Cheese Fail

[mikelens]

So here's the run down. MES 30 with cold attachment connected by 24" pipe. Brought home 2" pieces of Swiss, Provalone, Cheddar, American & Muenster. Outside temps were in the 40's. Smoked for 3 hours with cherry chips. Put them in the fridge wrapped in brown paper for 24 hours then sealed them up. After 2 weeks in the fridge, we broke them open. Smells like smoke. The outside edge tastes smokey but the inside not at all. Seems as though, the smoke didn't penetrate. Any ideas as to where I went wrong?

 

[crazymoon]

ML, Seems strange ?  Maybe leave the rest in the fridge for another couple weeks before trying again. I do 4 hours of smoke but lots of folks do much less and get a good product.

 

[mikelens]

I'll see what happens. Wasn't sure if there is such a thing as the temp being too low. Thanks for your input

 

[pismopete]

I'm not an expert by any means. But in the couple hundred pounds of cheese I've smoked over the last few years it's been my experience that the cheese takes the smoke better around 60- 70 degrees. Also the softer the cheese the more it takes on the smoke. Vacuum packing seems to pull the flavor in a bit deeper than just storing in a zip lock or cling wrap.

 

[mikelens]

I did vacuum pack. So maybe low temp is the culprit. May open a couple pieces & redo them at 60 degrees

 

[pismopete]

Some of my best cheese has been when the cheese sweats just a bit. I usually smoke it 4 hours at a medium to heavy smoke. And of course, like every one says, the longer it ages the better it gets. I've managed to let one block go for a year and it was incredible. I'm sure you'll get it figured out. But be warned, all your friends and family will be asking you to smoke cheese for them.