First Timer's Question

[psycho dad]

I'll be smoking some cheese tomorrow, got some sharp cheddar, monterey jack, colby jack and swiss.
Look's like everyone is using pellets or dust. I have an MES 40 with an electric smoke chamber.
Can I smoke cheese with wood chips, or go with pellets. I gave my amaze-n tube away when I got the side smoker.

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

I dont think you can get the mes cool enough to smoke using the heating element. Coolest Ive read was between 180 and 190 for smoke generation in a MES

 

[Winterrider]

Anything that will produce smoke. Lot of people prefer the smoke flavor chips produce. I'm a dust guy with cheese myself.
Edit:
Maybe I didn't read Your post correctly. I assumed you were talking separate smoke unit, but KD is correct, temps will be to high if using original chip burner.

 

[psycho dad]

yes, it's a separate unit, I wont be turning on the smoker

 

[smokerjim]

chips or pellets it doesn't matter, but as mentioned some people would use the chips over pellets

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

yes, it's a separate unit, I wont be turning on the smoker

Ahh ok, that makes sense.

 

[thirdeye]

When smoking both cheese and butter, less is more better. Try your best to keep the smoke as light as possible, and the cheese as cool as possible. I use a sawdust smoke generator, cut blocks into shapes a little larger than a stick of butter and smoke them for 6 hours. I start sampling after 3 or 4 hours (disregarding the first slice) and dial in my flavor. The next day if you mis-judge the smokiness, you can always smoke again for a few hours.

 

[psycho dad]

thanks for the tip. I'll just drop in a few pellets at a time and see how it goes.

 

[psycho dad]

So this is my setup, side smoker works great but but you can't regulate the amount of smoke being generated.
Its getting a little warm here, so I filled the drip pan with ice.

 

[psycho dad]

Here's the cheese after about 2 hours of smoke. The Swiss is a little oily, maybe due to the temperature.
Everything I tried tastes really good, maybe a tad heavy with the smoke. I guess it will mellow out with age.
The only smoked cheese I've had before was store-bought and I didn't really care for it. This is completely different and
I can see myself doing this all Winter.
Thank you all for your help and comments!

 

[smokerjim]

Looks good, nice job, yes the smoke will mellow with time

 

[thirdeye]

Here's the cheese after about 2 hours of smoke. The Swiss is a little oily, maybe due to the temperature.
Everything I tried tastes really good, maybe a tad heavy with the smoke. I guess it will mellow out with age.
The only smoked cheese I've had before was store-bought and I didn't really care for it. This is completely different and
I can see myself doing this all Winter.
Thank you all for your help and comments!

You may find blocking the door open will help create more airflow. Oil is a sign that the temp of the smoker got too high. After you rotate your cheeses, a good tip is to feel your fingertips and see if you notice any oily residue. Then smell your fingers to see if they picked up even the slightest amount of oil. An easy fix is to have an aluminum 1/4 sheet pan chilling and ready in the fridge.... if you suspect the cheese is getting too warm just move it to the cold tray and into the fridge for 15 minutes. Do this as often as you need to during the day. Years ago I smoked cheese in a Big Chief smoker box, they do not have a heat control so I would simply unplug the smoker at the top of each hour and then plug it back in at 20 or half-past the hour.

 

[psycho dad]

That's a great idea.
The cheese has been in the fridge for several hours now and its getting a nice rind. We can't stop picking at, looks like I'll be making more next weekend.