No Boil Smoked Mac & Cheese

[tumbleweed1]

 
No offense TW, but what fun would it be in the oven. 

 That only gives 1 hour for your favorite beverage.

I will have to give the creamettes a try. 

Another note worth mentioning, we use fat free shredded cheese, I know this is not the best (tasting) way to do things, but the original one we did turned out very tasty. (and technically really was more healthy for us). This also maybe why adding velveeta helped out. ( of course it is 2% velveeta 

)

If I am going to keep smoking things and eating this good, I have to try to eat some healthier items here and there.

Sometimes the weather prohibits me from smoking, so THAT'S when I generally use the oven for this one. You may have to just pick up the pace when "beveraging" while cooking it !

I use the full-fat cheese, I haven't tried it with the other stuff.

TW

 

[nwolfe88]

 
I needed a side to go with some Faux Burnt Ends I was making out of chuck roasts yesterday. I also wasn't happy with the last recipe I had made for this dish a couple of weeks ago & wanted to try another, as we love our mac & cheese. The recipe I chose was found right here at SMF by member bpopovitz. He posted it about 5 years. It looks like he hasn't been online here in a while, but wherever you are bpop- thank you. Great flavor & all made in ONE dish. I did tinker with it a bit, but it's still basically what he came up with.

3 cups uncooked macaroni

1 stick butter

12 oz shredded cheddar

4 oz shredded mozzarella

4 cups milk

salt & pepper to taste

Pour out the  mac & cut up the butter-

No Boil Smoked Mac & Cheese 2- pasta & butter.jpg

• tumbleweed1
• Aug 7, 2015

Add your cheeses, milk, salt & pepper-

No Boil Smoked Mac & Cheese 5- milk added.jpg

• tumbleweed1
• Aug 7, 2015

Smoke it up-

No Boil Smoked Mac & Cheese 6- done.jpg

• tumbleweed1
• Aug 7, 2015

I smoked it at about 250 for an hour, then bumped it up to 270, as the meat was about done. You could probably do it in an oven in an hour at 350 too, if you had too, but don't forget the Liquid Smoke if doing so.

TW

How many people would this feed?

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey TW.  That mac and cheese looks and sounds like a real winner.  I haven't bothered making mac and cheese yet.  I just thought it was a pain having to boil the mac and then cook it in the smoker.  But this no boil method really has potential.  I'll be trying this out very soon.

Thanks, 

Gary

 

[millerbuilds]

That Mac & Cheese looks great.  I have been considering doing a "no boil" Mac & Cheese and now I know it can be done.  As a side note, that is how I do my lasagna, I place the noodles in without cooking.

Smoke ON!

- Jason

 

[tumbleweed1]

 
How many people would this feed?

About a half dozen regular people as the side dish, but I can eat 3 peoples' portions!

It keeps pretty good in the 'fridge too.

 
Hey TW.  That mac and cheese looks and sounds like a real winner.  I haven't bothered making mac and cheese yet.  I just thought it was a pain having to boil the mac and then cook it in the smoker.  But this no boil method really has potential.  I'll be trying this out very soon.

Thanks, 

Gary

Thanks Gary.

If you hate boiling pasta as much as me you should give it a try. Frees up some time to be tending to meat, other sides, etc.

Let me know how it works out.

 
That Mac & Cheese looks great.  I have been considering doing a "no boil" Mac & Cheese and now I know it can be done.  As a side note, that is how I do my lasagna, I place the noodles in without cooking.

Smoke ON!

- Jason

Thanks Jason.

It's BPop's recipe, I just tinkered with it. It's a real gem & I haven't made any other mac & cheese recipe ever since I found it, I HAVE made THIS one another 4-5 now, including twice in the oven (winter time).

I hadn't even thought about trying it in lasagna yet, but I haven't made lasagna in a couple of years now. Nice idea, thanks!

 

[3montes]

Mac and Cheese still eludes me a bit. Smoked some a few weeks ago and it was edible but nothing to get real excited about. I'm going to have to try this recipe.

Here is another no boil recipe from the Everyday Dutch Oven site. It has instructions for using a 10 inch DO but adaptable to a smoker easy enough.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese
2-3 Tblsp butter
1 cup cottage cheese (not low fat)
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 pound grated extra-sharp grated cheese
1/2 pound elbow pasta, uncooked

     Butter the inside of a 10 inch dutch oven with softened butter.
     In a blender, puree cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together. 
     Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese for topping.
     In a large bowl combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta.  Pour into buttered dutch oven.
     Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees then stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon of butter. 
     Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until macaroni is tender and top is brown. 
     Let cool for in dutch oven for 15 minutes before serving.  Serves 4-6.
 

 

[usefulgrain]

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• usefulgrain
• Jul 2, 2016

Just finished a pulled-pork dinner with this on the side. Great recipe! I smoked it with half and half hickory and apple and it took about 2.5 hours at 250. Stirred 3-4 times whenever I had to check on the pork/smoked deviled eggs and ended up with a really nice flavor.

The only additions I made was a very light dusting of nutmeg and chili powder to finish it off.

