# "Hot" Smoked Cheese



## daricksta

There's a small company here in Washington state that sells what it calls "hot" smoked cheese. What they mean is that they smoke it over 100°F instead of cold smoking it. That results in a softer, more flavorfully smoking cheese. I set out to try to replicate what they did and I'm very happy with the results. In my MES 30 Gen 1, the temps reached from 111° to 133° before if finally settled down to 111 and 113 for the last hour or two of the 5 hour smoke. I kept the heating element turned off because the applewood pellets in my AMNPS provided more than enough heat. I think this is the way I will smoke cheese from now on. As you see, the color is darker than with cold smoking. You can also see the imprinted patterns of the Q-MATZ the cheeses were resting on, which is what I also wanted. The cheeses were smoked on racks 2 & 3 in my MES, and I switched rack positions and flipped the cheeses once during the smoke. From the left, the cheeses are Jarlsberg, Gruyere, medium cheddar, and Gouda. First time I've smoked these European cheeses. I usually smoke just mozzarella and sharp cheddar. I've vacuum sealed them and will let them sit 2-3 weeks in the fridge before sampling them.













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__ daricksta
__ Sep 13, 2017


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## chopsaw

Those look awesome .


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## driedstick

Dang it man that looks good,,, I will have to give it a try,,, Matz must have helped from the melting also,,, Thanks for the idea

A full smoker is happy smoker,,,,, yours looked happy happy happy today


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## GaryHibbert

That cheese looks great!!!  If I can ever find some qmats up here I'm sure gonna try this method.

POINTS

Gary


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## kcsmokefan83

These look great! I'd love to try that! May be a dumb question but how'd you keep them from melting? Were they frozen?


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## daricksta

Thanks, guys. It's really a lot easier to hot smoke cheese than cold smoke, IF you like the resulting softer texture and more smokiness. You don't have to worry so much about keeping the temp below 100°. I'm really not a fan of most cold smoked cheeses sold in stores because it's to "clean" in my opinion. No character other than some smoke.


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## daricksta

KCsmokefan83 said:


> These look great! I'd love to try that! May be a dumb question but how'd you keep them from melting? Were they frozen?


Not a dumb question at all. None of them were frozen. I had all the cheeses warm to room temp for about 30 minutes since I read that helps to form a skin or something and help them to absorb the smoke better. Except for the cheddar, I was dealing with firm to hard cheeses. The Gouda was aged and hard. The medium cheddar melted just slightly and that was the one I had been concerned about. Hot smoking creates a bit of a cleanup job since the heat made the cheeses drip just a bit but the interior of the smoker--including the metal racks--was all sticky from I suppose the cheeses steaming a bit. 

At first I put a half gallon plastic jug of frozen water on the bottom, unused rack but I didn't want it to block the smoke from the AMNPS below it so I removed it. I feel I lucked out because I had to leave for 2 hours to go out on errands. I wasn't able to turn the cheeses every hour and switch the racks. The cheeses had been in for about 3 hours when I got back so that's why I only flipped them once and switched the rack positions once. But this is how I'm smoking cheese from now on. I found out that most cheeses really don't melt that much even when the smoker temp is up around the 120s-130s. Once I got back home I kept the temp down around 113-115.


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## daricksta

driedstick said:


> Dang it man that looks good,,, I will have to give it a try,,, Matz must have helped from the melting also,,, Thanks for the idea
> 
> A full smoker is happy smoker,,,,, yours looked happy happy happy today


Thanks. I wouldn't smoke cheese without the Matz. Even when the cheese melts into them it holds them together better than just putting them on a rack. And I love the pattern imprint on the cheeses since I can't get the crosshatched grill patterns the pros get. I don't have that kind of grill. I also use the Matz for beef jerky. When you think of it, with me using the AMNPS, the applewood pellets from A-MAZE-N, and QMATZ, Todd played a big role in my smoking success!


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## daricksta

GaryHibbert said:


> That cheese looks great!!! If I can ever find some qmats up here I'm sure gonna try this method.
> 
> POINTS
> 
> Gary


Doesn't Todd ship to Canada if you pay a shipping fee? According to his website he ships for free in the continental US if the order is at $49. If he doesn't ship to Canada at all, here's possible substitute I found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...n&field-keywords=Frogmats+Non+Stick+Grill+Mat

I'm glad Todd can ship to me. He's helped me immensely with his products and advice over the years I've been on SMF.


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## ab canuck

Cheese looks wonderful!!!  I want to try and smoke cheese, just never seems like I get any time home to do it. I did pick up a version of Q- matts at our Canadian tire store and have used them on the smoker, Work great. Points for the cheese.


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## tropics

Nice job on the Cheese I had a partial melt down once at 100*

The pattern looks good

Richie


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## daricksta

AB Canuck said:


> Cheese looks wonderful!!!  I want to try and smoke cheese, just never seems like I get any time home to do it. I did pick up a version of Q- matts at our Canadian tire store and have used them on the smoker, Work great. Points for the cheese.


