Cheddar not as smoky

[MR.]

I have cold smoked multiple types of cheese including cheddar, mozzarella & colby jack. I have only used Tillamook Cheddar except one time. My question is my last batch didn't turn out as smoky as other batches. It's just over 1 month old and had a piece that was smoked about 3 months ago...the older cheese has a bolder smoke taste which I like. Both times I used Pit Boss hickory pellets for 4 hours, flipping every 30 minutes. Any thoughts?

 

[mike243]

Use better 100% hickory pellets, they only have a % of hickory in them, Lumber Jack and a few others are better choices

 

[thirdeye]

The Tillamook extra sharp in the black wrap is one of my favorite choices for cheddar cheese. I just sample during smoking until I get the flavor I want. On occasion when l check the flavor again the next day and decide it's not smokey enough, I'll give it another round of smoke.

I only use sawdust from A-Maze-N for cheese or butter. I can build flavor for 6 hours or so on cheese, maybe 3 for butter.

 

[zwiller]

There is not much talk about it but I find certain cheeses need more smoke to shine and cheddar is one of them. Bolder flavored cheeses need more smoke than milder IMO. There are little nuances to smoking cheese that yield different results. IE bring cheese up to room temp first, temp during smoke, resting before vac sealing, aging, etc. Take notes and/or try and be consistent and the end product will be. At first glance, smoking cheese is very easy to do and it is, but it is a little harder to master...

 

[MR.]

Use better 100% hickory pellets, they only have a % of hickory in them, Lumber Jack and a few others are better choices

I am using 100% hickory Pit Boss pellets. Are you saying Pit Boss pellets aren't good enough?

 

[MR.]

There is not much talk about it but I find certain cheeses need more smoke to shine and cheddar is one of them. Bolder flavored cheeses need more smoke than milder IMO. There are little nuances to smoking cheese that yield different results. IE bring cheese up to room temp first, temp during smoke, resting before vac sealing, aging, etc. Take notes and/or try and be consistent and the end product will be. At first glance, smoking cheese is very easy to do and it is, but it is a little harder to master...

I am finding this out. My cheddar has been consistent until this last batch. I have been doing all that you have listed, cheese up to room temp first, temp during smoke, resting before vac sealing, aging. But something obviously was different...not sure what...4 hours is longer than what most people smoke cheese

 

[MR.]

The Tillamook extra sharp in the black wrap is one of my favorite choices for cheddar cheese. I just sample during smoking until I get the flavor I want. On occasion when l check the flavor again the next day and decide it's not smokey enough, I'll give it another round of smoke.

I only use sawdust from A-Maze-N for cheese or butter. I can build flavor for 6 hours or so on cheese, maybe 3 for butter.

This is very interesting and I have been wondering this. Are you telling me you can put the cheese back on and "resmoke" it? Would the crust that is created (mostly on cheddar) prevent the smoke from penetrating the cheese the second time or maybe cut the crust off first?

 

[thirdeye]

Yes. In fact when I smoke cheese in the late summer, say a 50° day, I do smaller batches and I'll put my smoker in a shady spot but every 2 hours or so I remove it to a chilled 1/4 sheet pan and move it into the fridge for 30 minutes.

As far as a crust or rind, you really don't want that to form. Some cheeses will slightly darken, like a white cheddar or pepper jack. Keeping your smoker as cool as possible, wide open vents and the smoke very light is my approach. When you rotate your cheeses, do you ever feel a little oil on your fingers? This is a sign that your smoker is too warm. On the extreme.... if you ever notice your cheeses melting into the grate or blocks leaning to one side your cheese is definitely too warm. HERE is my complete article on smoked cheese and butter the way I do it. This video shows my sawdust generator and the amount of smoke I use in my mini WSM smoker. I can easily fit 4 to 5 pounds of cheese in this smoker, so it's perfect for me.


In this video I actually filmed when removing the top, I'm using the same sawdust tray as above, but you can see a more realistic view of the amount of smoke in the smoker.