2nd Cheese Run

[DrewJ]

I smoked my first cheese back around the holidays and the stash is almost gone. So before the weather gets too much warmer I wanted to get another load in the fridge to mellow. Should be ready to go just in time for perfect cheeseburger weather. Here are the pics.

The latest victims: Can you tell we prefer Cheddar?

All stacked up and ready to go:

Into the smoker with you. Loaded up my Amazen Pellet Smoker with apple and fired it up:

All rested and vacuum sealed for at least a month. The stuff I have now is hitting it's prime at about 3 months out of the smoker but I don't know if I can wait that long.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this forum. I would never have imagined smoking my own cheese without the help from this board.

 

[BandCollector]

Thanks to all who have contributed to this forum. I would never have imagined smoking my own cheese without the help from this board.

Drew,

The longer you remain on this sight the more you will realize that it is full of generous and knowledgeable people who are always willing to share their expertise!

Welcome and the cheese is looking good!

John

 

[xray]

Good looking cheese! Once you start using it for burgers...it goes fast.

 

[gmc2003]

Nice looking cheese, great color. Now the wait.

Point for sure

Chris

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Good looking cheese!

I just broke some out yesterday I did 3 weeks ago and it was wonderful!

 

[SmokinAl]

Your cheese looks fantastic!
It really took on a nice color!
Congrats on making the carousel!
Al

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Great looking cheese!

I still have a stash from early last year in the fridge but looking at this makes me want to get at it again! Time to buy some cheese! Thanks for the inspiration!

Scott

 

[normonster]

I love that you threw a couple string cheese in there...haha.

 

[DrewJ]

I love that you threw a couple string cheese in there...haha.

Thanks! That is a bit of an experiment. I wanted to try it but all the string cheese we had in the house was individually wrapped and I hate wasting all that plastic if I can help it. If those 4 turn out I will try to source string cheese that is not individually packaged and smoke more next time. I think there is a dairy co-op not too far from here where I can buy the bulk string cheese without all the extra plastic.

 

[SonnyE]

OH! That looks Sooo good!
I can never age mine worth a darn. I start eating it and just gobble it up.
I might have a cure though, smoke enough so it stops me up and makes me quit eating it. :confused:
I love smoked cheese! Smoked cheese, smoked salmon, and cold beers, some of Al's Pickles, setting out under the stars.
Heaven! ;):)

 

[dr k]

That cheese pops out at you on those spotless racks in your seasoned smoker. Did you cold smoke a couple hours?

 

[DrewJ]

That cheese pops out at you on those spotless racks in your seasoned smoker. Did you cold smoke a couple hours?

Yep. Cold smoked for 2.5 hours with apple pellets in my Amazen pellet tray. My first batch at 2 hours was good but I wanted just a little bit more smoke.

 

[SonnyE]

That cheese pops out at you on those spotless racks in your seasoned smoker. Did you cold smoke a couple hours?

Yep. I noticed that too Dr. K... o_O
I thought maybe new?;)

 

[73saint]

Man, that looks good. I've been doing the same thing, with the amazen apple pellets but I use my Lang, and I go four hours on smoke. More and more, the cheddar seems to be the favorite. I love the smoked cheddar, it goes quick around our house!!

 

[DrewJ]

Yep. I noticed that too Dr. K... o_O
I thought maybe new?;)

Not new. I just run them through the dishwasher after every smoke. Come out looking like new every time. You should see what they look like when I put them in the dishwasher! :)

 

[SonnyE]

I think I'll try that, now that we have a new dishwasher (besides me....).
Might be a good test. ;)

 

[Steve H]

Looks good! I'm getting ready to make another batch this weekend. I have a problem with the cheese walking off around here as well.

 

[chilerelleno]

Mmmmm... Cheese!
Like!

 

[mark-ct]

You did a great job with the labeling. Time and wood type. I've only used apple so far. Monterey Jack and Colby are my favorites. I have a BJ's near me which sells string cheese in large packages so that's what I'm going to do next round. The cheese they sell comes in large blocks so I cut them down to smaller size when smoking. I smoked mine for about 4 hours which is how long the tube smoker lasts and then waited about 4 weeks to open it. That's REALLY the hard part.