# Smoked Cheese



## crawdad (Sep 7, 2007)

I want to smoke some cheese, can someone give me the basics?


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## squeezy (Sep 7, 2007)

Check out DeeJayDeb's site and other threads here.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads.htm

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...splay.php?f=20

.... also left sidebar.


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## salmonclubber (Sep 7, 2007)

smoke at a low temp 100 degrees or below get the smoke rolling place in the smoker for30-60 min after 30 min check every 15 min to make sure cheese is not melting should give it a nice smoky flavor if you smoke for to long it will give it a strong smoky flavor so check on it often 

huey


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## seaham358 (Sep 7, 2007)

heres what I read when I first smoked cheese

http://www.smoking-meat.com/how-to-smoke-cheese.html 

you want low temps as you can get, 90 and under is best.
I found that when using mozzarella fresh made is best because it has a high water content.
check the cheese section on this site for info also.

My last smoke of cheese I went almost 3 hours and the mozzarella was a real strong smoke flavor with hickory.  It was good for me because I like it like that.  In the past I have smoked it 1.5 hours and had great taste. you need to try it a few times, keep notes  on each smoke so you remember which one produced the best taste for you.


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## crawdad (Sep 7, 2007)

does soaking wood chips in different flavors actual add flavor to the smoke?


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## ba_loko (Sep 7, 2007)

What do you mean?  You soak wood chips in what flavors?  If you mean "do different woods offer different flavor?"  the answer is a most definate YES.


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## crawdad (Sep 7, 2007)

I have a speparate post about this but basically I was wondering if you soaked the wood in flavored water, say peppermint.  Would the meat taste like peppermint?


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## ba_loko (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, my first question is why?  Why is your other comment separate?  <shrug>

Another question...."why would you want your meat to taste like peppermint?"


If you are using peppermint oil, then I'd say, "yes, you will impart flavor to your meat".

If you are using a peppermint candy you got from Denny's, I can't help you.


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## crawdad (Sep 7, 2007)

I made a separate post because no one was answering this one.  But then you did and I thank you.  I was using peppermint as an example not that I want to use peppermint.  Lets say brown sugar then, could you soak the wood in a brown sugar solution then do your smoking.  Would the meat taste like brown sugar?


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## ba_loko (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, I'm not familiar with soaking wood in things like brown sugar.  Brown sugar being a granular item......soaking requiring a liquid (in my mind).

I do know that you can put things on your meat (mustard, for one) and it will impart NO flavor to your meat.  (It's used to hold the rub on during the early stages)

Do you have a specific meat that you are wanting to try something special on?  There are occasions where brown sugar goes well with a rub to go on meat.  I've never heard of putting it on wood though.


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## crawdad (Sep 7, 2007)

well ive heard of things like soaking wood in red wine then when you smoke meat it has a red wine flavor.  I was wondering if it actually worked or if it was a gimmick


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## peculiarmike (Sep 7, 2007)

Crawdad, what kind of smoker do you have? Could have a big influence on how you smoke cheese. 
We'll go from there.


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## crawdad (Sep 13, 2007)

I have a bradley automatic feeder.  it takes these little wood disks.


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## deejaydebi (Sep 13, 2007)

Crawdad -

I have not done it but I have heard of others who have used wine barrels and whikey barrels to smoke. There's are placed that sell chooped up barrrels to smokers.  

I have added apple juice to my chips and I love the smell but I don't really notice a taste difference.

As far as cheese goes be very careful not to smoke for to long 30 to 40 minutes might be the most anyone can handle it really sucks up the smoke!

Keep the temperature under 100 degrees or cold smoke if posible and don't eat the cheese untill it's been chilled. I don't know why but it doesn't tastes to good when it's hot. 

PS - my favorite smoked cheese is horseradish or jalepino cheedar! It wonderful stuff!


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## smokingeo (Sep 7, 2012)

Crawdad said:


> I have a bradley automatic feeder. it takes these little wood disks.


I have a Bradley smoke generator, which is the smoke producing unit of the Bradley smoker, without the smoker. It comes complete with a mounting system that will allow you to attach it to any structure, as long as you can cut a 4" round hole it in to allow the generator to put smoke into the interior. I built a 8' tall 4 foot square smoker out of 6" x 1/2" x 8' tongue-and-groove pine.  I've used it to smoke bacon, salmon and cheese to great success. Except for the hottest days of the summer, I can usually maintain the internal temperature of the smoker at 70-75 degrees, which works well for smoking cheese.

As the others have mentioned, keeping your temps as low as possible is key, and I'd advise smoking your first batch for 30 mins only. I did my first batch of mozzarella @ 1 hour and found it much too strong for my liking. I settled on 30 minutes for mozzarella but go to 45 minutes for gouda and cheddar. As usual, trial and error will result in finding the optimum for your taste. Smoked gouda is the bomb, especially if you use apple wood pucks to smoke it, and is my favorite of all smoked cheeses.  I use hickory for cheddar and both hickory and maple for mozzarella. These combos suit the my palate and those of my family, but don't hesitate to use other "flavors" of wood to see what you like 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Happy smoking!


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