# More Cheese w/ qview



## talan64 (Mar 23, 2014)

So I had done my first cheese last fall, and thought it came out great.  Shared with some guys at work who all(those that like smoked cheese) raved about it.  The first couple blocks I had tried I opened and cut too soon, and they were VERY strong.  The last couple were great since they had time to mellow in the fridge for longer than 4 weeks.

Anyways, I just did my 3rd batch yesterday.  Batch #2 still has at least 2 weeks left of the mellowing out.

Batch 2 was 2 lbs of Colby jack, and 2 lbs of pepper jack.

Batch 3 was 2 lbs of Gouda, and 2 lbs of Swiss.

Here are the pictures from batch 3:

Cut up and ready to smoke.  I like cutting them into 1/2 lb blocks so I only open a small amount at a time.













Ready for the Smoke.jpg



__ talan64
__ Mar 23, 2014






Here is how I lay it all out in my Traeger. The Traeger makes a great cold smoke chamber when combined with the Amazin' smoker.  Smoke stack is to the right, so the smoke drifts right across the cheese on the way out.













Smoker layout.jpg



__ talan64
__ Mar 23, 2014






First signs of smoke!  I love the Amazin smoker.













Beginning.jpg



__ talan64
__ Mar 23, 2014






Here it is ready to head out to the fridge to mellow out for a month.  I found I should not have stood the Gouda up, as it now a a "strange" shape to it.













Finished.jpg



__ talan64
__ Mar 23, 2014






Now the waiting game.

Thanks for viewing!


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## joopster (Mar 23, 2014)

Looks good, how long where those in the smoke?


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## cdnwildsmoker (Mar 24, 2014)

Yes they do look good, I too would like to know how long you smoked them for?


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## newsmokeguy (Mar 25, 2014)

ur cheese looks really good what wood did u use for that?


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## talan64 (Mar 25, 2014)

I used a full A-Maze-N smoker, filled with Apple sawdust.  Lit from both ends the smoke lasted somewhere between 5 & 6 hours.


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## newsmokeguy (Mar 26, 2014)

thx!


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## driedstick (Mar 26, 2014)

Looks like you got some good color on them, now the dang nab it waiting time. 

A full smoker is a happy smoker


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## knuckle47 (Mar 26, 2014)

I agree they look great.  That's the colors I get with a 4-5 hour smoke.  Problem I need to look out for when both ends are lit is the internal temperature.  If it's below 25 out, I might be ok but over 40 , and it's rapidly getting there, I hit 90 in the barrel and some cheeses start to get too soft and oily

The results are terrific with just under two rows burning from one end.  Geez, even my Fedex guy loved it !


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## talan64 (Mar 27, 2014)

The first set of cheese I did last fall was like that, I used a different rack and the A-Maze-N was too close, and heated the whole rack up.  Cheese melted down into/onto the rack, and made a small mess.  The cheese still tasted good, it just looked funny.  So this time I put my rack closer to the smoke stack and the A-Maze-N all the way to the other side, and it seems to be just fine, except for the wedges of Gouda, but now I know I shouldn't have stood it up like I did, I probably would have gotten plenty of smoke with it laid down.  Anyways, the outside temp was probably around 50 - 60 degrees for this batch, I just need to make sure my smoker isn't in the direct sun, or it would have been too hot.


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## knuckle47 (Mar 28, 2014)

I would like to get a few more sessions in before the warmer weather is here to stay.  I have loaded the refrigerator in the garage with vac sealed cheese but it seems as though my mistake is that...in my excitement, I hand it out to friends and my stock goes down

Outdoor temps have a lot of influence on my whiskey barrel.  As mentioned, if I keep it out of the sun and smoke on the north side of the garage, it stays cool.  That spot keeps snow and ice around for some time even at 40-50 degree temps.

One day I loaded the bottom with snow...worked well enough to want a bit more snow!


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