# My First Cheese Smoke With The A-Maze-N-Smoker



## distre (Oct 3, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

         This is my first post with pics, so bear with me. I live in TX and it has cooled down enough for me to feel comfortable with smoking cheese. I used the A-Maze-N-Smoker, I if you don't have one get one or put it on you Christmas List. I got an assortment of String Cheeses but I also smoked Cheddar, Gouda, Pepper Jack, Monterrey Jack, Mozzarella, and Parmesan Cheese.

The A-Maze-N-Smoker with Pecan Dust. I lit it on both ends and in the middle. What can I say we like the smoke.








Here is a Picture before smoking on the smoker I have double stacked racks on the left.







I used a heat shield which was cardboard wrapped in foil.







This was after I smoked for a 4-5 hours. I burnt the AMS, and filled it up half way again and lit it in 3 places as before.

This is after I took the cheese off the smoker.







I wrapped it all  up up with plastic wrap. I put 3 types of string cheese in a pack for my test subjects, but have to wait a couple of weeks for the others.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





The Guoda & Parmesan







The Mozzarella and Cheddar.







And the Pepper Jack and Montererry Jack. The blue tooth picks are Monterry Jack and the red are Pepper Jack. I didn't put anything on the Mozzarrela. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and the put the tooth picks in and wrapped a little more.







Here they are all wrapped up and ready to put in ziplock bags, except for what I kept out for my better half and me.







But I do believe the wait will be worth while.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thanks for taking the time to check out my first cheese smoke q-view. Happy Smoking To All!


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## rbranstner (Oct 3, 2010)

Looks great. Yea I learned the hard way that you need to let that cheese rest. The first couple of times I made it I sliced of a piece the next day and it tasted like a burnt stick. I almost threw it but I just put it in the fridge and forgot about it for a while then tried it again and it was great. Its hard to let it sit but its worth it. Kind of like what I am doing  with my pickled eggs right now. I soo want to dig into them but I have to keep telling myself to wait it out. haha


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## distre (Oct 3, 2010)

rbranstner said:


> Looks great. Yea I learned the hard way that you need to let that cheese rest. The first couple of times I made it I sliced of a piece the next day and it tasted like a burnt stick. I almost threw it but I just put it in the fridge and forgot about it for a while then tried it again and it was great. Its hard to let it sit but its worth it. Kind of like what I am doing  with my pickled eggs right now. I soo want to dig into them but I have to keep telling myself to wait it out. haha


Thanks rbranstner.

    Yeah the waiting is the hardest part, but well worth it. Thanks for checking out my first q-view.


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## dale5351 (Oct 3, 2010)

Looks very good.  I like your colored toothpick idea.  It is certainly necessary to mark which cheese is which.  When I smoked a while back, I made a paper diagram map of which cheese I put where.  Then as I took them off and sealed in vacumn bags, used a sharpie pen to mark the packages with type of cheese and type of wood.

That cheese has aged in the spare frig for more than a month now.  We are taking out one block at a time.  The aging did make a difference.

I smoked for a full rack of AMNS 6x8.   Next time I may back off a little on the amount of smoke.  Wife says it is a little too strong for her.  I'm ok with it.  Certainly different and better than the cheap store brand cheeses it started out to be:-}}


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## scarbelly (Oct 3, 2010)

Great looking cheese - you are going to love it in a couple of weeks even more


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## meateater (Oct 3, 2010)

Great looking cheese! Get yourself  a vacuum sealer and they will last forever. I have some from last Feb. in the fridge and still perfect. I kind of went crazy and smoked about 20# back then.


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## distre (Oct 3, 2010)

dale5351 said:


> Looks very good.  I like your colored toothpick idea.  It is certainly necessary to mark which cheese is which.  When I smoked a while back, I made a paper diagram map of which cheese I put where.  Then as I took them off and sealed in vacumn bags, used a sharpie pen to mark the packages with type of cheese and type of wood.
> 
> That cheese has aged in the spare frig for more than a month now.  We are taking out one block at a time.  The aging did make a difference.
> 
> I smoked for a full rack of AMNS 6x8.   Next time I may back off a little on the amount of smoke.  Wife says it is a little too strong for her.  I'm ok with it.  Certainly different and better than the cheap store brand cheeses it started out to be:-}}


Thanks Dale,

          I have a 6 X 8 also, and better my half doesn't care for as much smoke either. But you know she didn't like the idea of smoked salt either. Well she didn't like the idea and now she does! Thanks for the comment.

 


Scarbelly said:


> Great looking cheese - you are going to love it in a couple of weeks even more


Thanks Scarbelly,

           Coming for a man that know I can hardly wait. Waiting is the hardest part with smoking cheese. Thanks for the reply!


 


meateater said:


> Great looking cheese! Get yourself  a vacuum sealer and they will last forever. I have some from last Feb. in the fridge and still perfect. I kind of went crazy and smoked about 20# back then.


Thanks meateater,

         I agree about the vacuum sealer. Santa is gonna bring me on if I don't get one before, part of my Christmas bonus to me is spoken for HO HO HO!!!!!. Thanks for the comment!


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## scarbelly (Oct 4, 2010)

Ya know, I was just looking again at the packaging you did. I have used the colored toothpicks for a catering gig and sometimes the color dye has leeched out with the moisture of the product I had them in. Just to be safe I might remove the picks and label the cheese with a marker or a sticker


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## beer-b-q (Oct 4, 2010)

The Cheese Looks Great Distre....


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## rw willy (Oct 4, 2010)

great job.  Looks like everyone had a cheesy weekend!


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## tjohnson (Oct 4, 2010)

Another happy Texan!

Great Job!

Todd


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## Bearcarver (Oct 4, 2010)

Great Job distre !

I see you like a lot of smoke, just like I do. HMMMMM---Light it in 3 places, causing 4 burns to go at once?----I gotta do that on my next cheese run!!!!

Thanks,

Bear


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## distre (Oct 4, 2010)

Scarbelly said:


> Ya know, I was just looking again at the packaging you did. I have used the colored toothpicks for a catering gig and sometimes the color dye has leeched out with the moisture of the product I had them in. Just to be safe I might remove the picks and label the cheese with a marker or a sticker


 Thanks Scarbelly,

          I wrapped the packages 4-5 times around before putting the toothpicks in and wrapped a couple of more times. Do you still think I'll have a problem with the dye leeching?

Thanks Beer-B-Q, RW Willy, and you too Todd and your great product the AMNS. Happy Smoking.



 


Bearcarver said:


> Great Job distre !
> 
> I see you like a lot of smoke, just like I do. HMMMMM---Light it in 3 places, causing 4 burns to go at once?----I gotta do that on my next cheese run!!!!
> 
> ...


Thanks Bearcarver,

            I'm trying to change my better halves taste. She doesn't like as much smoke as I do, But times are a changing, I hope?


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## Bearcarver (Oct 4, 2010)

distre said:


> Thanks Bearcarver,
> 
> I'm trying to change my better halves taste. She doesn't like as much smoke as I do, But times are a changing, I hope?


Good luck,

I gave up on mine. She's 62 until Oct 21. She would sooner have meat made in the crock pot, oven, or grill than smoked.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Our son is another "Smoke Hound" like me !

I never figured out how she still had such great taste in men!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


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