I did my first cheese smoke tonight. I learned a lot of things, some what I need to for next time and something to never try again…….
So what I am to never try again. I figured I would use gravity to help me with the wood chips. I was not able to find any pellets or dust ant any of the stores I went to today. So I had a great idea. I would take my soldering iron and put it in a beer can bottle that I cut the bottom off of. Turn the beer can upside down and inside an empty bean can. Then fill it with wood chips. I tested it for about 5 minutes to get some smoke. All was good right……. Well after I filled the can the rest of the way and let it rip I came back outside to the awful smell. I looked at the soldering iron and it had melted. I had managed to forget a very simple thing…… heat rises and so do flames…… as you can see the soldering iron lost…
In hind sight I feel very stupid. I should have known better.
So I had to step back and regroup. I fired up about 10 charcoal bricketes and then place a metal box on top of them with some apple and cherry wood chips in it. I did not have any frozen water bottles to help keep the chamber temp down, so I was crossing my fingers. Below is the temp log and time line…
Time Temp
6:45 83
7:10 120 (I removed some charcoal and adjusted the wood box)
7:15 118
7:40 102
8:25 94
9:00 85 (removed the cheese)
Now we wait for 2 weeks………
There was a sale. So I wanted to see what would and would not work....
Getting ready to hang out.....
The Monterey Jack did not like the temp spike. It got very soft. I am not sure how much smoke they got, but my fingers still smell like smoke after packaging them up....
Thank you for looking. Any tips and advice are welcome...
So what I am to never try again. I figured I would use gravity to help me with the wood chips. I was not able to find any pellets or dust ant any of the stores I went to today. So I had a great idea. I would take my soldering iron and put it in a beer can bottle that I cut the bottom off of. Turn the beer can upside down and inside an empty bean can. Then fill it with wood chips. I tested it for about 5 minutes to get some smoke. All was good right……. Well after I filled the can the rest of the way and let it rip I came back outside to the awful smell. I looked at the soldering iron and it had melted. I had managed to forget a very simple thing…… heat rises and so do flames…… as you can see the soldering iron lost…
In hind sight I feel very stupid. I should have known better.
So I had to step back and regroup. I fired up about 10 charcoal bricketes and then place a metal box on top of them with some apple and cherry wood chips in it. I did not have any frozen water bottles to help keep the chamber temp down, so I was crossing my fingers. Below is the temp log and time line…
Time Temp
6:45 83
7:10 120 (I removed some charcoal and adjusted the wood box)
7:15 118
7:40 102
8:25 94
9:00 85 (removed the cheese)
Now we wait for 2 weeks………
There was a sale. So I wanted to see what would and would not work....
Getting ready to hang out.....
The Monterey Jack did not like the temp spike. It got very soft. I am not sure how much smoke they got, but my fingers still smell like smoke after packaging them up....
Thank you for looking. Any tips and advice are welcome...
