# First cheese smoke.



## horse (Jan 2, 2016)

I've been lurking on here for awhile but never posted anything.I have smoked loins, shoulders, burgers, and a meatloaf. Along with a couple fatties. I have never had such awesomeness.
 I'm going to try cheese today since it finally got cold in Pennsylvania. 
I got Pepper Jack, Brie, a sharp Cheddar, Yellow Long Horn, Mozzarella, Farmers Cheese, muenster, and Jarlsberg. Never had the last, figured why not.
 I'll get some pics on the way as soon as I get started. Wish me luck


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## gixxerfrk (Jan 2, 2016)

Good luck. Welcome aboard


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## horse (Jan 2, 2016)

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## horse (Jan 2, 2016)

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I was afraid of over smoking, so I pulled everything at 3 hours. It didn't look like I got a lot of color, but I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks.


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## driedstick (Jan 3, 2016)

Looking good,, what was the outside temp?? I have been going for color and not time on mine lately and turning out pretty good,,, depending on types of cheese and outside temp is why you may have not gotten much color 

Welcome 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS


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## b-one (Jan 3, 2016)

Looks great better safe then sorry you can always smoke longer but you can't take it out.


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

Driedstick, it was about 40 degrees F outside and ran about 62 I'm my smoker. When I pulled it from the refrigerator this morning it had darkened a little.

B-one, I was using Hickory, so being a little on the stronger side, I was worried. I'll see what happens in 4 weeks of I can wait that long.

I appreciate the input from the members here. Thank you.


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 3, 2016)

I am curious as to how much you plan to smoke at one time once your testing is completed?  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






T


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

Mr T, not to sound rude, but in all seriousness, was I crazy to try this much cheese for my first round? Lol
 To answer your question it will depend on how long this lasts me. Ive been fortunate that everybody, that has had anything I've gotten out of my smoker has liked it and a bunch of people know I smoked cheese yesterday. I smoked 4 or 5 flatheads (catfish) and people thought it was great. I think I just got lucky finding a brine here and trying it.
May I ask why you are curious?
  Shawn.


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 3, 2016)

horse said:


> Mr T, not to sound rude, but in all seriousness, was I crazy to try this much cheese for my first round? Lol
> To answer your question it will depend on how long this lasts me. Ive been fortunate that everybody, that has had anything I've gotten out of my smoker has liked it and a bunch of people know I smoked cheese yesterday. I smoked 4 or 5 flatheads (catfish) and people thought it was great. I think I just got lucky finding a brine here and trying it.
> May I ask why you are curious?
> Shawn.


Yes, I was hoping you would ask as that tells me you want to do a good job and if I can help in any way, I am available.

Let us start by realizing there is a world of difference between hot and cold smoking. You have done a good hot smoking and should be commended for your efforts.

To successively cold smoke a product, the smoke introduced should be clean and smooth otherwise you end up with a bitter taste on your product due to excessive creosote applied while smoking. Many consider this normal and have adjusted their process to deal with it such as long rest after smoking. This is not as evident when hot smoking. Although a long rest is good as far as smoke equalization is considered, many feel it is solely done to eliminate the bitter taste. You should be able to enjoy your cheese directly out of the smoker as you have just applied a layer of smoke to the surface of the cheese.

If you care to discuss how to produce a cleaner smoke, we can discuss that.  If you are happy with your results that is fine also after all, you are the one to please.

Hope this explains my question.

T


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

Mr T 59874 said:


> Yes, I was hoping you would ask as that tells me you want to do a good job and if I can help in any way, I am available.
> 
> Let us start by realizing there is a world of difference between hot and cold smoking. You have done a good hot smoking and should be commended for your efforts.
> 
> ...


First off, thank you for your reply,
 I used an AMNS in my masterbuilt smoker. Only lighting one end. Im assuming that would create a not as clean and smooth of a smoke as say whatever smoke generator you are using plumbed into your smoke chamber, a couple feet away. I'm all for learning.
 Shawn.


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 3, 2016)

horse said:


> First off, thank you for your reply,
> I used an AMNS in my masterbuilt smoker. Only lighting one end. Im assuming that would create a not as clean and smooth of a smoke as say whatever smoke generator you are using plumbed into your smoke chamber, a couple feet away. I'm all for learning.
> Shawn.


That is fine, it's not as much the smoke generator you use but, more how you introduce the smoke. I'm busy tonight but, will get back to you soon.

Have a good evening.

Tom


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

Mr T 59874 said:


> That is fine, it's not as much the smoke generator you use but, more how you introduce the smoke. I'm busy tonight but, will get back to you soon.
> 
> Have a good evening.
> 
> Tom


Thank you, and you have a good evening also.


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## hamrhead1971 (Jan 3, 2016)

You got some nice color on your cheese, horse.  The downside is now you are gonna be hooked.  I did my first cheese smoke last month, 5 lbs of cheese.  Most of it was gifted to family.  Yesterday I did my second load of cheese.













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25 lbs total, 7 different cheeses using maple pellets.

