how long to smoke cheese

[doughboysigep]

"4 hour is the way to go!"
Ditto hillbilly. I fill my EZQ tube with maple/cherry/apple/hickory blend pellets and get 4+ hours (I have gone as much as 5 hrs.) and use an external mailbox. No complaints from my customers. I actually have been turning my MES on occasionally to get 60 degree temps in the smoker (especially on cold winter days). The cheese takes a much nicer color when you smoke around 60. Usually heat it up to 80-90 before I put cheese in (takes 10 minutes). Cheese goes in and temp goes down. I will monitor it some and usually will turn MES on again at least once (usually when I turn cheese - gets more even color). In the summer the temp is usually warm enough (sometimes too warm).

 

[martin1950]

Just got my 12" tube yesterday. Guess I should have read the ad a second time, it is an oval. Loaded it up w/ a comp/blend for a burn in on my CharGriller off set. Worked great but I just couldn't see wasting all that smoke. Went back to the house a grabbed a block of X-sharp Cheddar and stood it up in the grill. I now, that's not how ya do it but what the heck. With all the smoke I pulled the cheese after only two hrs, let it set for an hour and rapped it up tight in cling rap, don't have a vac-sealer, and labeled by date and time. It's going to be real hard just letting sit in the frig for a month.

 

[dan the mano]

I realize I'm not the one you asked but since he did answer let me also add my two cents.

We smoke a lot of different cheeses Cheddar, Gouda, Havarti, Colby Jack, Mozzarella, Habenaro, Jalapeno, heck I even unwrap those individual wrapped round snack like cheeses. I've done lots of others I can't think of right now to basically I'll try something new if I can find it while I'm doing cheese. We didn't care for smoked Brie or even Swiss for some reason. I'll be doing another large cheese smoke in the next couple weeks and I'll post it and the varieties.

You said you tried smoking some did you let it age before trying it? Many of us say you have to let it age about 14 days before you even try it. There are those that argue with us that you should be able to eat it right out of the smoker if you can't you over smoked it. Well to each there own but I and many others have smoked a lot of cheese over the years and let it age and people sure seem to like it otherwise I don't think they'd always be asking for more.

My wife is a nurse in a busy ER and works 12 hour shifts they rarely get time to eat "lunch" so every shift she works she takes in some smoked cheese cubes and her and her co workers snack on it all shift so over the years literally thousands of people have tried smoked cheese and pretty much everyone looks for more lol

Most of the time I will use apple pellets and smoke for 4.5-7 hours then bring it inside and check to make sure it's dry depending on heat and humidity sometimes it's not and I will leave it sit out until it's dry usually doesn't take more than a couple hours. I have on rare occasion had to wipe the wet off the cheese with paper towels but that is rare and I live in Fl where it can get really humid. Once dry I cut it up some into smaller blocks and put different varieties intoa vacuum seal bag and the wife will vacuum seal. Cutting into the smaller blocks and mixing them up gives her a variety pack when she goes to cube it up before taking it into work. We mark the date of smoke on every package then into the fridge for at least 14 days before she starts to use any of it.

Try it again it's not hard to smoke it and once you get the hang of it you'll try to figure out why you didn't start smoking it long ago. I've had a couple friends start smoking cheese and inevitably they call me the day they did their first batch and ask what they did wrong they took it and tried it and it's terrible they wasted all that cheese yada yada and when they are done ranting I ask them what I told them about sealing it and putting it in the fridge to let the smoke kind of meld and even out. Oh yea you did tell me that but I had to try a piece and it was terrible I think I messed it up I tell them let me know in two weeks how it tastes and when they do it's great.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

I realize I'm not the one you asked but since he did answer let me also add my two cents.


hi
wow 4.5 to 7 hours , seems like a long time , but however it works for you and i know you've done it longer and a whole lot more than i have .i am gonna trying it this way , have you ever done a liquid marinade , say a wine or syrup ? you see this is something else id like to go and try too.
so if i understand you right , you go and smoke .., then let cool down say in the fridge for over night maybe , if any ,wipe away moisture ,then vacuum pack .and from here let sit in the fridge for 14 days. the reason for this is to go and let the smoke .. settle in the cheese.i just don't understand the reason for smoking larger blocks , wouldn't it be more beneficial to smoke smaller blocks that way the smoke would have more surface to touch/absorb in to?

i thank you for the help

 

[dan the mano]

Sorry dan the mano, I've not been online for a while, so did not see your post.

I don't do cheddar any longer because not many of our folks like it better than regular cheddar. Gouda is the all time favorite, and the Costco brand seems to work the best. Havarti is my personal favorite, and I get that at Cash and Carry because of the price and the size of the blocks. My wife loves the horseradish cheddar you can seasonally get at Costco.

I've also done cream cheese and goat cheese (in foil boats). Both are good for special purposes because they are unique. The smoked cream cheese is excellent with homemade gravlax or smoked salmon, thinly sliced onion and capers. The smoked goat cheese gives a wonderful flavor to an omelet, especially when topped with a sautee of roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mushrooms.

As to how long, that is personal preference. Some folks like a heavy smoke flavor, and others only a light smokiness. Personally, I like a medium smoke with enough bite to know it is smoked, but definitely not the "ash tray" flavor. Whatever the original color of the cheese, when it takes on a tan color then it is time to take a tiny slice for a taster. If you like it, and take it off the smoke, then it will only become milder with age in the vacuum sealed bags. If you prefer a stronger smoke, then let it go longer experimenting with how long to let it go depending on how long you plan to age it.

The other main factor for me is the method of smoking. I use a Bradley puck machine because it is wasteful (I know, sounds stupid) - the pucks are rather expensive, but the automatic advancement system extinguishes the smoldering pucks before the more acrid smoke develops, so even though wasteful, produces an excellent product with not much aging time. I've also tried the pellet tube smokers, but their smoke is a bit more acrid to me, and more difficult to control for my relative inexperience level.

All I can say is that keep playing with your cheese choices, methods, times, wood, and depth of smoke flavor and you'll hit on the perfect solution for your tastes.

have you ever done or tried doing a marinade on your cheeses . i have done it once ... wasn't bad , i was just curious to see if maybe some one had.( also you try for a temp around 60-70 degrees), i did learn a few things about doing this next time though.
and yes you are so right about the Bradley smoker as compared to the pellet ( my trager )you try to smoke

i thank you indvance for your help Dan
i thank you inadvance . for youe help