We were running low on smoked cheese and my other half wanted something besides my favorite Swiss. A little under 3 LBS, made up of Swiss, brick Mozz, and extra sharp cheddar. All budget cheeses from the local supermart. Unfortunately the fresh Mozz we made from SmokinAl's post didn't last nearly long enough to make this smoke.
Cut up and resting at room temp for 1 hour:
Smoked a little under 4 hours in the 22.5 Weber kettle (top vent 1/2 open) using a blend of maple and cherry in the AMNS with one row lit:
You can see the Mozz took on much less color than the Swiss and Cheddar. Note the dark corner on the Cheddar where it is starting to soften. There was some sweating, too, but the pic doesn't show it well. More on that later.
Packaged up with Lisa's bags which worked great:
Into the fridge until Feb. 11.
Back to the Cheddar. First time I used the Maverick pit probe to monitor a cold smoke. Ambient temp was 53 degrees at 85% humidity. At about the 3 hour mark, the pit temps started to rise from 65 degrees to about 86 degrees. You can see the evidence on the cheddar. At the end of the smoke I had burned 1 1/2 rows in the AMNS, about normal. Hmmmm? Never saw the cheddar do that before? Still scratching my head on that one. I will certainly be monitoring pit temps on all future cold smokes, tho.
Good luck and good smoking.
Cut up and resting at room temp for 1 hour:
Smoked a little under 4 hours in the 22.5 Weber kettle (top vent 1/2 open) using a blend of maple and cherry in the AMNS with one row lit:
You can see the Mozz took on much less color than the Swiss and Cheddar. Note the dark corner on the Cheddar where it is starting to soften. There was some sweating, too, but the pic doesn't show it well. More on that later.
Packaged up with Lisa's bags which worked great:
Into the fridge until Feb. 11.
Back to the Cheddar. First time I used the Maverick pit probe to monitor a cold smoke. Ambient temp was 53 degrees at 85% humidity. At about the 3 hour mark, the pit temps started to rise from 65 degrees to about 86 degrees. You can see the evidence on the cheddar. At the end of the smoke I had burned 1 1/2 rows in the AMNS, about normal. Hmmmm? Never saw the cheddar do that before? Still scratching my head on that one. I will certainly be monitoring pit temps on all future cold smokes, tho.
Good luck and good smoking.