Saturday, the weather finally cooperated, giving us a couple of days where the high was forecast to stay in the 70's (F). Since it had been in the high 90's or 100's, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally try smoking some cheese. For this project, I had purchased two 8 oz blocks of Cabot New York State Extra-Sharp Cheddar.
My equipment is the MES, which is not a good one for cold-smoking. I purchased a Smoke Daddy BK smoke generator, and got it mounted and tested. This would be my first attempt at cold-smoking though. Thanks to other posts, I got some helpful tips, such as putting ice beneath the cheese.
Before Smoking.
After smoking, packaged for aging.
As you can see, one side is darker. That was the top. I should probably have flipped them over 1/2 way through smoking.
I had mounted a remote thermometer to the shelf above the cheese to monitor internal temperature. I also noticed that the smoke seemed to be settling down at the bottom of the smoker and exiting though the drain pipe, so I placed a muffin fan on top partially covering the vent. This was to help draw the smoke though the cabinet. It seemed to work quite well. I am curious as to what other solutions people have used to get good smoke circulation.
I also kept track of time and temperature. The ice definitely made a difference. If it were a hot day, I would probably be able to smoke cheese just by using more ice inside the cabinet but not above the cheese so condensation would not drip on it. I tried to post a table with times and temperatures, but apparently, the forum does not like that. I started with apple chips in the Big Kahuna (BK) smoke generator at 9:00 a.m. When the ambient temperature was 76 degrees F. The internal temperature started at 77 degrees, and decreased while smoking so that when I finished at 11:30, the internal temperature was 73 degrees. I did drain the melted ice and added more after the first hour, and then added cherry chips to the BK at the 2 hour point.
My equipment is the MES, which is not a good one for cold-smoking. I purchased a Smoke Daddy BK smoke generator, and got it mounted and tested. This would be my first attempt at cold-smoking though. Thanks to other posts, I got some helpful tips, such as putting ice beneath the cheese.
Before Smoking.
After smoking, packaged for aging.
As you can see, one side is darker. That was the top. I should probably have flipped them over 1/2 way through smoking.
I had mounted a remote thermometer to the shelf above the cheese to monitor internal temperature. I also noticed that the smoke seemed to be settling down at the bottom of the smoker and exiting though the drain pipe, so I placed a muffin fan on top partially covering the vent. This was to help draw the smoke though the cabinet. It seemed to work quite well. I am curious as to what other solutions people have used to get good smoke circulation.
I also kept track of time and temperature. The ice definitely made a difference. If it were a hot day, I would probably be able to smoke cheese just by using more ice inside the cabinet but not above the cheese so condensation would not drip on it. I tried to post a table with times and temperatures, but apparently, the forum does not like that. I started with apple chips in the Big Kahuna (BK) smoke generator at 9:00 a.m. When the ambient temperature was 76 degrees F. The internal temperature started at 77 degrees, and decreased while smoking so that when I finished at 11:30, the internal temperature was 73 degrees. I did drain the melted ice and added more after the first hour, and then added cherry chips to the BK at the 2 hour point.
