Sqwib's Smoked Mac and Cheese

Recipe courtesy of OTBS member Sqwib :
(Test 3) cooked on Reverse Flow [EUREKA!!]

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon red hot
1 lb. American cheese
1 lb of Velveeta cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1 cup sour cream
Topping:
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup yellow cheddar cheese
½ – ¾ sleeve of Ritz Crackers
6 – 8 slices of cooked chopped bacon, or crumbled

chicken stock, optional
¼ cup Parmesan optional



Directions:
Cook bacon until crispy, set aside
Boil macaroni 10 minutes in salted water. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter then add milk slowly add the rest of the ingredients with the exception of the "Toppings", Ritz Crackers, Mozzarella Cheese, Cheddar Cheese and bacon. Cook on very low heat constantly stirring until everything is smooth.
Remove cheese sauce from flame, remove elbow macaroni and drain,transfer to a greased 9” x 13” dish. Stir in the cheese sauce.
Sprinkle a small amount of Bacon on top followed by some cheddar then the Ritz crackers then rest of the cheddar and and mozzarella.

Smoke at 250 for approximately 2 hours or until golden brown and bubbly

To prevent this dish from becoming too brown and crusty, cover with foil if needed.
I decided on the bacon at the last minute


Conclusion:
Total success, everyone loved them and they were perfect the next day and even tasted good cold.

They had a great consistency, very creamy and not too rich, with a decent crust on top.

The goal here was to find a happy medium between a traditional “Oven Baked Mac n’ Cheese” and a smoother type Mac n’ cheese that most kids love

I had done a little bit of research and the problem may have been that the cheese was curdling, either from heating the cheese too high to quickly or in the oven, so to avoid this I used processed cheeses for the cheese sauce at very low heat and the cheddar and mozzarella for the crust.

10/24/10
Tried recipe #3 again but added an extra cup of noodles, not as creamy but still good, I will stick with 2 cups noodles but for those that prefer the not so creamy, try the 3 cups of noodles but add an extra half cup of milk. No Ritz crackers this time, I like it better without the crackers, the browned cheese gives enough of a crust.

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