Smoke it up
William


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

hamrhead1971 said:


> You got some nice color on your cheese, horse.  The downside is now you are gonna be hooked.  I did my first cheese smoke last month, 5 lbs of cheese.  Most of it was gifted to family.  Yesterday I did my second load of cheese.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. That's quite a stock pile. If I get hooked too bad I'm going to have to get counseling or another job. Lol


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## smokeymose (Jan 3, 2016)

Don't worry about color, horse. The smoke is in there. Just package it up and wait two or three weeks to taste.
Thumbs Up


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## horse (Jan 3, 2016)

So far, waiting has been the hardest part of smoking for me. I made CB and waiting 2 weeks for it to brine was agonizing.


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 4, 2016)

Mr T 59874 said:


> It's not as much the smoke generator you use but, more how you introduce the smoke. I'm busy tonight but, will get back to you soon.
> 
> Tom


As you well know, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. I will take you to the water, you decide if you want to drink.

 First a bit of history. Centuries ago, smoking food was a way of preservation. Communities had structures some two or three stories tall where residents would take their meat to be smoked. A fire was maintained inside the structure to provide smoke required to preserve the food. The residents would place and remove their meat, as they wanted. Old timers on the forum most likely remember smoke houses scattered around at houses and farms. Some utilizing fires inside the larger smoke houses while others with smaller houses placed their fires outside the house and piped the smoke to the house in order to cool the smoke and minimize creasote. Of course, these began to disappear when electrical appliances began to appear.

My first walk in smokehouse was built to resemble a three hole outhouse from the outside. The fire pit was placed twenty-five or thirty feet away and the smoke traveled through six-inch clay field tile buried a foot deep and on a slight incline to the smoke house. A fire was made using available hardwood in the woods where the smokehouse sat, hickory, maple, oak, beech and so on. After a good fire was started, it was then smothered and allowed to slowly burn until it went out. Believe it, there was no TBS here. By the time, the smoke reached the smokehouse it had greatly cooled down and a good amount of the creosote was removed by remaining in the tile. A lot of bacon and cheese was smoked in that three holer. This is what we want to replicate today only on a smaller scale and perhaps you will see were problems suffered today by many come from.

To help you understand the principles behind a successful smoker, look at it as you would a fireplace in your home. You have a hearth a grate and a chimney. The hearth is where the fire is placed in our case a firebox, a grate is what the fuel is placed on, in our case a tray or smoke generator, and a chimney, in our case a product chamber. As in a fireplace, the grate burns clean and the smoke travels up the chimney. As the smoke travels up the chimney creosote and other deposits collect on the chimney walls eventually clogging the chimney if not cleaned. The very same thing happens with food smokers only on a smaller scale. Naturally the hotter the fire the less deposits will be collected but, we are talking about cold smoking, not hot. I find it amusing that those who have used the smoke generators that produce voluminous amounts of smoke complain about the tar buildup on the inside of the generators and eventually mothball them. They do not seem to realize that the goo collected there is not being collected on their food, oh well, I have no problem cleaning mine.

Now, how do we replicate the smokers of old in today’s environment?  We start by using a remote firebox and pipe the smoke produced by your smoke generator of choice to the product chamber, which could be your smoker or a cardboard box, whatever you want to use. The firebox is also used as a heat sink in order to cool the smoke as much as possible, the more mass the better. The pipe used (preferably single wall stovepipe) to transport the smoke will also act as a heat sink so the longer it is, the better the results.

The provided threads will help you understand how to use different smokes to your advantage. There is no need to worry about producing only TBS, by doing so you are hobbling yourself to a few products when by using different smokes in different manners, there is nothing that you cannot smoke.

I understand it is a lot of reading but, you will have a good understanding about smoking food products after doing so.

Enjoy and most of all, have fun.

Tom

My Cold Smoking Options w/Q - View,  New to smoking or have a new smoker? -- "How to optimize your smoke",

AMNPS & Smoke Daddy Myths?,  Understanding Smoke Management - updated 12/08/14, Smoke Color Chart.

Mr T's "Smoked Cheese From Go To Show" w/ Q- View


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## horse (Jan 4, 2016)

Mr T, 
 That makes you think about the reasons people built certain things the way they did 50 or so years ago. It may have been the "right" way. Everything now is built for convenience. Such as, anybody can have a smoker now. They fit on your deck, garage, wherever. You don't need a fair size piece of ground for a smoker anymore.
 Thank you for the information and your wood stove under the deck is a pretty sweet set up. I think I'm going to look into cold smoking a different way. I'll come up with something.
 Shawn


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## mr t 59874 (Jan 4, 2016)

horse said:


> Mr T,
> That makes you think about the reasons people built certain things the way they did 50 or so years ago. It may have been the "right" way. Everything now is built for convenience. I'll come up with something.
> Shawn


If you come up with a better way to eliminate creosote, please let it be known, I am willing to modify my smoking arsenal.

T


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## horse (Jan 4, 2016)

This could be completely crazy and not work, but has anyone ever tried a copper worm like in a still to cool the smoke? 3/8" OD maybe. It's a little pricey though. If you were to put the worm in a bucket. If the ambient air temp was cool enough, would it cool the smoke enough? Or would the smoke stall and not rise through it?


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