- May 1, 2020
- 11
- 1
Hi guys. New to smoking. Bought a Masterbuilt Adventure series and added a slow smoker unit to cold smoke cheese. My first venture I stayed relatively bland in my selection of cheese but plan to use more complex ones as soon as I feel comfortable that I am doing things well enough and won't screw it up. Last week I put 6 different cheeses in the smoker with apple chips and smoked for 2 hrs. I tried the sharp cheddar right after and felt that it was a success. Not too Smokey and still tasted the cheddar sharpness. Last night I pulled out a mild cheddar, pepper jack and Colby jack along with a few brats and sausage I smoked earlier (also a few beers) but the smoke seemed to overwhelm the cheese. The first sharp cheddar was excellent but the second ones from the same batch not so much. I do remember a liquid on top of the cheese, not much, but it was there. I dried it off vac sealed half and put the rest in resealable plastic bags to enjoy during the week. I'm wondering if the liquid was oil from the cheese or condensation after being removed from the smoker. The ambient temp was 65 and with the ice trays inside the internal temp reached only 70. So the temperature should not have been a problem. I'm wondering what the liquid was, why it got there and what did I do to cause it. The cheese wasn't awful, it had a bit too much smoke flavor to my liking, but why when the sharp cheddar from the same batch I tried the night of the smoke tasted great. I thought the flavor would mellow over time and the smoke taste would lessen the longer it rested on the fridge but what I sampled last night all tasted the same. I couldn't tell one cheese from another, for sure pepper jack is nothing like Colby jack but my taste buds didn't notice the difference. Like I said it wasn't a failure but I was expecting better, the cheese still tasted like me cheese, just not what I was hoping to get. Any help would be apperciated. By the way the brats and sausage were great. I want the cheese to come out that way.
