# First time smoking cheese



## Omnivore (Jul 11, 2019)

Sharp cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, sheep's milk bleu, and burrata. Smoked with pellet tube filled with traeger competition blend. The tube was smoking at full blast (still figuring this thing out) and temps were creeping so by 1.5 hours I pulled the cheese and blotted with paper towels. Will vac and let mellow out for a week or so (or until the next time I need cheese for burgers). 

The burrata (fresh mozzarella outside with creamy buttery center) is going to be the wild card. Seemed like a cool thing to smoke but then I started 2nd guessing myself.  It doesn't have a long shelf life so I'll serve it up tomorrow with grilled bread and good olive oil. 

I think I'll make bleu cheese dressing with the smoked bleu. Or crumbled over a steak...


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## crazymoon (Jul 11, 2019)

O, Nice color on your cheese,looking good !


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## smokerjim (Jul 11, 2019)

looks good, you could put frozen bottles of water in there to help keep temps down


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## drdon (Jul 11, 2019)

Nice color. Better go out and buy some more, somehow smoked cheese 
"evaporates" quickly. A little too hot to do this in Florida right now so we gotta be careful or my supply will disappear.


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## Braz (Jul 11, 2019)

That burrata sounds interesting. Bet that will be killer good smoked.


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## bertman (Jul 11, 2019)

I don't know what part of the world you're in, but I usually don't try to smoke cheese between April and October. I've tried using frozen bottles like smokerjim suggests, but didn't have good results.

Drdon gives great advice. You'll find you haven't made enough, and it's tough waiting on a batch to age a little while you're completely out.

I'm anxious to hear how you felt it turned out. I'm convinced you won't be disappointed. I'm curious, too, to hear your feedback on the sheep's milk cheese. I didn't care for the sheep's milk or goat's milk cheeses smoked, even though I enjoy them fresh.


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## Omnivore (Jul 12, 2019)

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'll definitely report back once I do a taste test. 
I'm most excited to try the burrata and the sheep's milk bleu, as those are a little more unusual but delicious. I'm a little concerned that given the seemingly short smoke (1.5 hours), but strong coloring, the flavor is going to be really aggressive and not very nuanced. Time will tell.

As for temps, I live on the Oregon coast which is *usually* blustery or overcast. I think I could pull off smoking more cheese if I started earlier when temps were cooler or if I moved the smoker to the back of my house, outside of the occasional sun. I also really liked the frozen water bottles tip.

Again, thanks for comments. Such a nice group of people on this forum.


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## gmc2003 (Jul 12, 2019)

Nice looking cheese. I wouldn't even attempt a cheese smoke around here this time of year. It's been 80* for the last week or so.

Chris


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jul 12, 2019)

Great looking cheese! I've thought about trying it during the summer at night but its so damn hot think I would have a giant mess in the smoker. I have accumulated a huge drawer full of smoked cheese in my beer fridge over the last couple years. Usually do several large batches during the fall/winter months so I never run out!


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## Norwester55 (Jul 12, 2019)

Looks good! I need to do some Bleu cheese this fall. Rather than blotting if you let it sit out for 2-4 hrs before vacuum sealing the moisture/oils will reabsorb.


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## daveomak (Jul 12, 2019)

Burning dust does not emit 10% the heat that pellets do... 
Try making dust from a mix of your pellets.... It gives off less smoke also...  
I'm using the dust for all my smokes now.....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/making-dust-from-pellets.271863/

....


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## Steve H (Jul 13, 2019)

Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?


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## Omnivore (Jul 13, 2019)

Norwester55 said:


> Looks good! I need to do some Bleu cheese this fall. Rather than blotting if you let it sit out for 2-4 hrs before vacuum sealing the moisture/oils will reabsorb.





daveomak said:


> Burning dust does not emit 10% the heat that pellets do...
> Try making dust from a mix of your pellets.... It gives off less smoke also...
> I'm using the dust for all my smokes now.....
> 
> ...



This is great info! Thanks folks!


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## Norwester55 (Jul 13, 2019)

Steve H said:


> Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?





Steve H said:


> Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?


I haven't tried Feta yet but I'm on the lookout for some Bufala cheese. Made from full fat water buffalo milk usually produced in Italy. I know they make a Bleu and a Mozzarella. Twice the milk fat as cows milk. I read somewhere the other day that Costco sells the Mozzarella and its about twice the price as normal Mozarella. Probably due to having to milk a water buffalo.


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## erazz (Jul 19, 2019)

One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda).   I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jul 19, 2019)

erazz said:


> One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda).   I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?



Never had those issues before. Sounds like it might be a heat issue like it got too hot at one point and then cooled off. Also what type of wood/pellets were you using?


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## Norwester55 (Jul 19, 2019)

erazz said:


> One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda).   I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?


The only cheese I've had turn out salty was a ball Mozzarella I picked up at the local Winco. I haven't had it happen with any other cheese so I think it was just that particular brand.


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## erazz (Jul 19, 2019)

SmokinVOLfan said:


> Never had those issues before. Sounds like it might be a heat issue like it got too hot at one point and then cooled off. Also what type of wood/pellets were you using?


So that's one of the side effects of it getting too hot?   Last time i tried was earlier last year,  so cant recall which type pellets they were.    I do recall it being warmer as the sun was hitting it, so maybe will try again this fall


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## erazz (Jul 19, 2019)

Norwester55 said:


> The only cheese I've had turn out salty was a ball Mozzarella I picked up at the local Winco. I haven't had it happen with any other cheese so I think it was just that particular brand.


It was odd.   It was havarti and i've had this block cheese before and by itself is not salty.


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## zwiller (Jul 19, 2019)

Just busted out some spring smoked cheese the other day.  Yes, you want cooler outside temps and dust.  I go like 2 rows 5-6 hours.  Now's the time to smoke butts, beef, etc so you can vac seal and freeze for dead of winter.


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## 6GRILLZNTN (Jul 19, 2019)

I'm envious.  I made the mistake of not smoking enough cheese last winter, and I have to wait several months to make some more.  Too dang hot here in TN.  Good looking stuff Omnivore!


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## millerbuilds (Jul 21, 2019)

Looks good!
We have run out of smoked cheese and the earliest that I can smoke cheese is late November.  Craving it!

Smoke ON!

- Jason


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## Omnivore (Jul 29, 2019)

I just wanted to report back and say that after a couple weeks in the fridge the cheese is awesome! I'm pretty relieved since it pretty much tasted like smoke flavored garbage when I was vac packing it initially. Unfortunately the cheese that didn't turn out well was the burrata. I tried it after a couple days (it doesn't have a long shelf life once opened), and it was just way to smoky which totally detracted from the fresh milk flavors. Not all things are meant to be smoked lol


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## drdon (Jul 30, 2019)

Thanks for the update. I've done mozzarella before and liked it. I was hoping the burrata would hold up to the smoke.  ****sigh****


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