First time smoking cheese

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Omnivore

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jul 11, 2019
324
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Sharp cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, sheep's milk bleu, and burrata. Smoked with pellet tube filled with traeger competition blend. The tube was smoking at full blast (still figuring this thing out) and temps were creeping so by 1.5 hours I pulled the cheese and blotted with paper towels. Will vac and let mellow out for a week or so (or until the next time I need cheese for burgers).

The burrata (fresh mozzarella outside with creamy buttery center) is going to be the wild card. Seemed like a cool thing to smoke but then I started 2nd guessing myself. It doesn't have a long shelf life so I'll serve it up tomorrow with grilled bread and good olive oil.

I think I'll make bleu cheese dressing with the smoked bleu. Or crumbled over a steak...
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Nice color. Better go out and buy some more, somehow smoked cheese
"evaporates" quickly. A little too hot to do this in Florida right now so we gotta be careful or my supply will disappear.
 
That burrata sounds interesting. Bet that will be killer good smoked.
 
I don't know what part of the world you're in, but I usually don't try to smoke cheese between April and October. I've tried using frozen bottles like smokerjim suggests, but didn't have good results.

Drdon gives great advice. You'll find you haven't made enough, and it's tough waiting on a batch to age a little while you're completely out.

I'm anxious to hear how you felt it turned out. I'm convinced you won't be disappointed. I'm curious, too, to hear your feedback on the sheep's milk cheese. I didn't care for the sheep's milk or goat's milk cheeses smoked, even though I enjoy them fresh.
 
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Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'll definitely report back once I do a taste test.
I'm most excited to try the burrata and the sheep's milk bleu, as those are a little more unusual but delicious. I'm a little concerned that given the seemingly short smoke (1.5 hours), but strong coloring, the flavor is going to be really aggressive and not very nuanced. Time will tell.

As for temps, I live on the Oregon coast which is *usually* blustery or overcast. I think I could pull off smoking more cheese if I started earlier when temps were cooler or if I moved the smoker to the back of my house, outside of the occasional sun. I also really liked the frozen water bottles tip.

Again, thanks for comments. Such a nice group of people on this forum.
 
Nice looking cheese. I wouldn't even attempt a cheese smoke around here this time of year. It's been 80* for the last week or so.

Chris
 
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Great looking cheese! I've thought about trying it during the summer at night but its so damn hot think I would have a giant mess in the smoker. I have accumulated a huge drawer full of smoked cheese in my beer fridge over the last couple years. Usually do several large batches during the fall/winter months so I never run out!
 
Looks good! I need to do some Bleu cheese this fall. Rather than blotting if you let it sit out for 2-4 hrs before vacuum sealing the moisture/oils will reabsorb.
 
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Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?
 
Looks good! I need to do some Bleu cheese this fall. Rather than blotting if you let it sit out for 2-4 hrs before vacuum sealing the moisture/oils will reabsorb.

Burning dust does not emit 10% the heat that pellets do...
Try making dust from a mix of your pellets.... It gives off less smoke also...
I'm using the dust for all my smokes now.....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/making-dust-from-pellets.271863/

....

This is great info! Thanks folks!
 
Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?
Hmm, smoked Blue cheese and Goats milk cheese.That's two I haven't done yet. Sounds good, real good! Has anyone done Feta?
I haven't tried Feta yet but I'm on the lookout for some Bufala cheese. Made from full fat water buffalo milk usually produced in Italy. I know they make a Bleu and a Mozzarella. Twice the milk fat as cows milk. I read somewhere the other day that Costco sells the Mozzarella and its about twice the price as normal Mozarella. Probably due to having to milk a water buffalo.
 
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One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda). I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?
 
One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda). I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?

Never had those issues before. Sounds like it might be a heat issue like it got too hot at one point and then cooled off. Also what type of wood/pellets were you using?
 
One thing i've struggled with making smoked cheese is I dont end up with a creamy texture, generally a crumbly texture (even when using havarti or gouda). I also had a batch that came out super salty for some reason, anyone else run into these issues?
The only cheese I've had turn out salty was a ball Mozzarella I picked up at the local Winco. I haven't had it happen with any other cheese so I think it was just that particular brand.
 
Never had those issues before. Sounds like it might be a heat issue like it got too hot at one point and then cooled off. Also what type of wood/pellets were you using?
So that's one of the side effects of it getting too hot? Last time i tried was earlier last year, so cant recall which type pellets they were. I do recall it being warmer as the sun was hitting it, so maybe will try again this fall
 
The only cheese I've had turn out salty was a ball Mozzarella I picked up at the local Winco. I haven't had it happen with any other cheese so I think it was just that particular brand.
It was odd. It was havarti and i've had this block cheese before and by itself is not salty.
 
Just busted out some spring smoked cheese the other day. Yes, you want cooler outside temps and dust. I go like 2 rows 5-6 hours. Now's the time to smoke butts, beef, etc so you can vac seal and freeze for dead of winter.
 
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