How do you smoke cheese ?

[Fitou143]

Hi all, quite new to smoking cheese, started with mild cheese in apple but found it rather mild. So did some experimenting and
found I preferred smoking mature cheddar in whiskey oak or cherry that gives a stronger smoke and leave in the fridge for 2 weeks
any recommendations for a stronger smoke ? Thanks.

 

[bill ace 350]

i use hickory a lot for cheese

 

[BigW.]

I use apple or hickory usually. How long did you smoke it? You could also try smoking an hour or two longer.

 

[ddow229]

I have seen where people vacuum seal the cheese and put it into the refrigerator for a few days or even weeks so the smoke flavor permeates the cheeses completely. I have not done this so I do not know.

 

[Fitou143]

I use apple or hickory usually. How long did you smoke it? You could also try smoking an hour or two longer.

I have recently been smoking for about 6 hours to give a stronger smoke. I was looking on a site recently who were selling smoked cheeses saying that they were smoked for 24 hours.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Cold smoke cheese. Not hot smoke. You want temps of 80* or lower. indirect with pellet tube or tray and sawdust gives a more mellow great taste.

 

[cmayna]

I cold smoke cheese for 3-4 hours. See no reason to smoke for any longer time.

 

[Colin1230]

Totally agree with BGKYSmoker .
How I do it is in the fall when ambient temperatures are between 40-50*f and use an AmazN tube with apple blend of pellets in my gas grill cook chamber, burners not lit of course. 2-3 hours is usually plenty for a mild smoke flavor to about any cheese we've done.
Then I vacuum seal and let age at least two weeks in the fridg.
Smoked cheese is wonderful to give away at Christmas time.
Hope this helps.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I now smoke my cheese in a Big Chef smoker with a mailbox mod. I only do 2-3 hours with apple and cherry only. I want just a mild smoke flavor and not to eat an ashtray.

 

[Fitou143]

I now smoke my cheese in a Big Chef smoker with a mailbox mod. I only do 2-3 hours with apple and cherry only. I want just a mild smoke flavor and not to eat an ashtray.

That's interesting, I have seen some people smoking using an old metal filing drawer cabinet from an office that has been modified. I am just using my weber kettle BBQ at present with the pro Q smoker seems to work quite well.

 

[cmayna]

I use my masterbuilt gasser smoker with the gas off and a
a-maz-n tray at the bottom using dust.

 

[Buffalo Smoke]

Fall and winter I use my Masterbuilt power off with a mail box mod with the AmazN tray. 1 row Alder dust with a pinch of mesquite on top for 3.5 hours. Straight Hickory is also good.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

I use my pellet pooper. First time trying my cheese had a stagnate/bitter smoke taste. Next time I dumped all the pellets out and cleaned feed tube out. Then used a small variable speed computer fan to blow through from hopper to keep the smoke moving through cook chamber. Now everybody starts asking me about cheese and smoked nuts once cooler weather gets here.

 

[Norwester55]

I use pecan dust in a AMAZN tray and smoke for 3-4 hrs. Edible as soon as its out of the smoker but better 2-3 days later.

 

[zwiller]

Smoking cheese is a bit of an art. Lots of nuances and all depends on your setup. I would maybe suggest trying some cob and/or mesquite if you want stronger than oak. Pellets are much stronger than dust if using a tray. Home smoked cheese is different than say Hickory Farms so if you are aiming for that, it's not so easy to do as the cheese is processed and made with liquid smoke. I am playing around with it but won't get back into it until it cools down again. Some great info in here thirdeye http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1998/03/cold-smoked-cheese-and-butter.html

 

[801driver]

i take a block of cheese and slice it off into about 3/8 inch slices to lay out flat smoke about 20 min for a great flavor.

 

[jnh2022]

Nothing wrong with the advice given, but here is a previous thread that I found useful as well. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mr-ts-smoked-cheese-from-go-to-show-w-q-view.123130/

 

[pinvideo]

Hi all, quite new to smoking cheese, started with mild cheese in apple but found it rather mild. So did some experimenting and
found I preferred smoking mature cheddar in whiskey oak or cherry that gives a stronger smoke and leave in the fridge for 2 weeks
any recommendations for a stronger smoke ? Thanks.

I have used my Weber Smokey Mountain for cheese several times, always with a pellet tube. But I came up with a hack to make it a truly offset cold smoker.
See my short video:

 

[Lonzinomaker]

That works!
Smallest mailbox mod yet.(LOL)

 

[Newglide]

I have used my Weber Smokey Mountain for cheese several times, always with a pellet tube. But I came up with a hack to make it a truly offset cold smoker.
See my short video:

Interesting, I'm guessing that with the dryer vent tube it "cools" the smoke rather than having the smoke tube directly in the smoker?