Cheese 'Sweat' or Moisture After Smoking Question

scooter-man · Apr 5, 2015

I'm on my 4th batch of smoked cheese, each time is a fun learning process. I have a heavy mod ECM and use the ANMPS smoke generator with pellets for smoking.

My question is after smoking, how long should the cheese set out before sealing? The cheese sweat or moisture remains after sitting for 2 hours on a wire rack (full air circulation) but some moisture remains.

Should I put the cheese on a rack, in the frig, until the moisture is gone? or seal after a certain amount of time?

I've never wiped the moisture off but have sealed the cheese after several hours and it's slightly wet.

Thanks.

BTW - gonna cold smoke some eggs (first time) and more cheese today.

b-one · Apr 5, 2015

Mr. T will hopefully chime in soon,he's the Cheese Master!But I let mine sit in the fridge overnite before sealing and if there was any moisture I would pat it dry before sealing.

tjohnson · Apr 5, 2015

I dab off the moisture with a paper towel, allow to rest for a day or so in the fridge and vac seal

Lots of air flow thru your smoker helps too

You can crack the hood for more air

scooter-man · Apr 5, 2015

Thanks for the fast replies guys. Today's cheese smoke will be on the Char-Griller offset smoker / grill. I'll put the TubeAmps in the offset smoker for the cheese and eggs that will be in the main grilling area. Afterwards, I'll let the cheese sit over night in the frig on a wire rack before wrapping.

Later today I'm opening some cheese from 3 weeks ago. Hope it's Yum-Yum.

Late!

dirtsailor2003 · Apr 5, 2015

As mentioned dab the moisture off.i let mine rest in the fridge for 2-3 days loosely covered or in paper bags. Then wax or vac pac after that.

To reduce sweating during the smoking process bring the cheese up to room temp and try and keep your smoker temp lower.

papadon · Apr 5, 2015

I did two ways last week. My first batch rested on wire rack uncovered in the fridge over night, ~6 hours. The second batch I vac sealed right away. Both batches had no moisture on them though. I was able to keeps temps down between 54 - 64.
I didn't read all the cheese posts though. Since then I've seen people resting on the kitchen counter, in the fridge and sealing right away. I'll find out in three weeks how they turned out.

tjohnson · Apr 5, 2015

I find that when I bring my cheese to the point where it sweats, it absorbs more smoke

In other words, in warmer temps, I may smoke for a shorter period of time

2-2.5 hours is plenty of smoke for my taste

If you're using the Tube, it produce a lot of smoke for cold smoking

Fill it 1/2 way with pellets

Put your hand over the open end

Turn the Tube horizontal and give it a slight "Shake"

The Tube is now 1/2 full as you look at it horizontal

I try to keep my smoker temps between 45° and 75° when smoking cheese

papadon · Apr 5, 2015

I used the maze model with Apple pellets. I'm checking out that tube smoker. The 18" will be my next purchase.

scooter-man · Apr 5, 2015

Here's the Tube smoker and Char-Griller doing their job. 65°F today, nice and sunny, and the temp never got above 82°F. 2-1/2 hours for both.

Made up the Deviled Eggs - the whites hold the smoke flavor. Much-O-Good-O.

Cheese has the moisture dabbed off and now in the frig, Thanks fellows.

IMG_0930 (Small).JPG

scooter-man
Apr 5, 2015

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scooter-man
Apr 5, 2015

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scooter-man
Apr 5, 2015

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scooter-man
Apr 5, 2015

IMG_0936 (Small).JPG

scooter-man
Apr 5, 2015

papadon · Apr 5, 2015

Wow, smoked deviled eggs!!?? New ideas everyday on this site.

Great job!!

gary s · Apr 5, 2015

Looks good to me

Gary

tjohnson · Apr 5, 2015

Yee Ha!

Looks Great!

dave17a · Apr 5, 2015

I have left mine on counter covered up overnight and wiped off sweat. No hotter than when smoking. Taste fine to us. Need to get going myself fore it gets to hot.

dave17a · Apr 5, 2015

oh yea. pulled pork deviled eggs. Just mix what you think is right with yolks.

cab2g · Apr 7, 2015

smoked deviled eggs look delicious!

mr t 59874 · Apr 7, 2015

scooter-man said:
Here's the Tube smoker and Char-Griller doing their job. 65°F today, nice and sunny, and the temp never got above 82°F. 2-1/2 hours for both.

Cheese has the moisture dabbed off and now in the frig, Thanks fellows.

IMG_0936 (Small).JPG

scooter-man

Apr 5, 2015

scooter-man, no bad advice from above although different methods apply.

You may encounter two types of moisture when smoking cheese, both can be eliminated, one water, from condensation the other oil, from your cheese becoming too warm during the smoke. Both Todd and ds gave good advice. Todd commenting on moisture absorbing smoke and ds on allowing the cheese to come to room temp before smoking.

From the looks of the above cheese, it has good color although it shows evidence of becoming too warm during the smoke, that would cause the oils to surface. As you can see, some dab this off, if you do, smell your towel, if it smells smokey, you have just removed what you have taken the time to put on. It won't hurt to vac seal with a little oil on it. If needed, hard cheeses can be left at room temperature for evaporation, this results in a fine skin to develop which is desirable for waxing.

To eliminate overheating, pull your hard cheese from the smoker when the internal smoker temp reaches 70°- 75°. Learn to smoke to a desired color rather than time. To reach your desired color, you can always place it back in the smoker when conditions are more desirable.

Hope this helps you in the future.

Enjoy your cheese,

Tom

scooter-man · Apr 10, 2015

Thanks Mr T. I've read many of your threads / posts and seemed the moisture question was never fully answered. I see now even though my temps never got above 82°F in Va. Beach, it might be too warm.

My 8 year old daughter and her friend killed one of the previous smoked cheese bars last night. Need to smoke more cheese this weekend.

wade · Apr 11, 2015

scooter-man said:
IMG_0930 (Small).JPG

scooter-man

Apr 5, 2015

I see that you have the smoker located under a tree however there is still quite a lot of sun directly shining on the black surface of the smoker. This will significantly increase the temperature inside the smoker itself. Not really a problem when hot smoking but when smoking something like cheese it will make it difficult to manage the temperature in the smoking chamber. When doing your next batch you may want to move the smoker to a position where it is out of direct sunshine.

gary s · Apr 11, 2015

Good advice,

Gary

inkjunkie · Apr 11, 2015

dirtsailor2003 said:
As mentioned dab the moisture off.i let mine rest in the fridge for 2-3 days loosely covered or in paper bags. Then wax or vac pac after that.

To reduce sweating during the smoking process bring the cheese up to room temp and try and keep your smoker temp lower.

bring the cheese up to room temperature.....have to remember this. What I find odd was I have done all of my cheese smoking the same. Cheese is,sitting in the fridge, unwrapped on a plate. Grab it from the fridge and on the smoker immediately. Only the Monterey Jack sweated.

Cheese 'Sweat' or Moisture After Smoking Question

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