# How cold is too cold?



## erazz (Jan 17, 2020)

Was going to get a batch going tonight but right now its about 30 degrees but not likely to get below 30 in the time i'd be doing it, but curious how cold is too cold to get a good smoke


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## zwiller (Jan 17, 2020)

That's the lowest I would go.  Logic being the cheese could freeze and that is not cool.


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## erazz (Jan 17, 2020)

zwiller said:


> That's the lowest I would go.  Logic being the cheese could freeze and that is not cool.


Yeah, im assuming (probably incorrectly) that the inside box would possibly be a little warmer, but maybe not.   Was trying to think of something to put in there that could warm it up a bit


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## zwiller (Jan 17, 2020)

No you are right.  Smoke will generate some heat.  Dust just a tiny bit but pellets add like 20-30F from memory.  Was surprised.  Dust give me far better results tho.  I have seen some guys turn the smoker on lowest setting a while and them turn off and run the cheese.  I live dangerously and would just for it.


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## thirdeye (Jan 17, 2020)

I've smoked cheese in the teens, but I use the reverse theory as I do when the outside temperature is in the 40's and 50's.   After the third hour if the cheese is really cold to the touch, I just bring inside for 30 minutes, then return it to the smoker.


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## JJS (Jan 17, 2020)

I threw a few chunks (3 or 4) of lit charcoal in the bottom of my smoker last weekend just to bring the temp up a bit . Worked like a charm


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## handymanstan (Jan 17, 2020)

I have done a lot of below freezing smokes.  I put a trouble light 100 watt bulb in the smoker or if real cold a cast iron pan with a couple pieces of charcoal in the bottom of the smoker.

Stan


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## MNholla (Jan 19, 2020)

As a true Minnesotan who will cook outdoors even when the temp goes below zero, I have cold smoked down into the single degree temps. I find it easiest to cold smoke cheese on my charcoal grill.  We have a three season porch that I roll my grill in while not in use to keep snow and salt off of it. The day before the smoke I will wrap a heavy moving blanket over the grill to warm it up a little. I will also keep the blanket over the grill during the smoke.  And I agree with the above tips, a couple of lit charcoal bricks work great and simply bringing the cheese inside for 30 minutes is just fine.


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## erazz (Jan 23, 2020)

I didnt have any real problems with it, but what I did was i have a cast iron pan in the smoker (its a propane smoker) that I put the wood chips in and I fired up the gas grill and got it scorching hot and put in the smoker to warm it up.   Granted, I havent tried any of them yet, but i dont think the cold affected it at all


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## Bearcarver (Jan 23, 2020)

My MES 40 doesn't work below 20° any more!!
I think it might be because there's nobody out there to uncover & plug it in.

Bear


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## fished (Jan 23, 2020)

It doesn't cold enough in my part of Texas for the cold to be an issue.

Ed


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## Bearcarver (Jan 23, 2020)

erazz said:


> I didnt have any real problems with it, but what I did was i have a cast iron pan in the smoker (its a propane smoker) that I put the wood chips in and I fired up the gas grill and got it scorching hot and put in the smoker to warm it up.   Granted, I havent tried any of them yet, but i dont think the cold affected it at all




This would be one of the times where it would make more sense to others if you included your whereabouts in your "Profile". Then it would come up under your Avatar for us to see.

Bear


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## Murray (Jan 23, 2020)

I smoke lots of cheese in the winter, as others have said apply heat if needed. I use a remote digital thermometer to keep an eye on the smoker temperature and power up the MES as needed. Smoke is supplied via a mailbox so no heat source there.


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## dan the mano (Feb 4, 2020)

zwiller said:


> That's the lowest I would go.  Logic being the cheese could freeze and that is not cool.


hey there i try to smoke cheese also ,and with some difficulty , sometimes my problem  is trying to keep temp low enough ,( and yea i have tried putting ice in a pan there also ) , so i wondering after reading your post i have a Bradley smoker.. and i ha ha live way up north in BC Canada where it is cold , sometimes well below freezing , anyways can i just use a cold smoke adapter  and hopefully that will be good enough because there should be some heat coming off that adapter . 

 you see my smoker here will not go low enough for temp , and if i open the door some , then i get humidity on cheese and alot of my smoke goes away .

 i hope i have explained my self good enough . 

 i thank you in advance


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## zwiller (Feb 4, 2020)

I like the idea of the cold smoker attachment.  Sounds doable but I would do some measuring.  When I first started cold smoking I did a few test runs with probes and was very surprised to find that pellets in the AMNPS tray added almost 30F.


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## Bearcarver (Feb 4, 2020)

dan the mano said:


> hey there i try to smoke cheese also ,and with some difficulty , sometimes my problem  is trying to keep temp low enough ,( and yea i have tried putting ice in a pan there also ) , so i wondering after reading your post i have a Bradley smoker.. and i ha ha live way up north in BC Canada where it is cold , sometimes well below freezing , anyways can i just use a cold smoke adapter  and hopefully that will be good enough because there should be some heat coming off that adapter .
> 
> you see my smoker here will not go low enough for temp , and if i open the door some , then i get humidity on cheese and alot of my smoke goes away .
> 
> ...




For smoking Cheese, I would go with the AMNPS, but use Dust instead of Pellets, because the burning Dust won't raise the temp in your smoker like the pellets will.
And putting ice in your smoker will add too much humidity to the inside of your smoker, so I suggest you fill a jug or two 3/4 full with water & freeze it. Then you can put it in the smoker without adding humidity, like below:


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