# A small cheese smoke



## venture (Jan 28, 2012)

We were running low on smoked cheese and my other half wanted something besides my favorite Swiss.  A little under 3 LBS, made up of Swiss, brick Mozz, and extra sharp cheddar.  All budget cheeses from the local supermart.  Unfortunately the fresh Mozz we made from SmokinAl's post didn't last nearly long enough to make this smoke.








Cut up and resting at room temp for 1 hour:







Smoked a little under 4 hours in the 22.5 Weber kettle (top vent 1/2 open) using a blend of maple and cherry in the AMNS with one row lit:







You can see the Mozz took on much less color than the Swiss and Cheddar. Note the dark corner on the Cheddar where it is starting to soften.  There was some sweating, too, but the pic doesn't show it well.  More on that later.

Packaged up with Lisa's bags which worked great:







Into the fridge until Feb. 11.

Back to the Cheddar.  First time I used the Maverick pit probe to monitor a cold smoke.  Ambient temp was 53 degrees at 85% humidity.  At about the 3 hour mark, the pit temps started to rise from 65 degrees to about 86 degrees.  You can see the evidence on the cheddar. At the end of the smoke I had burned 1 1/2 rows in the AMNS, about normal.  Hmmmm? Never saw the cheddar do that before?  Still scratching my head on that one.  I will certainly be monitoring pit temps on all future cold smokes, tho.

Good luck and good smoking.


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## scarbelly (Jan 28, 2012)

Looks like it came out real nice -


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## harleysmoker (Jan 28, 2012)

Cheese is on my list, gonna try to get some on tomorrow before I smoke some ribs.


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## alblancher (Jan 28, 2012)

That smoked cheese is good for a while if properly stored?  If I do some during the cool of the winter should I freeze it or just vacuum pack and leave in the fridge.?  Will it last through the summer in the freezer?


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## smokinhusker (Jan 28, 2012)

Good looking cheese! Few more days and I can cut into all that I smoked


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## tjohnson (Jan 28, 2012)

Great Color!

Since heat rises, I can only assume the cheddar was closer to the rising heat

This is where a piece of foil or a disposable foil pan, placed upside down, will deflect the heat

Todd


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## justpassingthru (Jan 28, 2012)

Looks real good Merv, I was wondering about cutting it into small chunks, thanks for the lesson.

Heh, heh, listen to Al, he thinks it will make it to the freezer, ...brother, after you make some it probably won't last more than a week, ...taking it out of the freezer to thaw just slows down the process.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Gene


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## chef jimmyj (Jan 28, 2012)

Pay day's coming...I need to get some good lookin' cheese like that...JJ


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## mballi3011 (Jan 28, 2012)

Your cheeses look great an one of theses days I'm gonna smoke me some.


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## SmokinAl (Jan 29, 2012)

I think the cheese looks great! The color is perfect!


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## venture (Jan 29, 2012)

Thanks for the input everyone!

This one was an experiment from the git go!  I normally run the cheese for 3 hours and wanted to see how much difference there would be with the extra hour.  When the temp spiked I pulled it a little short of the planned 4 hours.

I have seen cheddar do that in warmer temps, but not at 53 degree ambients.

Todd, I rotate my cheese every hour.  I might have missed a piece?  Also, the biggest puzzle is how the pit temp stayed steady for three hours and then suddenly jumped 20 degrees in less than an hour?  If the ambient temp is  right tonight, I will run a load of dust through the AMNS in exactly the same conditions but without any food in the pit. If I learn anything interesting, I will PM you!

Al, I don't like to freeze cheese as some types turn crumbly when frozen.  Also, when vacu packed, they will last longer in the fridge than you would ever let them sit there!

Good luck and good smoking.


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## sprky (Jan 29, 2012)

very nice color


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