Thanks for sharing this one!

 

[yat-yas]

Getting ready to make my first smoked Mac and cheese when I came up with this idea.
I made a boat to place above the pan to place the butter in and smoke the butter as it melts and drips in to the pan. I put two holes in it with a screwdriver.
Any thoughts on this? Good idea, indifferent?

14735222491191362681240.jpg

• yat-yas
• Sep 10, 2016

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Getting ready to make my first smoked Mac and cheese when I came up with this idea.
I made a boat to place above the pan to place the butter in and smoke the butter as it melts and drips in to the pan. I put two holes in it with a screwdriver.
Any thoughts on this? Good idea, indifferent?

14735222491191362681240.jpg

• yat-yas
• Sep 10, 2016

I would think the pats of butter would disperse into the mac better than a drip from a central point. I've made smoked mac n cheese several times with a variant of this recipe and there was never any complaints that there wasn't enough smoke. I keep my pan open the entire time and never cover it...smoking the whole time it takes to cook.

Eric

 

[yat-yas]

I see what your saying. After seeing how fast the butter melted, it probably didn't make any difference. It was just an idea I had and figured I would give it a shot.

 

[retiredff]

I have tried this 2 times I like the taste and how easy it is to prepare. The only thing that I have noticed is if I try to keep it warm in the oven it tends to become a little dry.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I have tried this 2 times I like the taste and how easy it is to prepare. The only thing that I have noticed is if I try to keep it warm in the oven it tends to become a little dry.

Yeah, if you even suspect you might need to hold it at temp you need some extra milk from the start, or, worst case, added an d folded into the finished mac n cheese. Covering to hold won't matter a whole lot, because the pasta just keeps absorbing more liquid with time and heat exposure. It's one of those dishes that isn't very forgiving, so timing is a bit more important.

The last batch of this I made I had a brain-fart and unintentionally added 20 or 25% less milk than normal...that was a stiff mac n cheese, to say the least...

...took me 2 or 3 days to figure out what I did wrong...felt like crawling under a rock for a bit, but, live and learn.

Eric

 

[pabeef]

Good morning everyone I'm trying this recipe for the first time today. I smoked some Mac and cheese about a month back and used leftover beer cheese soup for the cheese mix and it was great. I used boiled Mac for that.
So the #2 boy child invited me down to the football game today for a potluck at the fraternity house. He is 3rd generation. Anyhow i asked what he wanted me to bring and he said smoked mac and cheese. So i went big on the no boil recipe. Hope it works !!!
So I modified the recipe a little.
1 pound large elbow mac
1/4 pound of butter
S, cbp,gran garlic gran onion
1 pound shredded 3 cheese
1/2 pound pepper cheese
1/2 gallon whole milk
Per half foil pan

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• pabeef
• Dec 4, 2016

Mac butter season

5 1/2 pans ok the smoker

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• pabeef
• Dec 4, 2016

And a great day in Wisconsin

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• pabeef
• Dec 4, 2016

I will continue to post as we go

 

[pabeef]

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• pabeef
• Dec 4, 2016

Finished product
I foiled it dropped it into a cooler and headed a little over an hour south for the potluck. It was still warm enough to serve when I got there.the only thing that I would do is back off the milk by a cup to serve right away. It was a huge success. And a great day with the boy child.
Thanks to all who kept this post going and the recipe

PABEEF

 

[dufftj]

Turned out better than expected.
Thanks for the recipe [emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[thesmayway]

Can anyone describe the desired smoke flavor in this? I made it a few months ago and it tasted like cigarette smoke. I didn't know if my smoker got out of control for a few minutes or it's just hyper easy to screw up but I imagined a better tasting smoke flavor. Did I likely get too much billowy smoke? I'd like to try it again

 

[pabeef]

Good afternoon Thesmayway,
My mac & cheese has the flavor of a good smoked cheese and the noodels do absorb quite a bit of smoke also. Shoot for an intensity of smoke like on chicken. I have made close to 25 half pan's of it scince Dec 2016. So needless to say it is a favorite around here.

I would check and work on your smoke quality so that you get things blue smoke and try it again.
What are you smoking on?

Good luck
PABEEF

 

[thesmayway]

Okay, thank you for the response. I am smoking on an mes30 with a amnps. I do recall getting some billowing white smoke last time I made it for a very short period of time and maybe that was my problem. just wanted to check that the strong smoke flavor wasnt normal in this dish before I try again. I may have also run out of apple pellets and used apple chips directly in the tray which I think is harder to control, but I can't remember

 

[pabeef]

I do not have any experience with the mes product yet,but I would like to add one to the arsenal. Hope fully one of the experts will check in with how to set the vents, and that might help. The nice thing about the mac & cheese is it isn't that expensive to throw together for practice runs. Better than a brisket flat if things don't go right.

Keep playing with it and everyone will love the results.

 

[shipwama]

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• shipwama
• Jul 9, 2017

I tried this yesterday ehile smoking some ribs. I think i got too much smoke in it i wasnt too happy with the flavour kind if too smoky but my GF loves it. Will try again