Hmmmm... smoked mac and cheese... can you leave out the mac?
Actually, many many years ago dad would leave a 30 lb. wheel of extra sharp cheddar on the top shelf in the back room in November, after the cows had finished grass grazing and were on fresh cut hay put in the barn during haying season in August. He'd leave it on the top shelf where it was warm all winter (well, at least 60° - 70° up there, in the winter it was 50° - 60° at our height!) and flip it every week. He'd leave it there until the end of October the next year. Then he'd take it out, and it'd be all covered with mold on top of the wax and cheesecloth. We'd strip off the cheesecloth and trim off the worst of the mold and very very carefully cut the cheese; it had dried and shrunk incredibly and was very dense! One little piece in your mouth and it was an explosion of old old old super sharp cheddar flavor! Too much for many, but for me, it was pure gold!
Dad carefully wrapped it and much was destined for camp during deer hunting (and pitch-playing and beer-drinking) season, but some he'd put in stockinette and put in the smoker when we'd be doing dried beef, as it was a denser smoke for more flavor. We'd have to put it in for 10 min. then pull it and hang in the cooler for 10 min., then back in the smoker, back and forth, so it wouldn't get too much heat. Even then it would still melt a little and drip out of the stockinette (which I would savor!). Then, after smoking, we'd hang it in the cooler overnight, then Dad would take it upstairs and very carefully heat it in a double boiler, adding heavy cream, until it was a smooth cheese food consistency, and super smoky, and pour it into these new-fangled aluminum pie plate pans and wrap up. He'd take them up to camp in the North Woods in Montague County to either one of his hunting camps with his buddies (and by 16, us boys) and after a good hunt and a meal of well-aged steaks he'd had cut from the store, they'd play pitch and poker, eating Croghan Bologna (
www.croghanbologna.com - some of the best ring bologna made!) with crackers and that ultra sharp cheddar cheese spread and chunks of the cheddar and cold beer from the snowbanks outside - some of the best memories ever!
Sorry... just had to tell another story... some of the best memories involving smoked stuff and recreation!