an excellent way to do the soft cheeses, but I've never poked holes in the bottom and the cheese still develops a beautiful "tan colored patina" and takes on great smoke taste.

My all time favorite smoked cheese is Gouda, and my wife's is horseradish cheddar.  Havarti is also an excellent cheese to smoke, and is my second favorite. I like to eat Parmesan thinly sliced as appetizer cheese, so am planning to smoke that for the first time in my next batch which is coming up soon - I'm now out of smoked cheese.


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