It's funny how this site will change your shopping patterns. I was sent to the grocery store for some flour, and only for some flour. However, even though it was completely on the opposite side of the store, I somehow found myself strolling through the cheese section. I noticed that many of the block cheeses were on sale for $1.79, so I bought one of each kind I could find.
I was trying to dodge waves of storms from the remnants of Isaac, and that came later in the evening. I was hoping for a 3 hour smoke, and that window of opportunity came around 8 p.m. This meant that I was going to be up until 11, and would most likely open a bottle of wine in the process. I knew that I had better draw myself a map to ensure proper labeling later.
The only one I cut up was the Muenster. Here we are, ready for the smoker.
I used the cork from my bottle of wine.
Bagged and tagged!
This was my first time smoking cheese, and it came with a bit of a hiccup. At 11:00, when the 3 hours was up, I walked down to retrieve the cheese. I noticed not a bit of smoke. My AMNPS had gone out on me, about 1/2" into the deal. STUPID STUPID STUPID! I usually check every so often, but for some reason didn't. So I re-lit the pellets and knew that now I was going to be up until 2 in the morning. Luckily I have today off. At 2 in the morning (after checking a LOT to make sure that smoke was still happening) I pulled them. In that last hour, the temperature spiked and the cheese definitely became gooey/runny. Dang. I even had large frozen container of ice in the freezer specifically for cold smoking cheese and didn't use it. Stupid wine.
Oh well, mark this up as a learning experience. Still, the cheese was salvageable enough to package up and send to the fridge for a couple of weeks.
The details:
Smoker: MES40
Smoke Source: AMNPS, using 50/50 mixture of pecan and peach (I REALLY like this flavor combination)
Time: 3 hours
Temperature: Around 75, except for one spike that I happened to miss
Result: Rather large smile on my face
I was trying to dodge waves of storms from the remnants of Isaac, and that came later in the evening. I was hoping for a 3 hour smoke, and that window of opportunity came around 8 p.m. This meant that I was going to be up until 11, and would most likely open a bottle of wine in the process. I knew that I had better draw myself a map to ensure proper labeling later.
The only one I cut up was the Muenster. Here we are, ready for the smoker.
I used the cork from my bottle of wine.
Bagged and tagged!
This was my first time smoking cheese, and it came with a bit of a hiccup. At 11:00, when the 3 hours was up, I walked down to retrieve the cheese. I noticed not a bit of smoke. My AMNPS had gone out on me, about 1/2" into the deal. STUPID STUPID STUPID! I usually check every so often, but for some reason didn't. So I re-lit the pellets and knew that now I was going to be up until 2 in the morning. Luckily I have today off. At 2 in the morning (after checking a LOT to make sure that smoke was still happening) I pulled them. In that last hour, the temperature spiked and the cheese definitely became gooey/runny. Dang. I even had large frozen container of ice in the freezer specifically for cold smoking cheese and didn't use it. Stupid wine.
Oh well, mark this up as a learning experience. Still, the cheese was salvageable enough to package up and send to the fridge for a couple of weeks.
The details:
Smoker: MES40
Smoke Source: AMNPS, using 50/50 mixture of pecan and peach (I REALLY like this flavor combination)
Time: 3 hours
Temperature: Around 75, except for one spike that I happened to miss
Result: Rather large smile on my face
