Decided to gather as many tastes as possible with my first smoke. So I did four smokes with four different woods during four smoking sessions. Here's the cast: Wood - Pitmaster's Choice, Sugar Maple, Apple and Hickory.
The four cheeses:
Sharp Cheddar, Mild Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella.
Smoker this in my MES 30 with no heat. Used Q-Matz for the first time.
You just can't beat these for supporting the cheese on the rack and
easy clean up.
To pull this off in Dallas temperatures, I had to do a bit of a "Vampire Smoke"
and start about 5:30 am. It was 47^.
When I started this first smoke the Pit was 47^ and the Cheese was 50^.
At the end of one hour no visible smoke coloration.
Pit 60^ Cheese 57^.
At the end of two hours. We begin to see some color on the white cheeses.
The cheddars start to "sweat" a bit.
By the end of hour #3, we are starting to see some color develop.
I have no way of determining how much smoke flavor it is picking
up, so I decide to pull them after three hours. I did the same thing for the three
remaining smokes. Final temps Pit - 81^, Cheese 73^, Air 54^
So did I learn anything? Yup, by the end of the second smoke of the first day I was getting pit temps of 90^ and
cheese temps of 82^,the caused the Jack to start to melt.
So starting on Day 2, I hit the ICE!
I got 24 bottles of water at Wal Mart for $2.87. The bottles really helped
keep the temperatures down. The bottles and tray made for easy
clean up and re-use. As I write this I am in hour 2 of my last smoke.
The ice is keeping the pit at 72^ and the cheese at 70^. Right now
the air temp is 68^.
What else? Oh yeah. Don't know why I never used Apple before.
It has an absolutely delightful smell, and I presume, taste.
Speaking of taste.That's what this "test" was all about. And alas
I won't be able to begin to appreciate this for a couple of weeks.
I let you know about the taste comparison then.
SMOKIN'!
Phil
The four cheeses:
Sharp Cheddar, Mild Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella.
Smoker this in my MES 30 with no heat. Used Q-Matz for the first time.
You just can't beat these for supporting the cheese on the rack and
easy clean up.
To pull this off in Dallas temperatures, I had to do a bit of a "Vampire Smoke"
and start about 5:30 am. It was 47^.
When I started this first smoke the Pit was 47^ and the Cheese was 50^.
At the end of one hour no visible smoke coloration.
Pit 60^ Cheese 57^.
At the end of two hours. We begin to see some color on the white cheeses.
The cheddars start to "sweat" a bit.
By the end of hour #3, we are starting to see some color develop.
I have no way of determining how much smoke flavor it is picking
up, so I decide to pull them after three hours. I did the same thing for the three
remaining smokes. Final temps Pit - 81^, Cheese 73^, Air 54^
So did I learn anything? Yup, by the end of the second smoke of the first day I was getting pit temps of 90^ and
cheese temps of 82^,the caused the Jack to start to melt.
So starting on Day 2, I hit the ICE!
I got 24 bottles of water at Wal Mart for $2.87. The bottles really helped
keep the temperatures down. The bottles and tray made for easy
clean up and re-use. As I write this I am in hour 2 of my last smoke.
The ice is keeping the pit at 72^ and the cheese at 70^. Right now
the air temp is 68^.
What else? Oh yeah. Don't know why I never used Apple before.
It has an absolutely delightful smell, and I presume, taste.
Speaking of taste.That's what this "test" was all about. And alas
I won't be able to begin to appreciate this for a couple of weeks.
I let you know about the taste comparison then.
SMOKIN'!
Phil
