I currently am trying some cherry smoke on aged swiss, sharp cheddar and some colby jack! Thought I would try something that might be a little different! So anyone else try things out of the box??
Yes the waiting is the hard part. The one cheese you can eat right away is fresh mozzarella and it is awesome smokedI used a cardboard box, tin can, and a soldering iron, temp stayed 72 to 80 I would think (swiss didn't melt) but I didn't have a probe in, just peeked in the vent from time to time. I let it smoke for about 4 hours, having to re-load my can once!
TJohnson, thanks for the tip about the waiting, now I know I can dip into it at 10 days to test!!
I tried to post a qview, but for some reason the "insert image" button would not do what it says, so I don't know what to do to post pics!
A while back I did a test run with three types of sawdust from Todd and a number of types of cheese. I had wine barrel oak, whiskey barrel oak and peach. To tell the truth, the differences between them were subtle at best, at least to my taste buds. Much more difference in the types of cheeses. Colby Jack, sharp cheddar and jalapeno jack were all excellent. Mozzarella was our least favorite.
I like a good aged Swiss, but somehow don't think I'd like it smoked. Ditto on a very sharp cheddar (e.g. 5+ years old). For both of them, I'd rather just savor the natural flavor.