It's Cheese Time

[Braz]

OK, all this chatter about smoking cheese got me inspired, that and SWMBO said we have quite enough smoked meat in the freezer for now. Went to the store and got a pound each of Sharp Cheddar, Colby, Jack, Pepper Jack, Gouda and Fresh Mozzarella. Smoked it for 5 hours in the MES using the cold smoker attachment with an extension tube. Ambient was 36F so I turned on the MES for a short time to get a draft working. The temp inside the box stayed around 55F through the smoke.
When done I put it in Ziplocks but left an air opening so it wouldn't build moisture and left it sit out on the counter overnight. This evening I will vacuum seal it.
The taste right now is quite smokey but I think it will mellow out some after a few weeks. Here's a bunch of pix.

For some reason I didn't get much color on the cheese. Not sure why. I used a combo of cherry and pecan chips and had good TBS throughout.

 

[ab canuck]

It looks good so far, I am still waiting to do some, It just seems like I never get time to do it lately,

 

[PerazziMx14]

I've been smoking basically the same cheeses you have over maple and apple. I smoke them in heavy smoke for 3 hours and the chees looks basically the same coming out as it did going in. Maybe a hue darker but nothing dramatic. It also tastes horrible for a couple of days until the smoke mellows. My 1st batch my family and I couldn't wait so we ate a block after a 2 day rest and it was okay. Now knowing better it really wasn't okay. Very smokey and a bit acrid but tolerable. After letting several blocks rest for 2 weeks it was a very different experience. Smokiness mellowed and was quite enjoyable. Another 2 week rest and it got even better. I went through a spell where I smoked 4 to 6 blocks every week so I could build a stockpile and still let it be able to age at least a month or six before eating.