First time smoked cheese, possible fail

[zwiller]

Firmly in TEAM DUST. I tried TONS of things to dial in my smoked cheese and all helped a little but still harsh. gmc2003 turned me onto dust and happy he did. I had bricks I smoked for 2hrs with pellets aged a year old and sure it was better but was still harsh. You can actually eat the cheese right off the smoker if you want using dust but I think it's perfect after a week. BTW do a search, you can make dust from pellets...

 

[Big Grouch]

Possible fail? 100% fail. Vacuum packed for a month, Shullsburg Sharp Cheddar and Boars Head whole milk mozzarella both had bitter flavor. Six people gave thumbs down.

 

[801driver]

Just my opinion of smoking cheese that most likely does not fit with the "smoke a brick" guys. My question is; What you going to do with the brick of cheese when you are getting ready to eat it? Answer, Slice off a piece and see if the smoke has absorbed from the outer skin all the way through the dense cheese to get to the middle of the brick to taste smokey, right?

Well I have been doing a different approach and having great smoked cheese that is still working after almost 50 years. Cheese is dense, you can not put smoke on one side, molecules stir around and get to the deep inside quickly. Well think about this. How about giving that block of cheese more surface area, shorter distance to "soak" to the center of where you want to taste?

I take my block of cheese, slice into about 3/8 inch slices and lay out on a rack. Put "cold smoke" on it for about 20 min and bag it up after eating a few of them "raw". Simple?

My "cold smoker" I built in the early 70s works equivalent to the "Mail Box" smokers of today". Smoke is generated on a 220v electric stove element with a 110v cord to heat enough to smolder hickory chips in an old metal milk box. Smoke travels and cools through a 6in pipe to the bottom of a Jack Daniels Whisky barrel. (had to pay $20 for it in the early 70s) then because it is just above ambient temperature travels up through the racks and out the bung hole in the "lid". I smoke cheese, buy store bacon and add smoke to freeze for frying later, and have a very small propane heater in the bottom for drying jerky.

Yep, small cheese chunks work for me.

 

[cmayna]

One needs to define what a brick looks like. I buy blocks from my local stores which are 6" long. Slice them into 1" thick pieces. For me any thinner and you are adding too much smoke. It would be way too smokey. I like tasting the cheese flavor with a slight hit of smokey goodness. Just smoked a batch a month ago which won't be touched for 3-4 months. Still working on a batch from last winter.

 

[zwiller]

Possible fail? 100% fail. Vacuum packed for a month, Shullsburg Sharp Cheddar and Boars Head whole milk mozzarella both had bitter flavor. Six people gave thumbs down.

Sorry to read that. I've been there. Heads up mozz is REALLY picky. VERY VERY light smoke needed and has to be bone dry. Smoking cheese sounds really easy to do but is actually harder to perfect than it first seems. Lots of small details often glossed over. IE I remove from packaging and bring cheese up to room temp a few hours prior. I'd suggest the u bolt mod for the tube and some dust and try again. IMO you want the smoke to be barely visible for cheese.

 

[thirdeye]

One needs to define what a brick looks like. I buy blocks from my local stores which are 6" long. Slice them into 1" thick pieces. For me any thinner and you are adding too much smoke. It would be way too smokey. I like tasting the cheese flavor with a slight hit of smokey goodness. Just smoked a batch a month ago which won't be touched for 3-4 months. Still working on a batch from last winter.

Good idea. I buy the 2# bricks of Tillimook (At Sam's they are 2.5#) and get 10 blocks from each brick. A little wider than a stick of butter. I use a sawdust tray and my smoke times are 5 to 8 hours because the smoke is so gentle. If you look really close at the 4 blocks between 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock... what looks like a blur from the camera moving is actually my smoke.

 

[sky monkey]

I switched to using saw dust after the first couple times and have been very pleased with the result. I haven't done the mailbox mod but I put a big pan in between the cheese and the cold smoke maze to try to reduce the creosote before the smoke gets to the cheese. I cut the 5lb blocks into 12 pcs and the 2.5 lb blocks into 6 pcs and smoke for 3 to 3.5 hours. This is my 3rd Christmas doing it. I've got 16 lbs in the smoker right now. You can eat it right out of the smoker but it's best after it's mellowed a bit.

 

[Torch&Tone]

I highly recommend giving the smoked cheese a chance to rest! Mine tastes terrible right off the smoker, but after getting vacuum-sealed and placed in a minifridge for long enough, the end result is fantastic! The smoke flavor spreads out and melds much better with the flavor of the cheese over time. I usually give my cheeses around *2-3 months* at a minimum in cold storage before I start opening them up.

I have smoked gouda, provolone, a bunch of cheddars, parm, blue, Manchego, Velveeta (Best. Mac & cheese. Ever!), pepperjack, havarti... the only ones that didn't work out were brie (the rind proved fairly impenetrable), some mozz that got a little too hot, and a Camembert that, to be honest, was not the most approachable flavor before smoking. Getting ready to do another batch soon of gouda, parm, and also some cashews.

I use the same tube, with pellets, usually hickory or fruitwoods. As long as the chamber stays below 80 degrees or so (70 for softer cheeses), I haven't needed to use ice water.
- 5-10 seconds with a propane torch to get the pellets smoldering.
- Shut the lid and come back 1.5-4 hours, depending on cheese varieties. Generally, longer for hard cheeses, shorter for soft.
- Paper towel, if needed, then vacuum-seal and chill for several weeks.