Hi all, new to smoking...

[Mishka]

Hi All
New to smoking and stumbled upon Smoking Meat Forums and then found out there was a UK bit ... ... Been building a smoker from an old cabinet and added a smoke generator... waiting on a thermometer to arrive, I am thinking of smoking some cheese this Sunday as a trail... Any tips on how slow or how long I should smoke ...

 

[SonnyE]

Hi Mishka, and Welcome to Smoking Meats Forums!
I like your smoker! Reminds me of one of my first I built with a discarded Electrical enclosure.
I bet it works a treat for you, well done!

Cheeses. You want to smoke them Low and Slow.
Low temperature, and slow meaning over a long time period.
Cold Smoking is how it is referred to.
I like mine at as low a temperature as I can do, but usually for me it has been ~70-100 degrees F. (21 C-50C)
Time wise, ~8-12 hours.
Then comes the hard part. Letting it rest in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks so the flavor permeates the cheese.
NOT a requirement by any means. I usually can not wait, myself. I love cheese too much. (I even have a tail to prove it)
It looks like you have plenty of room for racks upon your shelves. Many use things like bakers cooling racks if there might be one of more about the kitchen wares. They will smell of smoke afterwards though.
In lue of that, racks from refrigerators, ovens, or such can be used to let the smoke get to as much surface as possible.
How long do you think your smoke generator will run on a load of fuel? That may be the next thing, tending it for 12 hours might get tedious.
Very good! I look forward to your successes! :D

 

[Mishka]

Hi Mishka, and Welcome to Smoking Meats Forums!
I like your smoker! Reminds me of one of my first I built with a discarded Electrical enclosure.
I bet it works a treat for you, well done!

Cheeses. You want to smoke them Low and Slow.
Low temperature, and slow meaning over a long time period.
Cold Smoking is how it is referred to.
I like mine at as low a temperature as I can do, but usually for me it has been ~70-100 degrees F. (21 C-50C)
Time wise, ~8-12 hours.
Then comes the hard part. Letting it rest in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks so the flavor permeates the cheese.
NOT a requirement by any means. I usually can not wait, myself. I love cheese too much. (I even have a tail to prove it)
It looks like you have plenty of room for racks upon your shelves. Many use things like bakers cooling racks if there might be one of more about the kitchen wares. They will smell of smoke afterwards though.
In lue of that, racks from refrigerators, ovens, or such can be used to let the smoke get to as much surface as possible.
How long do you think your smoke generator will run on a load of fuel? That may be the next thing, tending it for 12 hours might get tedious.
Very good! I look forward to your successes! :D

Hi Sonny, the smoke generator should run for 12 hours with the pump on low filled to the top, I have some racks to go on the shelves, at the moment I am drilling them out to let smoke through. I am going to try some Mild Cheddar this weekend and also some honey, being as I am a beekeeper needs to be tried. I love cheese to, I did get a ball of Edam on Tuesday gone, but sadly its all gone ..:( The cabinet is from the USAF where I live is an ex cold war USAF base Upper Heyford and its solid, took me all my strength to get it into the back of my pick up. thank you for the help, appreciate it ... Ian

 

[SonnyE]

Hi Ian!
Smoked Honey, never heard of sucha thing. But I like honey!
I like rice with honey on it. So whenever we are having rice with supper, I'll usually doll mine up with some Sage honey. I use Honey in my BBQ sauce I paint and BBQ on pork ribs.
12 hour run time is great with your smoke generator. Mild Cheddar should take on smoke fine. I usually steal away a couple of chunks from a 5 pound block when I'm shredding it. Approx. 4" x 4" X 1 1/2 thick.
I need to get a block so I can test my new smoker. First store bought smoker I've ever had. I've had to highly modify it to suit my cold smoking, and well as other smoking desires.
Do you think you will be adding heat to yours? Or just keep it as a true smoker, and do any cooking with an oven, BBQ, or afterwards? (I recently found I love chicken Smoked a bit, then finished in an Air Fryer (similar to this) to get the crispy skin.)
Anyway, back to work drilling your pattern! ;):D

 

[Mishka]

Hi Ian!
Smoked Honey, never heard of sucha thing. But I like honey!
I like rice with honey on it. So whenever we are having rice with supper, I'll usually doll mine up with some Sage honey. I use Honey in my BBQ sauce I paint and BBQ on pork ribs.
12 hour run time is great with your smoke generator. Mild Cheddar should take on smoke fine. I usually steal away a couple of chunks from a 5 pound block when I'm shredding it. Approx. 4" x 4" X 1 1/2 thick.
I need to get a block so I can test my new smoker. First store bought smoker I've ever had. I've had to highly modify it to suit my cold smoking, and well as other smoking desires.
Do you think you will be adding heat to yours? Or just keep it as a true smoker, and do any cooking with an oven, BBQ, or afterwards? (I recently found I love chicken Smoked a bit, then finished in an Air Fryer (similar to this) to get the crispy skin.)
Anyway, back to work drilling your pattern! ;):D

I have 2 beer kegs coming this weekend and was looking at adapting one into a BBQ and the other into a hot smoker.
Below is what I am trying with Honey . Its from an Australian page... Worth a go with a couple of jars of honey :):):)

COLD-SMOKED HONEY

Sweet, sticky, smokey honey! Choose your favourite locally sourced honey, gently cold-smoke and enjoy the delicious smokey aftertaste of smoked honey in both sweet and savoury dishes. Cold-smoking retains the natural honey components.

INGREDIENTS:
Honey*
Smoking wood chips

METHOD:
1. Pour honey into foil trays (ensure honey is maximum 1cm thick).
2. Place the foil trays onto the wire rack/s in the smoking vessel.
3. Cold smoke honey for 30 minutes (small smoking vessels) or 60 minutes (large/200L smoking vessels). Stir every 20 minutes. (NOTE: smoking time provided is for Aussie Smoke Bloke cold smoke generators – other cold smoking units will take longer, adjust time as required according to your manual).
4. Remove trays from smoking vessel.
5. Cover trays with a lid, foil or plastic food wrap and set aside (indoors) at room temperature for 24 hours.
6. Taste smoked honey, mixing with non-smoked honey if the smoked honey flavour is too strong for your liking.
7. Pour smoked honey into airtight containers i.e. twist-top glass jars.
8. Store smoked honey in the pantry.
9. Smoked honey can be served immediately if desired.
10. Stir smoked honey before use.

 

[SonnyE]

Oh, oh, oh, sounds great.
While off shopping today I blundered into the isle where the clover Honey was.
I couldn't resist. So I have an additional 80 ounces squirreled away on the top shelf of the pantry. :rolleyes:
Just like I couldn't resist two 5 pound blocks of cheese, One mild, one sharp, and a fat slab of Swiss. :(
I was justifying my Sharp and the Swiss with a 5 pound off-set of mild for the wife. That almost all made it to the freezer after blocking, bagging, and vacuum sealing. I absconded with one of her blocks to the smoker with the 5 pounds of sharp, and the Swiss. I put the mild with the Swiss, and carved an 'M' in it to make sure I kept it aside.
So I have my biggest cheese haul of a lifetime being cold smoked at the moment.
Top shelf is Sharp, next shelf is Swiss with a block of mild in the back.

Here it is just started. Smoking with Hickory pellets to start, and a pile of dry oak chips I made yesterday.
The oak seems to make a very mild smoke. It should be interesting.

 

[RandyinNI]

Looks good. Smoked cheese would be nice.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Welcome welcome

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi Mishka , welcome to UK area of Smokingmeatforum

That’s a good looking Smoker you are building.