Restocking a little smoked Velveeta. And cashews!

[Torch&Tone]

Impromptu cold-smoke: one block of Velveeta, halved, and ~2.5lbs of cashews, just because. The cheese is excellent for breakfast sandwiches (when egg prices aren't too painful), queso dip, cheesy broccoli soup, and mac-&-cheese. The nuts are mostly just for munching whenever.

Normally, I'd hot-smoke the cashews along with whatever meats I happen to be doing, so they get a little more color/roast to them, too, but cold-smoking still imparts plenty of smoke flavor (there also just wasn't enough real estate in the smoker on my last hot-smoke).

 

[BigW.]

I like that idea.

 

[jcam222]

Man that Velveeta would make an awesome duo melted together with some salsa!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Never thought of smoking Velveeta for some unknown reason... would be great though! Have cold smoked mixed nuts before... works good!

Ryan

 

[clifish]

Impromptu cold-smoke: one block of Velveeta, halved, and ~2.5lbs of cashews, just because. The cheese is excellent for breakfast sandwiches (when egg prices aren't too painful), queso dip, cheesy broccoli soup, and mac-&-cheese. The nuts are mostly just for munching whenever.

View attachment 713886
Normally, I'd hot-smoke the cashews along with whatever meats I happen to be doing, so they get a little more color/roast to them, too, but cold-smoking still imparts plenty of smoke flavor (there also just wasn't enough real estate in the smoker on my last hot-smoke).

Oh, this is going on my agenda. What time/temp did you smoke it. I imagine it will last if vac packed after?

 

[Torch&Tone]

Oh, this is going on my agenda. What time/temp did you smoke it. I imagine it will last if vac packed after?

I didn't start up the smoker or monitor temps; I light a bunch of pellets in a smoke tube and just use the smoker as a chamber. As long as the cheese doesn't melt (or freeze), it's fine. The pellets put out a bit of heat as they smolder, so I wouldn't recommend trying it above, maybe, about mid-70's ambient temperature? YMMV, especially depending on your equipment. The cheese does tend to soften - you can see in the photo it has deformed slightly, not enough to matter - so the (optional) metal mesh is there to keep it from sagging between the grates.

As for time, I just wait for the pellets to burn themselves out; how long that takes depends on how much you load the tube, so that also determines how much smoke gets applied. Everything will have an upper threshold for smoke absorption, and I'd guess the cheese probably maxes out at 1.5-2 hours (very smokey), but I haven't experimented much with varying things up to chart that curve.

And yes: vac-pack each half, label them, and into a mini-fridge that is reserved for smoked things (and beer). I leave it there at least a week, preferably longer, to even out. Until opened, it will last a long time without any change in texture; once opened... I haven't had any last long enough to go bad?

 

[JLinza]

Looks good from here, people say Velveeta isn't real cheese, and to them I say... your right. But I didn't get where I am today worrying about what I'm gonna feel like tomorrow lol