# Big Cheese Smoke



## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

So I’ve been buying cheese on clearance when I can find it for probably the last 6-8 months and vac sealing it to keep it good. Was off work Monday and the temps were around 40 out so I figured it was a great day to get the stash out and give it some smoke.

Got it out if the drawers in my beer fridge and took it inside. This is what I’m working with.






Muenster Swiss Gouda Cheddar White Cheddar Jalapeño Colby and some Cheddar Cheese Cubes

Never done the cubes before but got a 5 lb bag of them for $5 so couldn’t pass it up.

Unwrapped it all and got it ready for the smoke






Used the smoke vault for this one. Really enjoy doing cheese in it. Set the AMNPS right under the water pan so it deflects any heat and don’t get hot spots like I do with the MES.






Rolling apple pellets for 3 1/2 hours






Great day to enjoy some cold ones and smoke some before the rain came in






Pulled it after 3 1/2 hours and let it rest for a couple hours on the counter











Let it rest in the beer fridge for 24 hours 






Getting it all ready to vac seal up






Should be good on cheese for a little while anyways and depleted my stash. Hoping to do one more big smoke before it gets too warm. Missed out on the Cabot habanero and always like to do some Colby and Monterey Jack too!


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## Hawging It (Feb 21, 2019)

Dang!! All looks very good! That cheese smoking is addicting! Great job!


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## gmc2003 (Feb 21, 2019)

Nice color on that cheese SmokinVol. That's quite the stash. I've been hoarding away allot of cheddar when it goes on sale. Hopefully next month we'll have cheese smoking temps around here.

Point for sure.
Chris


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 21, 2019)

Awesome job and a great stash should last awhile. How did you like the chunks?

Warren


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## SonnyE (Feb 21, 2019)

Woo-Hooo!
Looks great to me!
I bet you find the cubes addicting. Really great snacking!
I like your basket you smoked the cubes in.

Now you need some Meat Snack Sticks to go with the cheese.
And a wheelbarrow fulla beer...


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## xray (Feb 21, 2019)

That’s a good start! 

Nice stash you have there. You should be set for awhile.


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

Hawging It said:


> Dang!! All looks very good! That cheese smoking is addicting! Great job!



Thanks! It is addicting. I’ve still got several bars I smoked over a year ago and they do seem to get even better with age.


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 21, 2019)

Thanks for the like SmokinVOLfan.

Warren


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

HalfSmoked said:


> Awesome job and a great stash should last awhile. How did you like the chunks?
> 
> Warren



I haven’t tried them yet but they looked great coming off the smoker. Took on some good color. Funny you say that though my son grabbed a handful and started munching on them not thinking.  He said very strong needed to rest awhile haha funny to watch his face though


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## HalfSmoked (Feb 21, 2019)

cool

Warren


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

SonnyE said:


> Woo-Hooo!
> Looks great to me!
> I bet you find the cubes addicting. Really great snacking!
> I like your basket you smoked the cubes in.
> ...



You know a wheelbarrow full a beer is never an issue. Always keep plenty on hand!

That basket is a Bradley rack I believe. I bought some off amazon about 4 years ago and forgot I had them but they come in handy for sure!


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## SonnyE (Feb 21, 2019)

SmokinVOLfan said:


> That basket is a Bradley rack I believe. I bought some off amazon about 4 years ago and forgot I had them but they come in handy for sure!



Looks like it holds cubed cheese well!


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## bbqbrett (Feb 21, 2019)

Looks good.  Never have done cheese cubes but it sounds like a great idea.


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## baboy (Feb 21, 2019)

Looks great, agree on letting it rest for awhile for the best taste. When I went back to Wisconsin for a work trip and I drove from Colorado just so I could bring back lots of cheese to smoke.


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

bbqbrett said:


> Looks good.  Never have done cheese cubes but it sounds like a great idea.



Thanks! I’ll let you know how they turn out but figured it would be great for a nice veggie cheese tray at a cookout


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## SmokinVOLfan (Feb 21, 2019)

baboy said:


> Looks great, agree on letting it rest for awhile for the best taste. When I went back to Wisconsin for a work trip and I drove from Colorado just so I could bring back lots of cheese to smoke.



Man I’d love to get some Wisconsin cheese I don’t blame you at all for making the trip. I usually do 2-3 big cheese smokes a year. Lasts me most the hot months with giving blocks away to family and friends in between.