Thanks for the points, AB Canuck. I'm retired and I help my wife with her home daycare business so I can take the time for smoking during the week. Before this I did my best to cold smoke cheese but the temps always crept up to over 100°F. This time my only task was to try to prevent the smoker temp (with my 30" Masterbuilt electric digital smoker unplugged) to not go too far over 100°. Since I was gone from home for a couple of hours I'm crediting luck with the heat from the burning applewood pellets not melting the cheese in my absence. 

Yeah, try smoking cheese sometime, either the cold smoke or the "hot" smoke method. I think this is my 4th batch overall, the first using the "hot" method. My MES 30 is a great little smoker. I smoked my first whole packer brisket in it over the summer and it too turned out great.


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## daricksta

tropics said:


> Nice job on the Cheese I had a partial melt down once at 100*
> 
> The pattern looks good
> 
> Richie


Thanks, Richie. I did have a VERY partial meltdown of medium cheddar. It stuck a little to the QMATZ. I was amazed that the cheeses held their shapes and softened just to the point I had hoped they would. Yeah, when I saw the QMATZ pattern imprinted on the cheeses I was very happy. That was another thing I had hoped for.


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## fullsmoke

We have hot smoked cheese for years now people thought we where weird till they ate it we put it in little bread pans of desposinal One and smoke at 200 it will melt some and take on different texture once it cools some eat it warm wow!!!


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## crystal10

daricksta said:


> There's a small company here in Washington state that sells what it calls "hot" smoked cheese. What they mean is that they smoke it over 100°F instead of cold smoking it. That results in a softer, more flavorfully smoking cheese. I set out to try to replicate what they did and I'm very happy with the results. In my MES 30 Gen 1, the temps reached from 111° to 133° before if finally settled down to 111 and 113 for the last hour or two of the 5 hour smoke. I kept the heating element turned off because the applewood pellets in my AMNPS provided more than enough heat. I think this is the way I will smoke cheese from now on. As you see, the color is darker than with cold smoking. You can also see the imprinted patterns of the Q-MATZ the cheeses were resting on, which is what I also wanted. The cheeses were smoked on racks 2 & 3 in my MES, and I switched rack positions and flipped the cheeses once during the smoke. From the left, the cheeses are Jarlsberg, Gruyere, medium cheddar, and Gouda. First time I've smoked these European cheeses. I usually smoke just mozzarella and sharp cheddar. I've vacuum sealed them and will let them sit 2-3 weeks in the fridge before sampling them.
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> __ daricksta
> __ Sep 13, 2017


What type of wood did you use for smoke?  How did it turn out/taste?  
I recently encountered someone who also hot smokes his cheese but it looked like he cuts it into 1"x1" chunks prior to smoking.  I'm afraid it will melt alot faster being that small.  Thoughts?? TIA


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## tardissmoker

GaryHibbert said:


> That cheese looks great!!!  If I can ever find some qmats up here I'm sure gonna try this method.
> 
> POINTS
> 
> Gary


Sorry I must have missed this earlier but for fellow Canadians, this is what I use and I couldn't live without them now.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.bradley-magic-mats-non-stick-mats-set4.1001007087.html


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## GaryHibbert

I finally found and grabbed some Frog Mats.  They work great.
Gary


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## daricksta

fullsmoke said:


> We have hot smoked cheese for years now people thought we where weird till they ate it we put it in little bread pans of desposinal One and smoke at 200 it will melt some and take on different texture once it cools some eat it warm wow!!!




That sounds great--and a whole different product, little warm cheese loaves. I never thought of that.


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## daricksta

crystal10 said:


> What type of wood did you use for smoke?  How did it turn out/taste?
> I recently encountered someone who also hot smokes his cheese but it looked like he cuts it into 1"x1" chunks prior to smoking.  I'm afraid it will melt alot faster being that small.  Thoughts?? TIA



This is why I should make notes. I think I used apple wood pellets this time because--of I remember correctly--I didn't want hickory (which I usually use) to overpower the more delicate flavors of the Gruyere and Gouda. If I'm just smoking sharp cheddar and mozzarella I use hickory. This batch of smoked cheese was overall the best I ever produced. But for my own tastes, the Gouda tasted like it got the most smoke. Since it was an aged, dry-style Gouda that level of smoke seemed to be too much. The other cheeses were great. My daughter loves all the smoked stuff I make. She usually shares the smoked cheeses I give her but she kept her allotment all for herself. 

I prefer to do minimal slicing of the cheeses, mainly because I'm afraid I'll run out of room on the four racks. I don't consider what I do really intentional hot smoking anyway, except for when the temp gets away from me and rises to 130°F before I can get to it. The cheeses just slightly melt, which is why I use Q-MATZ. And I think you're right: the smaller the cheeses, the faster they'll melt at temps above 60°F (if you're cold smoking). A 1"x1" chunk is much smaller than I like to cut the cheeses anyway. Besides snacking, I use sliced smoked cheddar and mozz for cheeseburgers and other sandwiches.


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## daricksta

tardissmoker said:


> Sorry I must have missed this earlier but for fellow Canadians, this is what I use and I couldn't live without them now.
> 
> https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.bradley-magic-mats-non-stick-mats-set4.1001007087.html


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## daricksta

The Q-MATZ I use that I bought from Todd Johnson/A-MAZE-N look very similar to these. I've used mine only for smoking cheeses and beef jerky. None of that ever melts into of falls through the racks anymore.


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