Resting Smoked Cheese

[BandCollector]

I am not going to bore everyone with pictures of my smoked cheese. There are hundreds of them on our sight for your viewing enjoyment. But I do have a question for my expert cheese smokers.

In the past, I have smoked my cheese, let it rest in the refrigerator uncovered for a day, wiped off any moisture, vacuum sealed, and back into the refrigerator.

I have read that some of you place your smoked cheese in paper bags for a few days and then vacuum seal.

My question is:

How long should this papered rest be, and should the bags be stapled shut? ( That is what I did.) Just needed some guidance. . Picture enclosed.



Thanks for any help. John

 

[BandCollector]

What? No one?

 

[SmokinEdge]

I’m no expert on cheese, but I do use the paper bag often on semi-dry sausages. The whole purpose is to dry down the product. This will depend on moisture content at the start and desired finish moisture. I would think a couple three days for most cheese would be sufficient. Oh and I do not staple the bags but nothing wrong with that either, I hope one of the cheese wizards does chime in.

 

[Marknmd]

I've smoked cheeses the last three winters. They've come out very nice. After they're smoked, I use parchment paper to wrap them tight. Then hold them in the fridge for two days. Then take them out and vacuum seal them and put them in the 'fridge again for 14 days. Good to go.

I got the method from youtube



Good luck

 

[gmc2003]

Sorry I've never used a paper bag to hold my cheese. I place the cheese on a wire cooling rack and loosely cover the cheese with plastic wrap for an overnight sleep in the fridge.

Chris

 

[Colin1230]

John, to answer your question, two days in your papers bag will be good. Then I would blot them dry and vacuum seal and let age for no less than two weeks, the longer the better. Any longer in the bags and you may end up with dry edges. Just my thoughts my friend.

Oh, by the way, Pam and I are still enjoying our Christmas Gift. The mustard and pickles were phenomenal.

 

[nchapelheel]

I hope this helps. After smoking the cheese, I will dry the cheese IF it has moisture on it or
if the temp got to high and oil has started to seep out. Otherwise I put a piece of parchment
paper between the blocks and vacuum pack it the next day.
I buy 8 ounce blocks, cut them in half, and then smoke them. I pack 2 pounds per bag for
smoked pimento cheese later. I can't seem to smoke enough cheese to last until it gets
cold again here in North Carolina.

 

[Sven Svensson]

I’m intrigued by this. What kinds of cheese do you like to smoke? I’m assuming this is a cold smoke, right? This is something I should really start to think about doing since our “winter” is approaching with rather cool night temps.

 

[babydocsmoker]

I’m intrigued by this. What kinds of cheese do you like to smoke? I’m assuming this is a cold smoke, right? This is something I should really start to think about doing since our “winter” is approaching with rather cool night temps.

Same here.

You guys buy cheese and smoke it? Or make cheese and smoke it?

 

[Brokenhandle]

When I cold smoke cheese I rest it in fridge on racks that I smoked it on. No covering or wrapping at all. For a day at least, maybe two or more....depending on how busy I am. Then vac seal and back in fridge. Sure does make fridge smell wonderful!

Ryan

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Hmm? Maybe this year I'll wrap my cheese in peach paper instead of on a wire rack in fridge before vacuum seal.

 

[BandCollector]

Thanks to all who responded,

I have always cold smoked my store bought cheeses for 2 to 3 hours, patted them dry, placed them on racks in the refrigerator uncovered for a day , and then vac packed. This procedure has always given me great results because I learned it here on our sight. I was intrigued by the paper bag approach for the initial temporary storage but was unclear as to how long to leave the cheese in the paper bags but my friend Colin1230 answered that question.

Looking forward to this years batch. . .By the way I cold smoked 20# of sharp cheddar and Swiss in my drum smoker (AKA UDS). . .My favorites!

Thanks again guys,

John

 

[nchapelheel]

I buy 8 ounce blocks of New York sharp at Aldi's stores. I tried smoking mozzarela, but that didn't
work well. Gouda smokes very nicely and keeps in the refrigerator for years if vacuum packed.

 

[gmc2003]

I’m intrigued by this. What kinds of cheese do you like to smoke? I’m assuming this is a cold smoke, right? This is something I should really start to think about doing since our “winter” is approaching with rather cool night temps.

Same here.

You guys buy cheese and smoke it? Or make cheese and smoke it?

Store bought cheese here, usually Cabot brand. Cheddar, horseradish, swiss, pepper jack and habanero are my favorites, but any variety will work well. I go two hours in the smoker(cold smoke with dust). Slice a piece off set it aside then slice off another piece and taste it . If it's where I want it then I pull the cheese off the smoker. Let it cool in the fridge overnight on the wire rack and try another slice in the morning to make sure it's smokey enough. If it isn't then it goes back on the smoker for round two. If it is then it's vacuum sealed until it's needed.

Chris

 

[JCAP]

I'm intrigued by the resting. I normally smoke cheese for about an hour with pellets and then rest it for a few hours. I blot off any moisture and then vac seal the same day.

I find that any longer than an hour or two with pellets is too much smoke for me.

 

[zwiller]

I tried many things to improve my cheese like resting but best thing I did was use dust instead of pellets. HUGE difference. Follow Chris' method above gmc2003 . If you are trying to replicate stuff like Hickory Farms, that's a tall order as cheese is processed using liquid smoke. I am slowly working on hacking it...

 

[BandCollector]

All is well my friends. . .2.5 hours in the drum smoker with apple and hickory pellets, into paper bags and refrigerator for a day, and vacuum packed last night. All the cheese looks beautiful and is now taking a long winter's nap until consumed at various parties and functions.

A side note: I also have found that pellets give off much more smoke than dust, however if the pellet generator and cheese are placed in a large environment ( such as a drum smoker) the results are much more satisfactory. Small environment=dust, large environment= dust or pellets.

Thanks again for all the responses and suggestions,

John

 

[BandCollector]

Colin1230 ,

Did you receive my PM?

John

 

[Colin1230]

Yes I did and I thought I replied. Let me look.
John, I hosed that one up. Just looked for our conversation and it no longer exists on my end. Not used to using my phone to post. Pam and I are in Virginia Beach this week.

 

[BandCollector]

Yes I did and I thought I replied. Let me look.
John, I hosed that one up. Just looked for our conversation and it no longer exists on my end. Not used to using my phone to post. Pam and I are in Virginia Beach this week.

Apparently Private Messages are not showing up and being saved after they have been sent. I did not get your response. It is not showing either and did not come through.

Each time I click on the little envelope next to the bell I get a message that I have no recent conversations. Perhaps a glitch in the new format. I will have to check with Brian about this.