hey, all -
i've been playing with my little chief smoker a bit, experimenting with smoking cheese. results have been pretty good so far, but it's only one attempt.
what i did was use the little chief smoker and the so-called "cool smoke" technique (click here to download the .pdf and see what i mean>> http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/up..._Technique.pdf) for a pound of swiss cheese using two pans of cherry wood chips. the only thing i did different from the diagram is cut a seris of small circles at the top (bottom?) of the box instead of a big square for smoke to excape, creating a chimney. i also put a pan of ice on the lowest grill and put the cheese on the highest point in order to keep the heat away from it, the object being to prevent any drying out or melting. the weather cooperated that day as it was cool, cloudy and breezy, and i was able to complete the process in a roughly two-hour period between rain showers.
when finished, i put the cheese in a ziplock bag, pressed out as much air as possible and kept it in the fridge overnight to allow the flavor to permeate the cheese.
results were good but not perfect. the color was not what i expected, as in the store you see smoked cheese with a very dark smoke ring. i suspect that this is has more to do with marketing, as i have read that "real" smoked cheese usually does not have a dark ring, but i expected it anyway. it seems that all of my efforts to keep the cheese from getting too warm were successful, and it looks like the method was sound. flsvor was good but i expected it to be stronger. i might try one more pan of chips next time.
the cherry and the swiss seemed to go well together, and i think for my next attempt i will try sharp cheddar with hickory wood smoke.
i've been playing with my little chief smoker a bit, experimenting with smoking cheese. results have been pretty good so far, but it's only one attempt.
what i did was use the little chief smoker and the so-called "cool smoke" technique (click here to download the .pdf and see what i mean>> http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/up..._Technique.pdf) for a pound of swiss cheese using two pans of cherry wood chips. the only thing i did different from the diagram is cut a seris of small circles at the top (bottom?) of the box instead of a big square for smoke to excape, creating a chimney. i also put a pan of ice on the lowest grill and put the cheese on the highest point in order to keep the heat away from it, the object being to prevent any drying out or melting. the weather cooperated that day as it was cool, cloudy and breezy, and i was able to complete the process in a roughly two-hour period between rain showers.
when finished, i put the cheese in a ziplock bag, pressed out as much air as possible and kept it in the fridge overnight to allow the flavor to permeate the cheese.
results were good but not perfect. the color was not what i expected, as in the store you see smoked cheese with a very dark smoke ring. i suspect that this is has more to do with marketing, as i have read that "real" smoked cheese usually does not have a dark ring, but i expected it anyway. it seems that all of my efforts to keep the cheese from getting too warm were successful, and it looks like the method was sound. flsvor was good but i expected it to be stronger. i might try one more pan of chips next time.
the cherry and the swiss seemed to go well together, and i think for my next attempt i will try sharp cheddar with hickory wood smoke.