Usually trade cheese and bacon with family for other smoked goodies and beer from different areas that I can’t get around here


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## Norwester55 (Feb 22, 2019)

Looks good! I did 12 lbs this weekend and plan on doing that much more before warmer weather gets here.


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## mama's smoke (Oct 1, 2019)

At what temp are you smoking?


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## Smokin' in AZ (Jan 9, 2020)

SmokinVOLfan
 ,  John picked up a bunch of cheese from Sam's club today.

I have a amazen tube and am going to put it in the weber (no heat) and give it a go tomorrow. Any advice as I have never done this before.

I have jalapeno, Colby, Mild cheddar, Sharp cheddar, Havarti, Gouda, and Asiago.

Will cut the larger blocks into smaller pieces similar in size to yours pictured above.

I have pecan, apple and competition blend lumberjack pellets.


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jan 9, 2020)

Smokin' in AZ said:


> SmokinVOLfan
> ,  John picked up a bunch of cheese from Sam's club today.
> 
> I have a amazen tube and am going to put it in the weber (no heat) and give it a go tomorrow. Any advice as I have never done this before.
> ...



Hey John looks like you picked up some good choices there. Tillamook makes some great cheeses! 

Not sure what the weather is like in AZ right now but best to do it while it is cool outside. Keep an eye on your temps. If you get into the mid 80s to lower 90s the cheese will start sweating pretty bad and could start melting and you will end up with a giant mess in your smoker. 

Watch for hot spots in the smoker. When I used to do it in my MES the blocks that were above my pellet tray would get a lot more heat. 

I usually run my cheese about 3 hours with apple pellets. Let is sit on the counter for a little while and then uncovered in the fridge overnight. Seal it up if you have a vac sealer and let it rest for a couple weeks. 

Now this is just how I do it. I'm no cheese smoking expert by any means. Some people prefer less smoke and some people prefer more smoke. Some also like to eat it straight out of the smoker. I like to let mine mellow a little bit. Good luck with it let me know how it turns out!

Here is another one that I did awhile back.






						40+ Block Cheese Extravaganza
					

So Publix had a sale on Cabot cheese last week. BOGO...which each block came to around $2.15(which is good for here in East TN). Figured while the weather was still a little cooler I would try to get in one last cheese smoke and stockpile it up before it got warm. Had a few other random blocks I...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## dave17a (Jan 9, 2020)

Nice job. Gonna be some good stuff. My only question, Wasn't this already vac sealed from store bought? No need to undo redo IMO. It will keep till ready for smoke.


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## Smokin' in AZ (Jan 10, 2020)

SmokinVOLfan said:


> Hey John looks like you picked up some good choices there. Tillamook makes some great cheeses!
> 
> Not sure what the weather is like in AZ right now but best to do it while it is cool outside. Keep an eye on your temps. If you get into the mid 80s to lower 90s the cheese will start sweating pretty bad and could start melting and you will end up with a giant mess in your smoker.
> 
> ...


John, starting out at 40 degrees here today and will only be 50 by time I smoke it for 3 or so hours so.

And I am going to do it in the Weber Genesis 330 which is much bigger than my smoker. Thinking about adding a pan of ice to help keep the heat down. And I will put my thermoworks dot ambient temp probe in to keep an eye on the temps.

Thanks for the advice!

John


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jan 10, 2020)

Smokin' in AZ said:


> John, starting out at 40 degrees here today and will only be 50 by time I smoke it for 3 or so hours so.
> 
> And I am going to do it in the Weber Genesis 330 which is much bigger than my smoker. Thinking about adding a pan of ice to help keep the heat down. And I will put my thermoworks dot ambient temp probe in to keep an eye on the temps.
> 
> ...



Sounds like you got the perfect temps to do it! I found that freezing 2 liter bottles of water works better than a pan of ice if you have any laying around or time to do it. I need to get some going too but the weather is supposed to be crap here tomorrow...storms and 30 mph winds. Maybe Sunday!


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jan 10, 2020)

dave17a said:


> Nice job. Gonna be some good stuff. My only question, Wasn't this already vac sealed from store bought? No need to undo redo IMO. It will keep till ready for smoke.



Thanks! A lot of the seals were bad so I just re-did them in the vac sealer. Otherwise I would have left them alone.


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