Mistakes were made…..

[Cattoon]

I decided to smoke another round of sharp cheddar. I inadvertently bought 2lb blocks instead of the 1lb I usually get.


I discovered this while preparing to brine overnight. I figured go big or go home.
1 gal water 1 cup of salt and into the fridge. I get buckets from the local grocery deli department. They have frosting buckets and icing buckets. About 4gal and 1.5gal respectively. They require cleaning. I used the icing bucket for this experiment.
After the overnight brine and blotting.
Since I had overshot on cheese I used a rack in the perforated pan. I bought this perforated pan with the idea to smoke cream cheese on it and I have successfully. It was in a kitchen and bath store and was much cheaper than I can find another one for. Nordic ware.
I smoked with the amzn with apple pellets for 4 hours rotated 180 degrees at the 2 hour mark. I then blotted excess moisture and let sit in the grill with the lid closed for a couple of hours. Vacuum sealed
In a couple of weeks we’ll see how it is. Thank you all for your help and advice in my previous post.

 

[Winterrider]

Brine for cheese that's a new one for me !

 

[bigfurmn]

Brine... mind blown!!!!

 

[Cattoon]

I had a previous post and it was suggested during the discussion.

 

[clifish]

I had a previous post and it was suggested during the discussion.

yep I am going to brine on my next go around.

 

[indaswamp]

Cheese is already fairly heavily salted during the cheese making process. I wonder what the benefit of brining would be for smoking?

 

[Cattoon]

Cheese is already fairly heavily salted during the cheese making process. I wonder what the benefit of brining would be for smoking?

In my other post it was recommended to brine overnight to improve the texture, to avoid a rubbery consistency.

 

[Colin1230]

Brining cheese! That's the damnedest thing I ever heard of. Sorry C Cattoon , I must have missed your other thread. I'll be searching for it because I really need to learn something today.

Edit:
Found this from back in 2012.

Marinating/Brining Cheese to adjust flavor?

howdy y'all, so i want to try this smoked cheese business but i'm wondering if anyone has ever tried soaking the cheese in a marinade to adjust the flavor? For example could you put some mozerella in Frank's Red Hot Sauce for 24 hours to give it a buffalo flavor? Or could you do jalepeno powder...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[BandCollector]

Never brined my cheese before smoking and it always came out fine. Let us know how it comes out.

John

 

[BigW.]

I think this is the thread:

Sharp cheddar

I smoked 2 lbs of sharp cheddar while I was piddling around today. I used apple and hickory pellets mixed and went for 3 hours with AMPS in the MES 40. Vacuum sealed and in the fridge. We’ll see how it is in a week or 2.

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Colin1230]

Thanks for the link @BigW .

I am certainly going to keep brining in mind next batch of cheese I do.

 

[Astralogics]

Ooo, cheese brine? Curious to see how it turns out, and definitely adding that to my list.

 

[Newglide]

Interested to see how it turns out

 

[Cattoon]

I’ll share the results here. I honestly intended to do 1/2 the batch with brine and the other 1/2 like I have previously done.
When I discovered that I had bought the wrong size blocks I decided to go all in on the brine. I can’t imagine that it would give a worse result. The biggest concern that I have is that I haven’t smoked 2lb blocks before.

 

[BigW.]

^ You can always cut down the blocks. I do that for two reasons. It is easier to put in snack size portions. And, more surface area equals more smoke flavor.

 

[millerbuilds]

Cheese is already fairly heavily salted during the cheese making process. I wonder what the benefit of brining would be for smoking?

Agreed. I have smoked a lot of cheese in the past 15+ years and have never thought of brining. Not sure i understand the benefit...

- Jason

 

[Fueling Around]

Hmm
I don't smoke a lot of cheese, but always watch my cold smoking temps and it never gets what others have described as "rubbery".
Cream cheese is the only don't I care the temp.

 

[forktender]

The only cheese I don't brine before smoking is Mozzarella.
Mainly because I've done it, and didn't find it made a diff.
C Cattoon Let me know how it turns out for you.
Dan.

 

[Hockeydudde]

I'm a bit confused. Cheese is commonly brined during making but you have to bea bit careful to balance the calcium and pH, otherwise your cheese will crack, dissolve or turn to goo. I'm puzzled that this simple brine doesn't cause serious defect in the cheese.

Maybe because it's kept in the fridge? (typical cheese making brine would be at 55 to 75 F).

 

[forktender]

I'm a bit confused. Cheese is commonly brined during making but you have to bea bit careful to balance the calcium and pH, otherwise your cheese will crack, dissolve or turn to goo. I'm puzzled that this simple brine doesn't cause serious defect in the cheese.

Maybe because it's kept in the fridge? (typical cheese making brine would be at 55 to 75 F).

I've been using a simple brine on cheese for over 30 yrs, not once have I had any of the issues stated in your post, maybe I'm just lucky.

My brine always goes into my 34* garage refer. I'm not sure if that is the reason I've not had any problems or not.
Dan.