# First time smoking cheese - MES30 with AMNPS - with pics



## joey805 (Jan 8, 2015)

First time smoking cheese ever with my recently purchased MES 30 and AMNPS. After alot of very helpful reading on this forum, I was ready to give it a shot.

Decided to buy a variety for the first round to see which ones I liked the best. Also threw some eggs in for good measure...













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Thew the pitmasters choice pellets in the oven at 200 for 20 minutes to make sure they were dry.













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Then lit it.













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Time to load the trays up...













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Let the pellets burn for 10 minutes, then blew  the fire out...













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Load it all into the smoker...













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Starting temp...













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Nice smoke and it smelled amazing. I really likes the pitmasters choice pellets.













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An hour in, it was time to rotate shelves.













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Temp started to rise, so I the opened the smoker a couple times to cool it down a bit. Didn't really have much room left to put any ice in there. I live in Southern California, so a cold night for us is maybe 50 degrees.













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Pulled the eggs out at 2 hours, they looked and smelled great!













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Cheese came out at 3 hours.













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I still had some pellets left in the AMNPS so I plugged the smoker in, set it at 265 and threw a ribeye on. Pulled it out once it hit 130 and tossed it on a super hot BBQ for 45 seconds on each side for the reverse sear.













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Probably ones of the best ribeye's I have ever had. Usually I just grill them. Doing the reverse sear is unreal!













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Let the cheese rest overnight in the fridge, then vacuum packed the next day. I'm not touching this stuff for 30 days. Hopefully I can wait that long. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			


















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Made some egg salad with the eggs, wow! So yummy!


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## bear55 (Jan 8, 2015)

Very nice job.  Now the hard part, waiting a month.

Richard


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## curhoundhunter (Jan 10, 2015)

i've never done cheese but the eggs and a couple potatoes smoked then thrown into a potatoe salad is unbelievable good

. will need to try the cheese to go with my smoked salmon


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## phred0069 (Jan 10, 2015)

Very damm nice!!


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## ibbones (Jan 10, 2015)

I'm smoking cheese today for the first time.  It's finally cold in South Texas so I'm going to give it a shot.  Wish I had some eggs to throw in also.


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## larry shuler (Jan 12, 2015)

Yeah, I am definitely going to smoke some eggs when I do my cheese.  Been so busy with the holidays along other things just haven't done any grilling yet alone smoking anything.  I just got a new dual probe thermometer and getting anxious to use it!  Keep smokin'!


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## crazymoon (Jan 12, 2015)

Everything looks great !  I'd sneak some cheese after 2 weeks just to make sure its alright !


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## joey805 (Jan 13, 2015)

CrazyMoon said:


> Everything looks great !  I'd sneak some cheese after 2 weeks just to make sure its alright !


I like your idea. 5 more days to go then.

My fridge smells smokey still, even after everything has been vacuumed packed. It's teasing me every time I open it.


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## wade (Jan 13, 2015)

Joey805 said:


> My fridge smells smokey still, even after everything has been vacuumed packed. It's teasing me every time I open it.


Enjoy it while its there - you will miss that smell when its gone. The secret is to keep the fridge topped up with a continuous stream of smoked cheese batches


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## joopster (Jan 13, 2015)

This reminds me, I need to try the provolone I did a month or so ago.


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## aezell (Jan 13, 2015)

This looks amazing. I don't think it ever occurred to me to do this. Can't wait to hear how the cheese tastes.


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## reecea (Jan 17, 2015)

Curious as to why the 30 days wait. Does that enhance the flavor?


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## wade (Jan 17, 2015)

What people are stressing is that it DOES need to mature before eating. Up to 7 days it will change gradually from "ashtray" to "just about edible". After 14 days it is something that you could eat and enjoy. However after 21 days it will transform into something that you can serve to your friends to really impress.

Try it after 14 days - but with smoked cheese you do need to be patient.


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## joopster (Jan 17, 2015)

Wade said:


> What people are stressing is that it DOES need to mature before eating. Up to 7 days it will change gradually from "ashtray" to "just about edible". After 14 days it is something that you could eat and enjoy. However after 21 days it will transform into something that you can serve to your friends to really impress.
> 
> Try it after 14 days - but with smoked cheese you do need to be patient.


Better yet, have some after 21 and then wait another month.  While you are waiting do another 15 lbs.


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## hdflame (Jan 18, 2015)

The cheese looks really good!  I'm glad I read the whole post cause I didn't realize there was a need to wait a month before eating the cheese after smoking.  I think I'm going to have to try this too.

Ribeyes are my favorite steak.  I've read about the reverse searing but never thought about smoking one then doing the sear....the ribeye looked amazing!  I will definitely try that.  A well seasoned ribeye needs no steak sauce!


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